The Biancos

Philip and Martha Bianco, the third owners of 719 Brighton Road, operated a funeral home at 719 Brighton Road between 1955 and 1979.

Philip Bianco was born in 1906. He was the son of Angelo and Mary Bianco, who lived at 3414 Monroe Street in a small Italian settlement in the area now known as Polish Hill. Angelo Bianco was born in Italy and immigrated to the United States in 1881. In Pittsburgh, Angelo Bianco worked as a street lamp lighter, and later as a street lamp inspector.

The 1910 manuscript census indicates the Bianco family lived at 3414 Monroe Street and shared their home with two other families. In 1910 Angelo Bianco, 45, worked as a lamp inspector and owned his home. Mary Bianco, 38, had no occupation.

In 1910, the Biancos had had six children, with five of their children living at the time of the census. The census indicated that their children were Antonio, 17, an office clerk in a steel mill, Elizabeth, 15, Frank, 12, Peter, nine, and Felix (Philip), three.

In March 1992, Philip Bianco’s daughter Phyllis Abinanti indicated that her father was known as Felix as a child. The Bianco family moved from 3414 Monroe Street to 136 Stratford Avenue in Friendship in the late 1910’s.

Philip Bianco first appeared in the Pittsburgh city directory in 1928, when he worked as an embalmer for the Grime & Blair funeral home, located at 4112 Main Street in Bloomfield. In the early 1930’s, Bianco began working for the William A. Sirlin funeral home at 620 East Ohio Street in East Allegheny; he and Martha lived on the premises. In the late 1930’s, Bianco opened his own funeral home at 239 South Highland Avenue in Shadyside, and the Biancos moved their home to this location.

The Biancos moved their business and home to 825 Western Avenue in 1943 or 1944, and remained at this location until 1955, when they purchased and moved their home and business to 719 Brighton Road. After Philip Bianco’s death in 1960, Martha Bianco operated the funeral home at 719 Brighton Road until her death in June 1979. The Bianco Funeral Home continued operation through the end of 1979.