People in East Liberty stopped in Peter J. Ortoleva's little shoe repair shop on Broad Street for three decades, dropping off desserts, dawdling for conversation, but primarily appreciating traditional craftmanship for their footwear of all kinds.

Mr. Ortoleva, who learned the trade from his Sicilian father, died Friday of pneumonia at West Penn Hospital. The longtime Morningside resident was 82, and had been slowed by emphysema since shutting Peter J. Ortoleva's Shoe Repair in 1988.

Mr. Ortoleva would spend long days in the dusty shop, devoting much of the time to shoe adjustments needed for people with various disabilities. In his off time, he was a fisherman and animal lover who trained the city squirrels in his back yard to take nuts from his hand after they scratched his rear screen door when they wanted food.

He grew up in Squirrel Hill, where his father owned Ross Ortoleva's Shoe Repair on Murray Avenue. After serving in the Navy during World War II and working for his father and a Downtown shoe shop upon his return, Mr. Ortoleva started his own business in Greenfield.

He relocated to East Liberty in the 1950s, and when his first shop there on Sheridan Avenue was destroyed by a fire, moved to Broad Street at Whitfield for the next 30 years. A broad mix of customers brought their needs to him, sometimes showing appreciation by bringing Mr. Ortoleva's favorite dessert: sweet potato pie.

The craftsman with bushy mustache and glasses toiled among racks of shoe polishes and accessories, a sanding machine, nailing machine, leather sewing machine and other equipment. He made orthopedic corrections, replaced heels, repaired soles and handled other adjustments to enable longtime customers to extract a few more years of wear out of their favorite shoes.

"Customers would stop in to drop off shoes and end up staying an hour and a half to talk," said his daughter, Donna Irlbacher of Pine, who worked for her father in the shop for 14 years. "He loved East Liberty and made an awful lot of friends there."

He and his wife, Eileen, whom he met at a Downtown bus stop, raised three girls in a home menagerie of sorts. There were fish and birds and snakes and dogs and turtles, and even pet squirrels indoors. In addition to the squirrels who came to the back door, cardinals would peck at the screen and then sit on a clothes line, regularly waiting for Mr. Ortoleva to share nuts with them.

In retirement, he was a doting grandfather, baby-sitting grandsons on a daily basis and teaching them another hobby of his: making model boats. He built plastic and wooden ships of all kinds, to the occasional irritation of his wife when he monopolized dining room space.

In addition to his wife and Ms. Irlbacher, he is survived by daughters Gina Schmidt of Springdale and Marianne Bianco of Plum; a sister, Marietta Cosentino of Wilkins; a half-sister, Josephine Hallo of Castle Shannon; and four grandchildren.

Arrangements by McCabe Brothers Funeral Home are private.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania Wildlife Center, 6000 Verona Road, Verona, PA 15147.