Paul Chupka was the kind of person who was always pleasant and never complained.

He loved his pastries and always had to have them on hand. His favorite was chocolate chip cookies.

"He was just a very easygoing person," said his wife, Pauline Chupka, of Tarentum. "He never got mad and never complained about anything."

Mrs. Chupka joked that her husband's mellow demeanor may have had something to do with all those pastries.

"Maybe that's why he was so pleasant," she said with a chuckle.

Mr. Chupka died Sunday at the William Penn Care Center in Penn Township after an extended illness. He was 81.

Born April 6, 1927, in East Vandergrift, Mr. Chupka lived most of his life in Tarentum.

He was a World War II veteran, serving with the Army Air Corps in the European theater. He worked for 46 years as an assembler for PPG Industries in Creighton, where he retired in 1989. It was at PPG that he met his wife.

"It happened so fast. We just hit it off right off the bat. We didn't have a car, so we used to take the bus downtown to do things together," she said.

The couple married in 1945 after more than a year of dating.

Mrs. Chupka said she and her husband enjoyed traveling, and participated in many bus tours. They particularly liked the overnight and three-night tours, including one they took to California.

"We did a lot of traveling," she said. "We always would go gambling, especially in Wheeling [W.Va.]."

In addition to traveling, Mr. Chupka was an avid sports fan, enjoying hockey, baseball and football.

"The Penguins were his thing," said Mrs. Chupka. "He used to like them a lot and would go to games when he could."

He also enjoyed playing bingo and working puzzles.

Mr. Chupka was a member of Holy Martyrs Church in Tarentum and belonged to the Brackenridge American Legion, Natrona Heights Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Tarentum Jednota, a club.

He was a life member of the Summit Hose Co. in Tarentum. He also was a member of the Western Pennsylvania Firemen's Association and the Allegheny Valley Firemen's Association.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Dennis Chupka, of Harrison City; and Gary Chupka, of Rockville, Md.; a daughter, Karen Isola, of Poland, Ohio; three grandchildren and two great-granddaughters. Also surviving are two brothers, Joseph Chupka of Florham Park, N.J., and Lawrence Chupka, of West Leechburg.

A Mass was celebrated Wednesday in the Holy Martyrs Church. Entombment followed in the Our Lady of Hope Mausoleum in Frazer.