SIAMO UNA FAMIGLIA
PASSING OF TERESA SCALZO
AMHS mourns the loss of one of our members, Teresa Scalzo. On May 23, 2016, Teresa lost her courageous battle against a rare, aggressive form of cancer. Originally from Easton, Pennsylvania, where her brother is the police chief, Teresa earned her law degree in 1993 from Temple University School of Law. She started her career as a public defender and then as an assistant district attorney specializing in crimes of violence against women and children.
She moved to Washington, D.C., to work for the National District Attorneys Association. She later worked for the Defense Department and Navy. At the time of her death, Teresa was the deputy director at Navy JAG Trial Assistance Program where she served as the Navy’s expert on sexual prosecutions. She wrote manuals for use by judges and prosecutors, and won numerous awards for her work.
Teresa was very proud of her Italian heritage and loved traveling to Italy. One of her great-uncles was a Carabinieri and Teresa had in her possession a medal that he had won. She was very happy to have the opportunity to meet General Tornabene, the speaker at one of our AMHS events a few years ago, and she showed him the medal which he confirmed was a medal for valor.
A couple years ago, Teresa traveled to Sicily to research her family history on her mother’s side of the family. She went to the little town of Santo Stefano di Camastra not far from Palermo, and what she discovered about her family became the subject of an article she wrote for the AMHS Notiziario in January 2014. All those who knew Teresa will miss kindness, humility, wit and love for life. Riposi in pace. (Submitted by Nancy DeSanti)
KUDOS TO MIKE DeBONIS, WASHINGTON POST REPORTER
Some of you who are regular readers of the Washington Post may have seen a familiar name on some of the recent front-page articles about the U.S. Congress. The byline belongs to our fellow AMHS member Mike DeBonis, who is a nephew of one of our Past Presidents, Omero Sabatini. Mike has also participated in several national TV talk shows. And if you watched the CBS Evening News on June 18, you may recall that it reported on part of a press conference of House Speaker Paul Ryan.
While answering a question on Donald Trump's relationship with the Washington Post, the Speaker interrupted himself to ask "Is someone from the Washington Post here? Is DeBonis here?" Then Mike, who was there, asked a question of his own. So it was obvious that the Speaker knows who Mike is. Mike and his wife Dena attend almost all of our social meetings.
Over the past 15 years, we have seen him grow professionally, from writing first for the Georgetown University's newspapers, when he was a student there, then for The City Paper, and now for getting national recognition, making a name for himself at the Washington Post. Congratulations, Mike and keep up the good work. (Submitted by Nancy DeSanti).