[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 153 (Wednesday, October 10, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2098-E2099]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN REMEMBRANCE OF ANTHONY TERESI

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BRIAN HIGGINS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 10, 2007

  Mr. HIGGINS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Mr. 
Anthony Teresi, a life-long public servant of Chautauqua County, New 
York, and a truly remarkable man. Mr. Teresi is one individual who 
truly touched the lives of everyone he met. The impact he made in the 
city of Jamestown and the county of Chautauqua will forever bear his 
name and legacy. This article found in the Jamestown Post Journal 
demonstrates what an amazing man Anthony Teresi was. We will forever 
feel his presence through the lives of his family.

                       Anthony Teresi Dead At 84

                          (By Patrick Fanelli)

       Oct. 10, 2007.--Shortly after hearing the news that his old 
     friend Anthony Teresi died early Tuesday at WCA Hospital, 
     County Legislator Joe Trusso Jr. evoked the Marine Corps 
     motto, ``Semper Fidelis,'' or ``Always Faithful.''
       From Teresi's service in the Pacific theater of World War 
     II to his 16-year career on the Chautauqua County 
     Legislature, Trusso remembers his old friend as someone who 
     was always faithful to his loved ones and to the county he 
     called home for nearly all his 84 years of life.
       But considering his role as patriarch of the city's most 
     prominent Democratic family and his long career as one of 
     Jamestown's elected representatives on the County 
     Legislature, Teresi for the most part stayed out of the 
     spotlight, Trusso recalls.
       ``Tony was never in it for the glory,'' said Trusso, a 
     Democrat who represents District 16 in the city and served 
     beside Teresi for 16 years. ``He was in it to serve.''
       Teresi's health had been deteriorating the last couple 
     years, but it took a turn for the worst in recent days and 
     spent the past week or so at WCA Hospital in and out of the 
     intensive care unit. As of Monday, his son, Mayor Sam Teresi, 
     expressed his concern that his father would not recover as he 
     had done in the past.
       ``I couldn't believe it,'' said Trusso, who heard the news 
     during an Audit and Control Committee meeting in Mayville 
     early Tuesday. ``I don't know what happened. That's just the 
     way it goes, I guess.''
       Teresi's death has brought with it a brief pause in his 
     son's re-election campaign against Republican candidate and 
     former city clerk Shirley Sanfilippo, who offered her 
     condolences to the Teresi family Tuesday and canceled a news 
     conference scheduled for today out of respect for their loss.
       In addition, the mayor delayed the meeting scheduled for 
     Tuesday at which his 2008 budget proposal was to have been 
     unveiled, though he says he plans to go forward with it 
     today.


                           A Man Of Character

       According to County Legislator Fred Croscut, R-Sherman, the 
     elder Teresi can best be remembered as ``a man of character'' 
     and ``a sincere individual.'' Croscut also remembers him as a 
     politician whose friends and admirers were not limited to 
     members of the Democratic Party to which he belonged.
       ``He was a man I don't even think planned on getting into 
     politics,'' said Croscut, who served with Teresi for eight 
     years. ``He was a person who was admired on both sides of the 
     aisle.''
       Teresi had only just retired after a long career managing 
     various local supermarkets when he was chosen in 1989 to run 
     for the seat long held by former legislator Joseph Nalbone. 
     In turn, he held onto that seat for 16 years until he lost 
     the 2005 election against Conservative Party challenger Tina 
     Hallquist.
       Democrats differ on why Teresi lost his 2005 re-election 
     bid. James Ventura, a retiring City Council member who is 
     hoping to replace Trusso in District 16, believes Teresi

