By Steve Svetovich

Delvi Olivetti started Dunmore Roofing 70 years ago.

And 70 years later, at 97, he is still involved in the business located at 158 Tigue St., Dunmore.

If not for a recent illness, Olivetti would still be making his daily stop to Dunmore Roofing and Supply. He was still working through the end of last year.

With the help of his late brothers Leo and Armand, Olivetti started Dunmore Roofing in 1952.

For many years, Olivetti was the owner and operator of Dunmore Roofing. His son Delvi Olivetti, Jr., took over as president several years ago. . Recently the ownership was transitioned to David Olivetti, Jr., a grandson. However, the senior Olivetti at 97 kept his hands in the business by working in the office every day.

Olivetti also was the owner and operator of Keystone Container, Service, Inc., 5 Keystone Industrial Park Road, Dunmore, since 1976. The business is still family owned.

And Olivetti is about as humble a man as you will find.

A kind-hearted gentleman, he retains a highly sharp mind and memory.

The 1944 Dunmore graduate is also a war hero. He was shot in the right shoulder by a sniper in France in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II in September of 1944. For this, he received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star among other military honors.

He was also awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the Meritorius Unit Commendation Medal, the European/African Campaign Medal, the Workd War II Victory Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Honorable Service Badge and the Marksman/Rifle Badge.

The World War II army veteran remembered. “I was shot in the right shoulder and fell right to the ground,” he said. “I could hear the sniper still shooting at me. I could hear the bullets flying right over my head. I layed there on the ground until daylight. Then a medic found me and carried me off.

“They sent me to a hospital in France. Then they moved me to the 188th General Hospital in England. I was there for a few months. Then I was sent back to hospitals in the United States in Washington, D.C., Richmond, Virginia and Gettysburg. I was in a hospital for a time in Atlantic City, New Jersey too.

“After getting out of the hospital, the army sent me to Fort Meade, Maryland, where I worked as a prison guard until discharge in April 1946.

Olivetti then came back to his Dunmore home on 400 Boyle Street. He continues to live in the same home to this day.

Olivetti had entered the service March 7, 1944 in U.S. Army Company C – 2nd Infantry Regiment in Fort Meade, Maryland. He was deployed in the Northern France Campaign Aug. 23, 1944.

After his return home, he delivered coal and worked in the roofing industry from 1946 through 1952 before starting Dunmore Roofing at 408 Boyle Street right next to his home. The business in later years moved to its current location.

He married the former Rose Domenick in 1951. The couple had three children: Arlene Golden, 69, Delvi, Jr., 66, and David, 59.

His wife passed away in 2014. The couple had been married 63 years.

Olivetti is very proud not only of his two sons and daughter, but of his nine grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

Delvi played baseball at Franklin Elementary School in Dunmore and enjoys watching football, college basketball and the NBA and Major League Baseball, particularly the New York Yankees. He keeps up on current events and closely watches news regarding the War in Ukraine.

A kind-hearted gentleman, Olivetti is very much up on the happenings and politics in the Dunmore Borough and his businesses of Dunmore Roofing and Keystone Container. He is very much on top of local and national sports and news events.

With a mind as sharp as ever, Olivetti remains close to his roots and his family and friends.

Always very even-tempered, he has a love of Dunmore and the neighborhood he grew up in which is evident in the constant gleam in his eyes.

“I’ve lived in the same house my entire life,” he said. “I love sitting on the porch and talking to the neighbors. I have a great family who visit me and keep an eye on me all the time. And we keep Dunmore Roofing and Keystone Container going to serve the public.”