He woke up early nearly every morning to catch the bus at 6:30 a.m. from his apartment in Swissvale, no matter the weather. Harry Fink was dedicated and had worked at Giant Eagle as a union employee since he was 16 years old.

“He was the soldier bee, he was the bus driver, the newspaper guy, the milk guy,” said his brother David Fink, 58, of Forest Hills. “You can’t have an army without soldiers and not everyone can be a general.”

Mr. Fink died of brain cancer Friday at Sivitz Jewish Hospice in Squirrel Hill. He was 56.

Even after he got the diagnosis, Mr. Fink remained remarkably independent. He retired from the Squirrel Hill Giant Eagle only 10 weeks before his death, after David Fink told his brother’s managers that he had little time left.

In the five years that he lived with brain cancer, he took perhaps three weeks off from work all while undergoing radiation therapy and chemotherapy, his brother said — and he hadn’t even wanted to.

“I brought him home from the hospital to my house after brain surgery and he spent one night at my house,” Mr. Fink said. “He was over-the-top as a hard worker.”

He had worked at Giant Eagle stores in Squirrel Hill, Oakland and Greenfield, working his way up to produce manager at the Squirrel Hill store.

Every Saturday, Mr. Fink would visit Alan’s Pets and Plants on Murray Avenue, bringing along food the supermarket couldn’t sell. “He collected scrap [vegetables] from the floor and brought them in for the animals,” said a friend, Vinnie Visco, 57, of Squirrel Hill.

Living in Swissvale, he spent most of his formative years frequenting Frick Park, riding his bike and walking the trails. Now, his friends are donating a bench to the park in his name.

“He was smart and only said something when he had something to say,” Mr. Fink recalled. “He wasn’t a social guy; you had to get to know him. He didn’t jump into a conversation, he liked to listen.”

In his spare time, he listened to rock music from the 1960s and 1970s, preferring Pink Floyd, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin. He played Dungeons and Dragons with friends every Sunday for about 12 hours for at least 10 years.

His best friend, Jeff Lucas, 57, of Swisshelm Park, recalls a camping trip to Canada during the summer of 1983. The two had gone camping with friends many times before in Washington County, but this was a first.

They went canoeing and stayed far out in the wildnerness, somewhere about four miles north of Niagara Falls.

“The lake was perfectly flat and we sat in the boat and looked at all the stars that reflected on the lake. It was like we were in outer space,” Mr. Lucas said. “[Harry] was just dumbfounded, he was like, ‘Oh wow, this is really cool.’ ”

Despite his calm demeanor and preference for staying away from attention, he was best man at his brother’s wedding and gave a speech.

“It was funny, it was well-spoken and he surprised everyone, especially me,” Mr. Fink said. “He really came out of his shell to make fun of me and congratulate me at my wedding.”

He was witty but also brutally honest.

“I asked him if he was afraid to die and he said, ‘I’ll be dead, what do I care?’ ” Mr. Fink said. “That was just Harry.”

Once, Mr. Fink asked his brother, “I wonder if I could have done more with my life?” He considered for a moment, before finishing, “I’m a blue collar guy and I’m good at it.”

In addition to David Fink, Mr. Fink also is survived by brothers Gary and Michael.

The funeral is private.

Courtney Linder: clinder@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1707. Twitter: @LinderPG.

First Published: November 21, 2017, 11:44 p.m.