[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 19553]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                POSTHUMOUS TRIBUTE TO JOHN S. PERAGALLO

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BILL PASCRELL, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 17, 2008

  Mr. PASCRELL. Madam Speaker, I would like to call to your attention 
the life of an outstanding individual, John S. Peragallo, who passed 
away on September 12, 2008 at the age of 76. He will be remembered for 
his life long dedication to his family, friends, and his family 
business.
  It is only fitting that he be honored in this, the permanent record 
of the greatest democracy ever known, for he brought joy and peace, 
through his craft, to many others throughout his lifetime.
  John was born in New York, but was a lifelong resident of Paterson, 
NJ. He graduated from Eastside High School in 1949 and went on to take 
several classes at Newark College of Engineering. He served our country 
in the United States Army during the Korean Conflict and was a 
chaplain's assistant and a member of the honor guard.
  Since John's childhood, he helped his father in the family business 
of building and servicing pipe organs. The Peragallo Pipe Organ Company 
was founded by his father, John Peragallo, Sr., in 1918, after learning 
the craft as an apprentice with the famous E.M. Skinner Organ Company. 
John Jr. joined the company in 1949 and made the business stronger with 
a close father-son relationship. John Peragallo, Jr. was President of 
the company. He was responsible for the construction and care of many 
of the pipe organs throughout New Jersey, and for the complete 
renovation of the organs at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. 
John Jr.'s sons, John III and Frank, have been actively involved in the 
business since the 1980's and now a fourth generation of Peragallos, 
Janine, Anthony, and John IV, work alongside them. The company has 
installed almost 700 new organs and currently maintains about 400 along 
the east coast, including those at St. Patrick's Cathedral.
  John was a member of the American Guild of Organists, Northern NJ 
Chapter, St. John Vianney/St. Elizabeth of Hungary Fraternity and was 
active with the Boy Scouts of America when his sons were younger.
  John and his wife Christine met at the St. Anthony's Church Carnival 
in Paterson in 1955, and he took her to the Plaza Theatre in Paterson 
on their first date. Christine was indoctrinated into the family 
business on their second date, which was to a church so John could 
check the organ. They married eleven months after meeting and had a 
dynamic, spontaneous, loving marriage of fifty-two years.
  He will be dearly missed by his wife, Christine, his children John 
III and his wife Kathleen, Frank and his wife Josephine, Stephen and 
his wife Debra, and Christine Egan and her husband Christopher, his 10 
grandchildren and one great-grandson, and his sister Catherine Miller 
and her husband Charles.
  Although John passed away, his spirit will always be with us. John 
will forever be remembered for the love he shared with his family and 
friends, and for the music that is made with the grand instruments that 
John spent his life constructing and maintaining.
  The job of a United States Congressman involves much that is 
rewarding, yet nothing compares to learning about and recognizing 
individuals like John S. Peragallo.
  Madam Speaker, I ask that you join our colleagues, John's family and 
friends, all those who have been touched by the sacred music that he 
helped to create, and me in recognizing the contributions of John S. 
Peragallo.

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