[[Page E2099]]

     lost because he failed to win the all-important Independence 
     line on the ballot. Trusso believes new district boundaries 
     made it tougher for Teresi to win, and Teresi's inability to 
     go door-to-door like he used to because of his health made it 
     worse. And the younger Teresi believes his father lost in 
     2005 because he was facing an especially tough challenge from 
     a qualified candidate.
       Whatever the reason, Mrs. Hallquist said both she and her 
     former opponent soon became friends.
       ``I only knew Mr. Teresi for a short time, and was blessed 
     because of it,'' Mrs. Hallquist said, describing him as a 
     gentle, powerful and inspirational man. ``When he said `thank 
     you' and smiled, it inspired one to run out and accomplish 
     more. To say that he will be greatly missed is the 
     understatement of our community.''
       Ironically, some say this would probably have been his last 
     term in office since his health had already begun to fail and 
     he would not have been expected to run for re-election again 
     this year. Richard Van Hise, who became friends with the 
     elder Teresi through their work on the county Parks 
     Commission, said his break from politics was well-deserved.
       ``I felt bad,'' Van Hise said, ``but I talked to Sam (his 
     son) and I said, `It's just as well. Tony deserves to take a 
     break and relax,' because the legislature was a lot of strain 
     on him. And Sam agreed.''


                           Behind The Scenes

       While serving on the Chautauqua County Legislature, Teresi 
     was chairman of the Public Facilities Committee, and he is 
     often credited with taking the politics out of 
     decisions regarding what roads would be repaired at a time 
     when politics reportedly played a big part in that 
     process.
       He is also credited with the early days of the proposal to 
     construct a methane-fired power plant at the Chautauqua 
     County Landfill, as well as his work on the project that 
     resulted in the county taking over responsibility for all the 
     bridges from French Creek to Hanover.
       ``People didn't hear too much about Tony, but he was the 
     driving force in a lot of these projects that people don't 
     know anything about,'' said Trusso, who frequently ate 
     breakfast with both Teresi and their good friend, the late 
     Fred Cusimano, a former county legislator who died in 
     February 2006.
       Teresi was also praised for his dedication to Chautauqua 
     County parks, working on the Parks Commission beside Cusimano 
     and Van Hise even after his legislative career came to a 
     close.
       In fact, less than two weeks ago, Van Hise was to preside 
     over a ceremony during which a plaque was to have been 
     dedicated in honor of Cusimano, after whom the Fred Cusimano 
     Westside Overland Trail is named. A rainstorm forced Van Hise 
     to reschedule the event, but Trusso and Teresi didn't get the 
     message. They went out anyway, viewing the plaque by 
     themselves and remembering their old friend.
       County Legislator Richard Babbage, R-Bemus Point and 
     another close friend of Teresi's, believes that may have been 
     the last ``official'' act Teresi carried out.
       ``I've missed him the last two years,'' said Babbage, who 
     was the ranking member of the Public Facilities Committee 
     during Teresi's tenure as chairman. ``Now that he's gone 
     completely, I'm really going to miss him.''


                         Spirit And Dedication

       Teresi was born in Sicily and emigrated to the United 
     States with his parents at the age of 4, later graduating 
     from Jamestown High School. In 1942, he hitchhiked to Buffalo 
     and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, soon fighting in the 
     Pacific theater and returning to service during the Korean 
     War, according to Trusso.
       ``That's the kind of spirit and the kind of dedication he 
     had,'' said Trusso, himself a U.S. Air Force veteran. ``He 
     had public service in his veins. I guess he transferred that 
     to his son.''
       Speaking with The Post-Journal by telephone late Tuesday, 
     the younger Teresi said that he would never have expected his 
     father to run for office back in 1989, believing his mother, 
     the late Rose Teresi, would have been a better fit for 
     politics.
       ``He wasn't a politician,'' the younger Teresi said of his 
     father. ``You could have knocked me over with a feather that 
     night when he called me and told me he was going to run for 
     the County Legislature.''
       After he left the service, the elder Teresi went to work 
     managing various supermarkets like the former Loblaws on East 
     Second Street, and his son says that he was tougher then, 
     better resembling the ex-Marine that he was.
       ``He made me and a lot of people better because of his high 
     standards and expectations,'' the younger Teresi said.
       But in later years, he could best be described the same way 
     Mrs. Hallquist described him--as ``gentle,'' according to 
     County Legislator Sally Pullano, D-Fredonia.
       ``He was so very gentle--a gentleman in every sense of the 
     word,'' she said.

  Madam Speaker, Mr. Teresi was a man who fully understood how to live 
life to its fullest. He knew what the bonds of family meant and how to 
keep them strong and healthy. Mr. Teresi will be missed by his family 
and the people of Chautauqua County.

                          ____________________