[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 10, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1725-E1726]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO DR. GENNARO DIMASO

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DAVID E. BONIOR

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 10, 1997

  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to honor a man who has 
spent over 45 years of his life compassionately caring for children. On 
the evening of September 23, 1997, Dr. Gennaro DiMaso will celebrate 
his retirement from the medical profession with friends and colleagues 
at the Barrister Gardens in St. Clair Shores.
  While selling vegetables with his father and brother, Gennaro DiMaso 
dreamed of becoming a doctor. This was a dream he pursued with great 
determination. At age 13, young Gennaro made a deal with his father 
that if he did not excel in school, he would return to selling 
vegetables. In the St. Francis Preparatory High School annual, it was 
remarked that ``Gennaro's great ambition is to become a doctor, and it 
is our guess that he will make an excellent one.'' After completing his 
undergraduate work at Columbia University, Dr. DiMaso realized his 
dream by earning his medical degree in pediatrics from Boston 
University.
  After graduation from medical school, Dr. DiMaso was drafted into the 
U.S. Army and practiced pediatrics for 2 years in Heidelberg, Germany 
at the American Army Occupation Center. After returning to the United 
States, Dr DiMaso joined the staff of St. John's Hospital in 1954.
  Dr. DiMaso knows that trust, hope, assurance, compassion, and hugs 
will create a comfortable feeling in an otherwise scary situation. His 
humane nature never allowed him to

[[Page E1726]]

turn away a child who needed his healing touch. Dr. DiMaso once said, 
``Babies and children are the elixir, the last pure thing on earth. Hug 
them, don't stop hugging them.'' For these reasons, when his patients 
grow up, they bring their own children to Dr. DiMaso. I would like to 
thank and congratulate Dr. DiMaso for his kind work. I am sure many 
mothers, fathers, and children will miss his kind contributions.

                          ____________________