Ernest Acuna

Ernest Acuna – Korean War Veteran, Cpl. United States Army

Ernest “Tito” Acuna of Shoreham, NY passed away on June 12, 2024 at the age of 93. Ernest was born on September 29th, 1930 in Talagante, Santiago, Chile. He immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager, and was incredibly proud to become a U.S. citizen following his service as a Corporal in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.

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Ernest was self-taught in all aspects of his life. First, and foremost, he made it his mission to teach himself English to communicate with and court his wife of 70 years, Francine Acuna. They were introduced by her brother in the Bronx, NY, married in April of 1954, and built their life together in Lindenhurst, NY. In order to support himself and his family, Ernest learned to be an auto mechanic, and used these skills to become a small business owner, opening multiple successful auto repair shops on Long Island. In 1985, he changed careers, where he got the opportunity to be a pressman for the New York Newsday for 10 years. As an avid newspaper reader, he was dedicated to his job at Newsday and was delighted to be part of the team that brought the newspaper to thousands of readers each day. Ernest retired in 1995.

As a young man in Chile, Ernest was a semi-professional soccer player. He continued playing soccer on a recreational team in Lindenhurst in his 50s, and could be found coaching his young son on the soccer field on weekends. He was also a die-hard New York Yankees fan, and was usually donning an article of team apparel to show support for his favorite team while happily chanting “Let’s Go, Yankees!”

Ernest was passionate about cooking and enjoying good food, typically enhanced with homegrown hot peppers, and instilled the importance of coming together to enjoy a meal as a family. Family was always his number one priority and spending time cooking for and spending time with family is what made him happiest.

He was always proud — proud of his Chilean heritage, proud to be a U.S. citizen, but most of all, so unbelievably proud of his family.

Ernest leaves behind his wife Francine, daughter Deborah Blind and her husband Bill of Shoreham, son Robert Acuna and his wife Suzanne of North Carolina, and daughter Francine Hartley and her husband Gary of Hauppauge, NY. He is preceded in death by beloved sons John and Anthony Acuna. He leaves behind nine granddaughters, Melissa, Rachel, Heather, Jennifer, Jessica, Rebecca, Alex, Olivia and Juliana, and thirteen great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at Branch Funeral Home of Smithtown at 190 East Main Street, Smithtown, NY. Visiting hours are Thursday, June 20th from 2-4 PM and 7-9 PM. Funeral service with military honors to be held at Calverton Cemetery at 210 Princeton Boulevard, Calverton, NY. Procession to meet at Branch Funeral Home at 10 AM.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Wounded Warrior Project https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/ or Paws of War https://pawsofwar.org/.

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