An enigma was buried Thursday in Niagara Falls.
John J. Gross, 87, was a plumber and contractor who achieved a unique status among the many colorful characters in Niagara Falls over the past half-century.
He was an admitted criminal who served three prison terms for bribery, theft, tax evasion and other crimes, but who also was beloved because of all the money and labor he donated to churches, charitable organizations, poor families and others.
“Enigma is exactly the word to describe him,” Niagara Falls Mayor Robert M. Restaino told The Buffalo News. “I’ve known John my entire life. I did not know the criminal side of him. No one’s ever going to say that he was a man without flaws. But there are many other people who knew him as a man with a golden heart, a guy who went out of his way to help people in need.”
“He really was the Robin Hood of Niagara Falls,” said Tony Farina, a journalist and longtime friend of Gross. “He was a larcenous old devil. He liked money and committed crimes. But he also was Robin Hood for a lot of people and organizations. Many people loved John. To me, his good deeds far outweighed his bad.”
A lifelong Niagara Falls resident, Gross died Dec. 19 after a brief illness in Mount St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston. He was buried after a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Vincent de Paul Church in the Falls. About 135 people filled the small church for the service.
In 1956, Gross started his business, Gross Plumbing and Heating, which operates from a nondescript building on Niagara Street. A master plumber, Gross retired in 2011 but continued to answer phones and assist his grandson, Jonathan, who took over the business.
A Buffalo News reporter asked Gross there last June how he hoped to be remembered when he was gone.
“I know I made some mistakes,” he said. “But I also know I did a lot of things to help people out. That’s what I hope I am remembered for.”
Many will remember Gross for…
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