Alfred Frederick DeStefano of Lawrence died Sunday at the Fuld Campus of the Capital Health System in Trenton.
Al D, as he was called by friends, was born in the 1920s and raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, N.Y.
For more than 30 years he was a well-known figure on Nassau Street in Princeton, first as the manager of Varsity Sports, where he was an expert outfitter for competitive team sports and after he retired, as proprietor of Princeton Area Town Taxi, in conjunction to which he served as the president of the Princeton Taxi Drivers Association and spokesperson to the local government.
He attended parochial high school and began as a teenager to work for a living, having survived polio as a child.
He worked for the Works Progress Administration and though he could not be enlisted in the armed forces during World War II, he served as a big-rig driver, a chauffeur for military officials, and in other positions at the Kittatinny Arsenal.
In another capacity, he served as a supervisor of Italian prisoners-of-war, which led to his deeper involvement in his Italian heritage, learning more of the Italian language from the prisoners he helped supervise.
He enjoyed jazz and played as a professional pit drummer at the Empire Burlesque in Newark. He also sat in as a drummer for Coleman Hawkins when the Hawk played Newark, a city where his regular drummer declined to perform. He played also as a member of the Louis Prima band.
His other interests included classic cars, classic movies and classic jazz. He played baseball, studied the news, was a gardener, mastered the recipe for the perfect Italian gravy, and was known as a skilled raconteur.
Son of the late Helen Lewis DeStefano and Joseph DeStefano, he is survived by his second wife, Marjorie Kapelsohn DeStefano, whom he married in 1979 and is a child study team learning consultant with the Lawrence Township Public Schools; son Joseph DeStefano of East Windsor; a sister; stepsons Joshua Weiner and Dr. Michael Weiner; and seven grandchildren.
The funeral will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at Poulson and Van Hise Funeral Directors, 650 Lawrence Road, Lawrence, with the Rev. Vincent Gartland of the Church of St. Ann officiating.
Burial will be private.
Calling hours are 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.
Memorial contributions may be made to HomeFront, Inc., 1880 Princeton Ave. Lawrenceville, NJ 08648.

