Profiles

As an analyst for the Air National Guard, Paul Lauricella was tasked with tracking the spread of COVID in Illinois and helped to identify locations for testing centers and then vaccination sites. The older of two children, Paul Lauricella was born in Elmhurst, Illinois, to Paul and Christine Ackerman Lauricella. His paternal great-grandparents emigrated separately from Agrigento, Sicily, with their families, met in Chicago and married. Lauricella grew up in Bloomingdale enjoying family gatherings and a combination of Italian, German and American cultures and foods. His paternal grandparents lived in Chicago Ridge. “For me, growing up in the suburbs and …

When Sofia Cantore joined America’s National Women’s Soccer League, little did she know she was stepping over a threshold that had never been crossed before. Before the age of 26, Italian soccer star Sofia Cantore compiled an impressive resume in her native land. At just 17, she signed with Juventus, considered the top club in Italy’s top women’s soccer league, and appeared in over 120 league matches, tallying more than 40 goals and 20 assists in the process. At the international level, Cantore is a Team Italy mainstay. She scored five goals for Le Azzurre in fewer than 50 games …

After 45 years in national distribution and sales, Tom Damigella is putting the finishing touches on a decade-long quest to spotlight the Italian legacy in his native Boston and beyond. A Boston-area native, Tom Damigella has enjoyed a diverse and impactful career spanning multiple decades. With a bachelor’s degree in criminology and a master’s degree in social work, both from Boston University, Damigella worked with troubled youth before joining Damigella Distributors, the family’s franchised Tupperware business. He spent 45 years there, developing the business into a Top 10 Tupperware distributorship in North America and overseeing a sales force of 600 …

Built at Camp Atterbury during its three-year stint as an internment camp for Italian POWs during World War II, the chapel stands today as a testament to the perseverance and faith of its creators. Nestled among the 40,351 acres that encompass Camp Atterbury in Indiana is a tiny chapel built in a meadow. This is no ordinary chapel, not because of anything strange or unusual, but because of who built it and how it was built. Camp Atterbury is a military complex used by the National Guard, 30 miles south of Indianapolis off U.S. Route 31 near Edinburgh. From 1943 …

Born and raised in the Chicago area, Christina Toniolo helped lead Team Italy to victory in the European championships. When Fra Noi last checked in with softball pitcher Christina Toniolo for the June 2024 issue, the Crystal Lake, Illinois, native reported that she’d been recruited to the Italian National Team and helped the squad earn third place at the Canada Cup International Softball Championship. In 2025, Toniolo suited back up for “Le Azzurre” and helped the team accomplish even more. Team Italy won the 2025 Women’s Softball European Championship Gold Medal, claiming the top prize in the 21-team tournament. Toniolo …

Born and raised in the Big Easy, Charles Marsala has helped transform the way the public views the city’s vibrant Sicilian past. From the time he spearheaded the recognition of Italian History Week when he was high school student council president, Charles Marsala has been steadfastly devoted to honoring the contributions of Italian immigrants in his native New Orleans and across Louisiana. Marsala has served as president of the American-Italian Federation for the Southeast since 2019, and established the Marsala Cultural Fund to support projects to memorialize local Italian American history in film, TV and historic markers. A businessman and …

For Tracey Tarantino, fashion is a constant, an integral part of daily life that naturally evolves with her activities and environment. “For me, fashion isn’t about adhering to ‘high’ fashion trends,” she explains. “It’s about expressing a personal, elevated and curated sense of form, fit and function that aligns with my lifestyle.” Tarantino is the founder and executive director of Zzazz Productions, a Chicago area company that produces fashion shows. The company produced the domestic traveling fashion show for United Health Care and the original live and video fashion shows for JourneyCare, Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind, Ingalls Hospital, Service …

Le Marche is a region in eastern Italy between the Apennine Mountains and the Adriatic Sea. In 1907, emigrants from the region who had settled in Chicago Heights after leaving their homeland for a chance at a better life in America founded an ethnic mutual aid society then called the Società di Mutuo Sorcorso Unione Marchegiana. While the group has evolved over the ensuing 118 years —including incorporating as a non-profit under the name of Marchegiana Society of Chicago Heights — it continues to thrive today. Ron Lucarini, who has served as the group’s president for the past 16 years, …

On Oct. 11, the Florentine Room in the Italian Cultural Center at Casa Italia was packed to capacity to hear Enrico Benedetti M.D., FACS give his first-ever public presentation about his work and life. The lecture was titled “Reflections of an Italian Medical Immigrant in the U.S.” and it was received with rapt attention. Dr. Benedetti grew up in the countryside near Gubbio, first studying at the University of Florence from 1979-85 graduating cum laude with his medical degree and then continuing his residency into 1989. He desired to practice medicine in the United States so he applied to 110 …

The Arcolian Dental Arts Society will present Ron Onesti with the 2025 Arcolian of the Year Award at its Christmas party on Dec. 9 at Venuti’s in Addison. (Dr. Chuck Martello, 815-666-4959) The following profile was provided by the organization: Ron Onesti currently serves as president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans and the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame and third vice president of the Italian American Veterans Museum and is a past chairman of Casa Italia. For most people, that would be a lifetime’s worth of achievements, but for Ron, it’s only the tip of …