1974 NEMA Championship Car Owner Dewey Cali Passes at 88
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Dewey Joseph Cali, 88, of Dongan Hills and Jensen Beach, Fla., a car racing enthusiast and mechanical engineer, died Friday during a brief stay at Treasure Coast Hospice in Jensen Beach.
Born and raised in Dongan Hills, he served in the US Army in the European Theater in World War II and then began a career as a mechanical engineer in the automotive industry.
He taught auto mechanics at several vocational schools and later founded ATECO near Jersey City, N.J., a company that designed and built automotive test equipment. After his retirement at the age of 50, he bought a house in Jensen Beach and was a snowbird for the remainder of his life.
Involved with race cars all of his life, he first began tinkering with all sorts of cars and engines as a child and his interest was encouraged his uncles, the Stropoli brothers, who won many races. During the early 1970s, he designed a midget race car, the Roadrunner No. 7, that won numerous championships and held a world record in its class for 17 consecutive years. He traveled with his family and other relatives and friends every weekend to attend races throughout the East Coast.
“Sunday was always race day at the Cali house-watching open wheel and NASCAR races brought great joy to his life,” said his daughter, Jo Ann Cali.
He also enjoyed boating and fishing and attended St. Ann’s R.C. Church, Dongan Hills.
His wife, the former Grace Assenza, died in 2005.
He is survived by his daughter, JoAnn Cali.
The funeral will be Saturday from the Virginia Funeral Chapel, Dongan Hills, with a mass at 9:30 a.m. in St. Ann’s Church. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.
Sources: DignityMemorial.com