Profiles

After almost making the Olympic team, Christina Desiderio transitioned from elite- to college-level gymnastics and she couldn’t be happier. Eighteen-year-old gymnast Christina Desiderio says competing at the 2016 Olympic trials after earning a spot twice on the U.S. national team was by far the highlight of her career. “19,000 people, not a seat empty! Two days that I will never forget,” she says. “I worked for 10 years of my life to try to make it to the 2016 Olympics,” she says. “That didn’t happen, but I got as close to my dream as I possibly could and I was …

Part of an elite strike force that led the charge to unseat Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, Sammy DiTusa and his battalion left the country 20 days later with a victory in hand. On Dec. 17, 1989, President George H. Bush gave “Operation Just Cause” the green light, setting in motion the U.S. invasion of Panama. The goal was to capture Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and restore democracy to Panama. The invasion was set for the predawn hours of Dec. 20, a scant three days later. The lead elements of the invasion represented a cross section of the U.S. military’s finest. …

As executive director of the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles, Marianna Gatto has made it her life’s work to celebrate L.A.’s rich and largely unknown Italian legacy. Los Angeles is all too well known for its Hollywood heavies, rock stars and thriving Latino culture. But as Marianna Gatto will gladly tell you, Italian roots run rich and deep there in ways unlike any other American metropolis. Gatto, who serves as the executive director of the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles, dreamt of forming the institution that she now runs ever since first setting foot in an abandoned Italian …

The Arcolian Dental Arts Society honored Dr. Geri Ann DiFranco as Arcolian of the Year at the society’s annual Christmas Party on Dec. 11 at the Park Ridge Country Club. (847-304-4442). “Geri is a woman of outstanding ethical and moral character who exemplifies the society’s ideals of professionalism, education and service to the community,” says Arcolian President Dr. Rosella Spadoni. “She has been active in the society and in dentistry in general and she is very giving of her time and talents to worthy causes.” A graduate of the Loyola University Dental School and Periodontal Program, she shares a periodontal …

Richard Montalbano began collecting religious artifacts more than 40 years ago, enshrining them in a small chapel he built in his family’s furniture-making factory in Bellwood. Over the years, his collection grew to more than 360 statues and 375 relics, and when he closed his factory in 2000, a special chapel was built to house them in the Visitation Parish Convent at 799 S. York Road in Elmhurst. Open from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. every Sunday, the Crypt of the Saints also contains a library of more than 700 books, as well as its newest acquisition: a replica of …

In the thick of battle during the Vietnam War, Sam Scardino was so severely wounded in a landmine explosion that doctors initially thought he had perished in the blast. The second of five children, Samuel Scardino was born in Chicago to Samuel and Doris (Marquardt) Scardino. The family lived in the Italian neighborhood of California and Arthington avenues, near his grandparents, Vincenzo and Filomena, who emigrated from Campobello di Mazara, Sicily. With grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins right down the street, the family always gathered at someone’s house. “No matter what you did, on Sunday after church you had to …

Chris Vaccaro created a digital-age dynasty at Topps that built on the glory days of America’s most legendary baseball card company. If we’re lucky, we live out childhood dreams in adult careers, the preeminent example being the Little Leaguer who makes the starting lineup of a major league baseball team. While Chris Vaccaro never swung a bat at Yankee Stadium, he hit a grand slam when he became editor-in-chief and digital director at the Topps Company. Having collected sports cards as a kid — thousands of them — Vaccaro already had a heartstring attachment to the Topps product. Yet as …

An epoch has come to an end with the retirement of Josephine Petitti as executive director of the Midwest District of the Italian Sons and Daughters of America. “It’s been a long and wonderful run, and it’s been an honor to serve,” says Petitti, who has more get-up-and-go at 90 than most folks do at half her age. A driving force for the local ISDA and the Italo-American National Union before it, Petitti joined the IANU Bianco Lodge half a century ago, taking charge of its annual St. Joseph Table and helping to transform it into a thriving annual event. …

After spending the last 15 years in corporate dining, Mark Triggiano is returning to his roots as the new chef at Casa Italia. “I learned so much from working in the corporate world, but garlic and red sauce are in my DNA, so this is like coming home for me,” says Triggiano, who served as both unit and chef manager for Motorola and Compass North America. It should come as no surprise that his grandmother was a formative influence. While his fellow students at St. Cyprian elementary school in River Grove were muddling through sloppy Joes in the school lunchroom, …

The son of a World War I veteran, Fred Randazzo served with pride during World War II and has dedicated his life to supporting all veterans before and since.   It’s that time of the year when we pay tribute to all veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces who have served our country through the centuries. Since Nov. 11, 1954, Veterans Day has been observed as a national holiday in America. Originally dubbed Armistice Day, it marks the anniversary of the end of World War I, which formally came to a close at the 11th hour of the 11th day …