[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 1, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S2561]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING DOMINIC DiFRISCO

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, in 1962, the airline Alitalia sent a young 
man named Dominic DiFrisco to Chicago to help with publicity for its 
inaugural flight between the city and Rome. What was a temporary 
assignment became a life decision for my friend Dominic. He found a 
home in Chicago and, in the decades following, became a champion for 
Chicago's Italian community.
  On Sunday, he passed away at the age of 85 after a life of 
celebration, stories, and love. There are so many stories of Dominic 
helping people that they are too numerous to count here. If you grew up 
in Chicago, you knew Dominic.
  For decades, Dominic was the most recognized and vocal supporter of 
Italian Americans. Dominic was born in 1933 in the Bronx of New York 
City to Leoluca and Antonina, immigrants from Sicily. He graduated from 
Fordham University in 1955 and began his career in public relations. 
His career was defined by building bridges between the public and 
private sectors.
  His color commentary, with his vast knowledge of Chicago-Italian 
history, was a staple during the broadcast of Columbus Day parades. He 
helped make sure other ethnic groups and Jewish Holocaust victims had 
roles in the Chicago Columbus Day parade. He was a man of stories. He 
always had one for any situation, and Columbus Day will not be the same 
without him.
  If you travel a few blocks north of Taylor Street's Little Italy in 
Chicago, you will find Our Lady of Pompeii, the oldest surviving 
Italian-American Catholic Church in Chicago. It has been an anchor to 
the community since 1910, but in 1993, the archdiocese announced it 
would close Our Lady of Pompeii. That didn't sit well with the locals, 
especially Dominic. He joined the effort to resurrect the church, which 
continues to serve the community today. Our Lady of Pompeii calls him a 
founding father.
  Dominic was president emeritus of the Joint Civic Committee of 
Italian Americans, and he created and hosted the annual Dante Awards. 
More than 40 journalists have won Dante Awards for their work answering 
Dante Alighieri's call to be ``no timid friend to truth.'' Dominic was 
no timid friend to anyone he knew.
  Dominic was a great friend. He was always helping people whether it 
was a smile, a kind word, or his latest recommendation for an Italian 
restaurant. His stories were legendary, but his whole life was an 
extraordinary story. A few years ago, Dominic accepted my invitation to 
attend a joint session of Congress featuring the Prime Minister of 
Italy. It is fair to say that many of those in the Capitol that day 
were as impressed with Dominic's passion for life, his stories, and his 
hopefulness for the U.S.-Italian relationship as the speech itself.
  In a Chicago restaurant called Gene and Georgetti's, there is a table 
that was Dominic's. It was his court, and now, sadly, it is quiet. To 
his wife Carol and the DiFrisco family, Loretta and I send our sincere 
condolences.

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