{"id":2005,"date":"2026-06-12T19:05:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T19:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2005"},"modified":"2026-06-12T19:05:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T19:05:56","slug":"joe-negri-guitar-player-and-handyman-on-mister-rogers-neighborhood-dies-at-99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2005","title":{"rendered":"Joe Negri, Guitar Player and Handyman on \u2018Mister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood,\u2019 Dies at 99"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nJoe Negri, the musician best known for his work as the guitar-playing handyman on \u201cMister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood,\u201d died May 30 in Pittsburgh. He was 99. <\/p>\n

Negri\u2019s death was announced by his family.<\/p>\n

Negri and Fred Rogers first worked together in the early 1960s on a local Pittsburgh children\u2019s TV show. From 1968 through 2001, Negri played \u201cHandyman Negri\u201d on the popular PBS show \u201cMister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood.\u201d Negri often appeared on screen singing and playing his guitar, and eventually became the proprietor of the neighborhood music shop. In total, Negri appeared on 331 episodes of the long-running series throughout its entire run. Negri occasionally performed alongside guest stars such as Yo-Yo Ma, Tony Bennett and Wynton Marsalis.<\/p>\n

Born on June 10, 1926, in Pittsburgh, Negri began playing guitar at age 3 and performed on the radio as a child. He also worked as a professional musician as a teenager and toured nationally with bands in the 1940s before serving in the U.S. Army during World War II.<\/p>\n

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\n\tAfter the war, Negri returned to Pittsburgh, studied composition at Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University), and built his life and professional reputation in the city\u2019s jazz community, becoming a premiere guitarist. Over the years, Negri frequently appeared as a guest with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and its Pops concerts.<\/p>\n

Rogers later invited Negri to join him in a new WQED show in development that would become \u201cMister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood.\u201d Negri began performing music by the show\u2019s 13th episode, his first track being \u201cSometimes People Are Good,\u201d written by Rogers. Outside his time on \u201cMister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood,\u201d Negri played on several albums, including Michael Feinstein\u2019s 2010 standards album \u201cFly Me to the Moon.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an educator, Negri taught jazz guitar for nearly 50 years at the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University and Carnegie Mellon.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\u201cAt home, Joe was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. He took pride not only in what he played, but in the people he loved and the community he served. His wife, Joan, with whom he had been married for 72 years, was the quiet presence behind his business. He is remembered not just for his artistry, but for his ready smile, his patience, and his belief that music could make the world a kinder place,\u201d his family noted.<\/p>\n

He is survived by his wife of 72 years, Joan Negri; daughters, Lisa Negri (Robert Sickels), Laurie Bentz (Dr. William Bentz), and Gia Leven (Ronald Leven); and granddaughters, Alexandra Sickels, Nina Carlino and Natalie Leven.<\/p>\n

Funeral services were held privately, and contributions in his memory can be made to the St. Jude Children\u2019s Research Hospital.<\/p>\n

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Joe Negri, the musician known for his work as the guitar playing handyman on \u201cMister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood,\u201d died May 30. 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