CARTHAGE - A Celebration of Life is scheduled for family and friends to honor the lives of Richard and Laura Prievo, longtime residents of Carthage, New York. Calling hours will be held on April 27 from 3-5pm, at the Bezanilla-McGraw Funeral Home, Carthage, New York. A prayer service will follow.

Richard passed on April 21, 2024, a resident of the Hospice House in Watertown, New York. He was 93 years of age. Laura passed on March 25, 2024 at the Carthage Area Hospital. She was 91 years of age. The couple had been married for 73 years.

Richard was born on February 12, 1931, the second son of Carlton and Helene (Lena) Prievo. He attended Carthage High School where he was a member of the varsity basketball squad. He also represented his school on the football and baseball fields.

On April 12, 1948 Richard joined the United States Air Force and served as Staff Sergeant until his Honorable Discharge in 1952. He participated in Exercise Swarmer in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, a large-scale military exercise conducted by the United States Air Force, United States Army, and United States Navy. It was designed to prepare the U.S. Troops for the Berlin AirLift. After his Honorable Discharge, Richard continued serving his country for another seven years in the Air Force Reserves.

Richard married Laura Mae Hicks on December 23, 1950. The couple lived for a time at Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts before returning to the Carthage area.

He is survived by his six children: Steven Prievo and Georgina Hegney, Kathleen and Jim Clark, Brenda and Richard Cross, Ernest and Cheryl Prievo, Barbara Prievo, and Michael and Debra Prievo.

He is also survived by his sixteen grandchildren, twenty-four great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife, Laura, his parents, and siblings Reginald, Sandra Myers and Patricia Martin.

Richard worked as an electrician at Crown Zellerbach, General Motors in Syracuse, NY, and retired from the St. Regis Paper Mill. He was a member of the Steel Workers Union and a past commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Contributions in Richard's name can be made to the Carthage Volunteer Fire Department, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, or Hospice of Jefferson County. For their care and compassion, the family would like to thank the Carthage Volunteer Fire Department's First Responders, the Carthage Area Rescue Squad, and the staff at Hospice of Jefferson County.