"A person that has a business that lasts 75 years has got to be well-respected, well-liked, and [have] a good business," Verdile's patron Ed Manny said. "And pretty much, that's what Verdile's is."

Manny has been eating meals at Lansingburgh's favorite Fourth Avenue restaurant since he was 10 years old. He's known Michael Verdile, Sr., ever since.

"You don't always have someone on the premises, as the owner, greeting their patrons," Manny said. "Sometimes the people can't be there. But Mike made it a point to always be here."

And it shows. The second-generation restaurant has been going strong since 1943 — most of that time under Verdile.

"If something seemed to be wrong to him, but not to anybody else; if he thought it was wrong, he straightened it out," Manny said. "That's somebody who runs a good business and knows how to do it."

The thing about Michael Verdile is, it wasn't just about Verdile's Restaurant for him. He served 15 years on the board at Lansingburgh's Boys and Girls Club. He served 15 more as director of Troy's Chamber of Commerce.

His high school classmate Jack Byrne says Verdile was a true asset for North Troy.

"Anybody who needed help, he helped them," Byrne said. "And he hired a lot of people that maybe otherwise wouldn't be hired. He was just a good person-person — or people-person."

His versatility was part of his legacy — at one point he even backed the R&B group Tavares, all the way to a gold record.

"He'll be missed as a friend, he'll be missed as a father and as a business owner up here in Lansingburgh," Manny said. "But I think in the end, the way he ran things and what he did will go on for as long as the family wants it to happen."

Verdile's legacy is the kind that goes on a long time.

"The family will just keep on running it the way he always did," Manny said.

Verdile's surviving family sent TWC News a short statement Thursday, saying, "The family of Michael P. Verdile expresses their sincere appreciation for the outpouring of support and kindness during this time."

Verdile was 81 years old.