Profiles

For decades, Joseph Salerno served as a source of comfort for thousands of families and friends throughout the suburbs. In March, those family, friends and peers remembered and celebrated the 78-year-old funeral director who served as CEO of Salerno’s Rosedale in Roselle and Galewood Chapels in Chicago. In the early 1960s, Salerno entered the family business — which was founded more than a century ago by his grandfather Rosario D. Salerno — and became president of the operation in 1995. Under his stewardship, the family in 1994 opened their Roselle facility. George entered the family business at that time after …

The Rev. Richard LaPata was praised for 20 years of service to the Columbian Club of Chicago at the organization’s installation gala in January. First Vice President Mark Corrado delivered the following remarks before calling Fr. LaPata to the podium to accept an award: “Fr. LaPata came to know the Dominicans as a student at Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Illinois. Little did he know on his first day at Fenwick he would soon enter the Order of Preachers. Following graduation in 1950, young Dick LaPata joined dozens of classmates at the University of Notre Dame. After two years …

The Pav YMCA in Berwyn presented Carl Reina with the 2019 Robert W. Teeter Award on May 3 at Skylite West Banquets in Berwyn. The award is presented in memory of legendary community leader Robert W. Teeter. Reina was a founding member of the Italian American Civic Organization of Berwyn, using his home as collateral when the organization purchased its clubhouse. Reina served as feast committee chairman for the Maria SS. Lauretana Society for 44 years, when the feast was held in Cermak Plaza Shopping Center in Berwyn. He also played an active role in the Houby Day Parade and …

Through “The Italian American Experience,” John Viola shines a light on all that makes our heritage great. While our immigrant forebears sat by giant radio consoles to absorb the news, music and culture of Italy, today’s Italian Americans have podcasts and, among them, one has remarkable traction. How much? Try roughly 20,000 listens per episode. Not bad for a program that’s less than four years old and the product of programmers learning the ropes as they go. The driving force behind “The Italian American Experience” (italianamericanexperience.com) and its every-other-week companion, “The Italian American Power Hour,” is John Viola. If that …

Having participated in the liberation of Dachau during World War II, Joe Sacco inspired his son to write a book that bears witness to the atrocities he encountered. When I was a boy, my father often told me stories about World War II. I would listen with wide-eyed fascination as he recounted tales of how he and his buddies fought their way across Europe under the leadership of Gen. George S. Patton. He showed me Nazi swords, daggers and other artifacts he had collected as his battalion stormed through France and Germany en route to the ultimate victory. But there …

Fueled by her affinity for Italian opera’s great tragic heroines, Maria Agresta recently returned to Chicago to play the role that launched her flourishing career. With a candle in hand, a poor seamstress searching for a light enters the life of a poet in 19th century Paris. They fall in love, they spar, they reconcile, and finally they mourn a shared flame extinguished far too soon. It’s beautiful. It’s heartbreaking. It’s quintessential opera. Giacomo Puccini’s “La bohème,” which first premiered in 1896, initially received tepid reviews. But the critics didn’t do much to halt the opera’s meteoric rise, and more …

Sidelined for 16 years by injuries, Deanna Stellato returned to competitive skating with a bang, earning a U.S. bronze medal last year and setting her sights on the 2022 Olympics. A highly successful return to professional ice skating after a 16-year hiatus is not something Deanna Stellato ever envisioned. “It’s definitely not something I thought I would do,” says Stellato, 35, who with her skating partner Nathan Bartholomay earned a U.S. bronze medal last year. Stellato, a native of Illinois, competed as a junior until the 2000-2001 season. She had suffered multiple injuries and was having a hard time recovering …

As a Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape supervisor, Ron Centanni helped train everyone from foot soldiers headed for Vietnam to astronauts headed for space. The oldest of two sons, Ron Centanni was born in Chicago to Paul and Ida (DeMuro). The family lived on the 3400 block of Flournoy Street in a two-flat owned by Centanni’s paternal grandparents until they moved to Villa Park when Centanni was 4 years old. His father’s family emigrated from Sicily and his mother’s from Bari. Christmas Eve was celebrated at his maternal grandparents’ home. “It was always a tradition on Christmas Eve. We’d go …

The Flowers of Italy Club honored Berwyn Mayor Robert Lovero at its annual dinner dance on March 30 at Villa Brunetti in Franklin Park. (630-688-3153) The following profile was provided by the organization. Having resided in Berwyn for fifty-eight years, Robert J. (Bob) Lovero has made public service an integral part of his life. Throughout this time he has had the support of his family, including father Thomas (deceased), mother Alba, brother Scott, sister-in-law Lisa, wife Gail, son Thomas, daughter-in-law Ashley, daughters Danielle and Gabrielle, and grandsons Robert and Matthew. Bob began graduated from St. Mary of Celle Grammar School, …

Enlisting in the Army at the height of the Vietnam War, Jack Ross was at constant risk throughout his tour of duty as a point man tasked with scouting out enemy positions. The oldest of three boys, John “Jack” Rosucci was born in Chicago and lived in his maternal grandparents’ building near LaPorte and Armitage avenues until the family moved to River Grove when he was 5 years old. Ross’ father, John, and mother, Rita Nitti, were born in Chicago, and their parents emigrated from Bari and Sicily. Ross’ parents shortened their name from Rosucci when he was in third …