Armand 'the Baker' Argenio was born to Pasquale and Lucy (Capparelle) Argenio in South Philadelphia. He grew up in his grandmother's Italian Bread Bakery, working alongside his two uncles, doing a man's work from the age of ten.
Armand joined the U.S. Marine Corp. in 1951 and fought on the front lines in the Korean War, forming a very close bond with the men in his unit. He was proud to be a Marine for all the right reasons.
Armand married Josephine Dada, a neighbor in South Philly, in 1956. They had six children, Lucy, Pat, Regina, Vince, Paula, and Sam. He opened his own bakery, Imperiale Bakery, in South Philly, and he and his wife worked hard to be a success. Always researching, Armand studied flours, formulas, baking and dough temperatures, everything connected to baking, to create the best Italian bread possible. He succeeded.
Moving to Delaware to retire, he opened a bakery in Milford, Bread N Butter for one of his daughters to operate about 25 years ago. After a period of time, circumstances resulted in Armand operating the bakery by himself for 18 years until 2014.
Armand would like to be remembered for pursuing justice and helping others, like he did when he chaired ACORN in Philadelphia in the 1970's. As a father working nights, he sacrificed sleep to be able to do things with his children as they grew up. He was very proud of all his children.
Armand became an adopted member of the Clifton family of Milford over the last 20 years, and he will be missed by all of them. Not a day will ever go by without some reminder of how he influenced them. Very proud of his Italian heritage, he could not only speak Italian, he was fluent in the Neapolitan, Sicilian, and Abruzzi dialects. He was a talented, graceful bowler, bowling a 300 game twice. And he loved music, especially live, from opera to jazz to the big bands he grew up with. He was often described as larger than life; one of a kind. He was.
Thank you to the Genesis Milford Center, where he lived the last nine months, and VITAS Hospice Care, who were there to help at the end of his life.
A visitation will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018 in the chapel of Berry-Short Funeral Home, 119 NW Front St., Milford, DE 19963. Interment will be at the Delaware Veteran's Memorial Cemetery at 2 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 13, 2018.