David Sunseri Jr. was the first grandchild of the Sunseri family's fourth generation, a charismatic young man who planned to carry on the traditions of his family's Strip District business, the Pennsylvania Macaroni Co.

Instead, Mr. Sunseri unexpectedly died of sleep apnea on Saturday morning, according to his mother, Cindy Sunseri. He was 24.

Her son was a dynamic person who delighted in pleasing others -- especially his family -- and wouldn't hesitate to pick up the restaurant tab for a wholesale client he saw dining out, or to stop by his grandmothers' homes to shovel snow or run errands, Mrs. Sunseri said.

"He wanted everybody to feel good and welcome, and he always wanted to make sure everybody was taken care of to the best," she said. "He was one of those types of children who was always thinking of everybody else."

Mr. Sunseri, of Mt. Lebanon, graduated in 2003 from The Kiski School, a private boys boarding school in Saltsburg where he held the second spot on the school's golf team and batted fourth on the school's championship baseball team. After graduation, he attended Ohio University for three years, serving as president of the university's waterski team.

In 2006, he transferred to Robert Morris University, where he would have been a senior this fall, to be closer to his family.

During high school and his first few years of college, Mr. Sunseri spent his summers pouring concrete and doing other construction work for his maternal grandfather's business, Mosites Construction Co.

But last summer, Mr. Sunseri began working in the family business begun by his paternal great-grandfather, Augustino Sunseri, in 1902, run by his grandfather Salvatore for decades and still run by his father, David Sr., and three uncles.

There, he found his love.

"He loved the business, he loved the action," Mrs. Sunseri said. "Every day it was a different story, a different product, a different person walking in the door -- everybody comes into Pennsylvania Macaroni."

Her son, vice president of marketing for the company, had a talent for relating to people, and used that skill to find new wholesale customers among the city's restaurateurs, from managers of pizza shops to owners of upscale restaurants, and to keep existing clients satisfied.

On sales calls at restaurants, he sometimes would pick up the bill for customers he saw dining out, to thank them for their business. He also wasn't afraid to get dirty, helping some customers make dough at their pizza shops and coming home covered in flour.

Some customers, such as Carmen Pirain of Joe Cestone's Pizzeria on McFarland Road in Mt. Lebanon, began as wholesale clients but quickly became friends.

Mr. Pirain would shop at Penn Mac every morning to buy cheese, pepperoni and other pizza-making supplies. Eventually, Mr. Sunseri began stopping by Joe Cestone's, first to talk about business, then just to talk.

Along the way, he became a favorite of the Mt. Lebanon High School students who come in for slices. And to Mr. Pirain, his wife and their young son and daughter, he became like a family member.

"He was like my little brother," said Mr. Pirain, 31. "Dave was the kind of kid who would do anything for you -- he had such a great heart."

Mr. Sunseri was the only fourth-generation Sunseri working at Penn Mac, according to Mrs. Sunseri. So far, she said, neither his sister, Elizabeth, nor any of his cousins -- all of whom are younger -- seem interested in taking over the family business someday.

"There's no one yet," she said.

Besides his parents and sister, Mr. Sunseri is survived by his paternal grandmother, Sally Sunseri; and his maternal grandparents, Steven and Marian Mosites.

Visitation will be at the William Slater II Funeral Service, 1650 Greentree Road, Scott, tomorrow from 1 to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m. A Mass will be celebrated at St. Bernard Church in Mt. Lebanon on Wednesday at 10 a.m., followed by burial at Mt. Lebanon Cemetery.

Donations can be made to the David John Sunseri Memorial Scholarship, in care of The Kiski School, 1888 Brett Lane, Saltsburg, PA 15681.