Joe Negri from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood has died at 99

Readers, are you ready to be really depressed? Another nice person from your childhood passed away. Joe Negri, the jazz guitarist who spent decades playing the musical handyman on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, has died at the age of 99.

His death was announced on Sunday, just days before he was set to celebrate his 100th birthday on June 10. According to TMZ, he passed away over the weekend.

Negri was a fixture in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe from 1968 until the show stopped filming new episodes in 2000. He was never just an actor holding a prop. He was a legitimate, highly accomplished jazz musician. Born in Pittsburgh in 1926, he began performing on the radio as a child and eventually played with major orchestras. He taught jazz guitar at the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University for decades. He actually established the entire jazz guitar program at Duquesne. When he showed up on television to play a song, that was a masterclass happening in the middle of a children's broadcast.

32 years of fixing things

Negri's television role was simple but effective. He was the friendly guy who fixed things and played music. The show focused heavily on social and emotional development. Having a recurring character who calmly solved problems while playing jazz guitar fit perfectly into that framework.

Children's television rarely treats its audience with the level of respect that Mister Rogers' Neighborhood did. The show hired actual professionals to do their actual jobs on camera. Negri did not have to pretend to be a musician. He just brought his real-world expertise into a fictional neighborhood and shared it with millions of viewers.

He spent 32 years showing up on public television to help out around the neighborhood. He almost made it to a century.