Paul John Testa

Paul John “PJ” Testa passed away in the early morning of November 4, 2026. He was 82 years old.

The third child of Paul and Olive Testa, he was pre-deceased by his sister Judy Lively and is

survived by his sister Renee Milano, brother Bill Testa (April), his wife Meg, his son Paul and his

daughter-in-law Aleks.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he attended St Charles Catholic School and Parma High School. He

graduated from Cornell University (Class of 1966) with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. After college,

he worked for the Ohio Highway Department building bridges and highways, and the Austin

Company doing site location before returning to Ithaca. He ran the House Recycling program at

Ithaca Neighborhood Housing and helped design numerous houses and buildings with his dear

friends at KRAP Design. In 1983 he started teaching in the Construction Technology Program at

Tompkins Cortland Community College. In 2019 he retired having trained generations of

builders, surveyors and engineers.

PJ loved and was loved by many.

He loved his big Italian family. He loved his mother and father and the life they made for him

and his siblings on Warren St and Whittington Drive. He loved his sisters Judy and Renee, who

always knew best and always encouraged him to do great things. He loved his brother Billy,

who was the best brother, friend, and confidant he could’ve asked for. He loved his nieces and

nephews, his aunts and uncles. Even his in-laws.

He loved his work. Driving over a bridge he built, turning old houses into new homes, and

explaining clearly some tricky physics problem. He particularly loved seeing old students and

hearing all the wonderful things they’d gone on to do.

He loved playing, watching, and talking about baseball. He loved the Indians of old and the

Guardians of today. He loved the diamond down at Renwood and the fields at Cass Park. He

hated the New York Yankees, but fortunately they play in the other place.

He loved his friends and had many. From Parma to Cornell, Pete’s to the Palms, TC3 and

Neighborhood Housing, there was a good chance wherever he went there was someone he

knew or was glad to meet.

He loved a good book and old westerns. A nice cup of tea and the occasional glass of beer. He

loved Roman history, crossword puzzles, and shooting arrows with his nieces and nephews in

the back yard. He loved an old song and a new car. He could imitate Irving, play poker and pool,

and strum on the Spanish guitar.

He loved a good dog and knew many. Pepper and Blue. Jazz, Lucy, Louie and Echo. Even

Putzy too. He tolerated cats.

He loved his son, Paul, who loves him more than he will ever know and is so grateful for the

time they spent together.

Most of all, he loved his wife, Meg.

He will be dearly missed.

Details for a celebration of his life to follow. Donations can be made to the Tompkins Cortland Community College 

Foundation https://www.tompkinscortland.edu/foundation or Loaves and Fishes of Tompkins County

 https://loaves.charityproud.org/Donate