[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 118 (Wednesday, September 9, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1657]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO ANGELO R. MUSTO, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JOSEPH P. KENNEDY II

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 9, 1998

  Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay 
tribute to one of East Boston's most beloved and dedicated public 
servants. Angelo R. Musto, Jr., who died on July 4, 1998, left an 
inspiring legacy of bettering the lives of all he knew throughout the 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
  In more than eight decades on earth, there was no arena of community 
life neglected by Angelo Musto. Politics, social services, business 
development, youth programs--wherever there was a need, Angelo filled 
it. In his professional career, Angelo demonstrated the same spirit of 
selfless service, particularly in steering troubled youngsters towards 
a brighter future.
  He began his career in the depths of the Great Depression with the 
National Youth Administration. He later became a counselor with the 
East Boston Camps and joined the Goodwill House in Jeffries Point, 
eventually rising to executive director in charge of a wide array of 
social, educational, and recreational services.
  In recognition of his expertise, the late Governor John A. Volpe made 
Angelo a special assistant in the Boston Municipal Court in 1957 and 
later appointed him to the Massachusetts Advisory Committee on 
Corrections to help the criminal justice system mend broken lives more 
effectively. He was later appointed to the Suffolk County Courthouse 
Commission. In 1965, Angelo was appointed Deputy Commissioner of 
Probations and 13 years later rose to become First Deputy Commissioner.
  Angelo actively worked with the East Boston Chamber of Commerce for 
over 40 years and received its Man of the Year Award in 1973. He also 
served on the boards of the United Fund, the Kiwanis, the Mental Health 
Area Board, the East Boston Savings Bank and the East Boston Social 
Centers. Among his many accomplishments, perhaps the most notable was 
the creation of the Goodwill House Day Program in Jeffries Point, which 
to this day serves as a national model for urban day camps.
  Throughout his years of service, Angelo remained firmly committed to 
improving the lives of our youth. His work as the general director of 
the East Boston Camps and as a member of the East Boston Athletic Board 
helped give city kids a reprieve from the streets and taught them the 
values he embraced--discipline, compassion and strength of body and 
mind. By the time I launched my first campaign for Congress in 1986, 
Angelo Musto had already cultivated the talents of three generations of 
East Boston's youth and drew on those far-reaching ties to create a 
formidable political presence in East Boston.
  During that first campaign, he drew extensively on his detailed 
knowledge of the history of the community, reaching back to the arrival 
of the Kennedys in East Boston. Angelo knew the history, but most 
importantly he knew the people and the issues they cared about--quality 
health care, good schools, decent housing, access to college, and 
protection from outside forces that have long sought to sacrifice East 
Boston's quality of life to the airline industry.
  The eager volunteers that fanned out across East Boston in 1986 
quickly learned the rules of politics as taught by Angelo. I recall one 
incident in which one of the higher-profile members of my campaign team 
upbraided a volunteer in our East Boston headquarters. Angelo stepped 
in, and with the persuasive skill he had acquired through years of 
politicking, calmed the rising tension, gently rebuked the bigwig and 
at the same time made it clear that the Kennedy team in East Boston 
would never be a house divided.
  Throughout the years that followed, Angelo Musto remained an 
invaluable member of my Congressional team. As my East Boston District 
Representative and 8th District Coordinator for Seniors from 1987 until 
his retirement in 1992, he served as a vital link to the community--
attending meetings, fielding constituent calls, and working to fund 
worthy projects. His dedication to the comfort of East Boston's senior 
citizens resulted in such accomplishments as securing federal support 
to renovate the Don Orione Nursing Home.
  With Angelo's passing, my heart goes out to his daughter Faith, his 
brothers Louis and Vincent, his sisters Lucille, Emma, and Theresa, and 
to his grandchildren George and Lisa.
  The truth is, we were all a part of Angelo Musto's extended family, 
which reached across lines of age and party and profession to include 
the great sweep of those whose lives he touched and served.

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