Alfred "Essie" Essenwein's Obituary
Alfred (Essie) Essenwein was born on February 6, 1931 in Kittanning, PA. He was the older brother of Jeannine and Bob. On December 29, 1951 he married Cecelia (Cile) Slagle and they began their loving journey of 61 years together. They were blessed with seven children; Sandy (December 1952-July 2007), Nancy (1954), Mike (1956), Tim (1957), Sue (1960), Diane (1963), and Mary (1968). Essie and Cile moved to Pinellas Park, FL in 1963 and Essie went to work for Hoods Dairy in St. Petersburg, FL. In 1980, Alfred began a 20 year career with the City of St. Petersburg, retiring in 1998 as a Supervisor with the Public Works Department. Essie and Cile's children gave their parents thirteen loving grandchildren currently between the ages of 18 and 39. In 2010, they were blessed with their first great-grandchild.
Essie enjoyed college sports, especially University of Florida basketball and football, and was the number one Pittsburgh Steeler fan in Tampa Bay. Eating out at new dining establishments in the bay area was one of his favorite past times and cooking at home was always a passion. He was known for making delicious cheesecakes in a variety of exotic flavors. For many years, Essie enjoyed playing cards with his many friends and also was an avid reader. His ability to remember books and authors and relate detailed story plots always created great dinner table conversation. Essie also loved music, especially the big band sound which he played on his trumpet in the high school band and Fireman's Band while living in Pennsylvania. Essie was one of the friendliest people you could meet and easy to talk to, especially if you wanted to talk about the Steelers. There was not a nurse, waiter, therapist or door-to-door salesperson that did not remember their encounter with Essie.
Essie worked hard to support his wife and children, often working two or three part time jobs in addition to his full time job. He instilled that same work ethic in all of his children. Although he worked hard over the years, his family has many memories of good times and shared laughter. He will be greatly missed by his wife, children, grand-children, great grand-children and friends.
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