Philip Charles Faletto

Philip Charles Faletto, 96, of Granbury, Texas, went to his Heavenly home on Sunday, December 30, 2018. Memorial Service: 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, January 15, 2019, at Granbury First United Methodist Church.

Phil was named after his father and grandfather and was born to his parents Mae and Charles Faletto in Scranton, Pennsylvania on January 20, 1922.

He was raised in West Orange, New Jersey. He was a Camp Counselor and rode horses from Valley Forge Military Academy during the summers.

He attended Rutgers University Agriculture School, and was a Member of Phi Gamma Delta. He later changed to a Business major. His education was interrupted by WWII. He enlisted in Army Air Corp in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was assigned to Albright College and later to Susquehanna University. He learned to fly in open cockpit planes equipped with a leather helmet, bearskin suit, boots, and face mask.

He was classified as a navigator and attended the cadet program at Maxwell Field, Alabama. He was stationed at Hickman AFB and made three water crossings using celestial navigation, sun lines and a drift meter. He was separated from the Army Air Corp in 1947 and remained in the reserves until 1951.

While at Carswell, he met Dixie Peters in 1946 and they married on January 23, 1947. He was employed by the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company in the Safety Engineering Department. He served as the President of the Dallas Chapter of American Society of Safety Engineers in 1955. He later transferred to the Fidelity and Surety Department where he was a bonding contractor. He served as President of the Surety Underwriters Association of Dallas, Houston and San Antonio over the years. He also served as a Bond Manager in those cities. He became a CPCU in 1978.
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He was always interested in cars and why they did not run. He became the President of the Texas Region of Antique Automobile Club of America in 1972 in Dallas. He helped organize the Lake Granbury Vintage car club and remained active in both clubs.

He retired from Houston to San Antonio in 1985, and moved to Granbury in 1990. He served on the Board of the Senior Citizens Center. He chaired the building committee and helped supervise construction of the new building. He faithfully delivered Meals on Wheels once a week.

He was made a Mason on May 22, 1959. He was the sitting Master of Clairette Lodge No 1052, PM Bluff Dale Lodge 724, and a member of Granbury Lodge 392. He was President of the Lake Granbury Shrine Club in 1996, when the red wagon program was started for the Shrine Burn Hospital in Galveston and the Shrine Hospital in Houston. He participated in the Time To Read Program at Bluff Dale ISD for two years reading with grades 1 thru 3.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and two sisters: Alice Conway Gilbert and Natalie Jones.

Survivors: Wife: Dixie Faletto; daughter: Candace Pinson; sons: Andy Faletto and Steve Faletto; two granddaughters: Jennifer Faletto Christi and Kara Knodle; one grandson: John Faletto and two great- granddaughters: Ellen Knodle and Margaret Knodle.

Wiley Funeral Home made arrangements.