NATICK: Joseph A. Todisco, age 94, a renowned Boston attorney, died on Sunday morning, August 4, 2013, at the Newton Wellesley Center for Alzheimer’s Care. He was the loving and devoted husband of Mary (Riccio) Todisco for seventy years.
Born in Boston, he was a son of the late Achille and Rafaella (Mottola) Todisco. Joe was raised in East Boston, was a 1938 graduate of Boston English High School, and continued his education at Calvin Coolidge College and Portia College. He enlisted in the US Army in 1943, and while on leave married his longtime sweetheart on the Fourth of July that year. He then served directly under General Douglas MacArthur in the Pacific Theatre for the duration of the war.
Joe and Mary lived in Boston and Cambridge prior to settling in Natick in 1952. He had earned his post graduate degree at Portia Law School, the precursor of New England School of Law. He was admitted to the Bar in 1952 and remained so until 2010. After serving under his uncle, Judge Vincent Mottola at the Boston Magisterial Court, Joe and a friend established the Law Offices of Pizziferri and Todisco in Boston. They specialized in criminal cases and Joe was one of the few Boston attorneys eligible to appear before the US Supreme Court and was admitted to practice before the US Military Court of Appeals. He retired in 1984 and then became heavily involved in state and town politics, championing Prop 2-1/2 and regularly attending Natick Town Meetings. A longtime Knight of Columbus, he had served as both Grand Knight of his council and a District Deputy. Joe was past president of the Italian American Charitable Society of Boston, a Board Member of the non-profit Busy Bee Transportation and later BayPath Elder Services, had published and distributed a newsletter called The Iconoclast, and was a member of the Morse Institute Library Expansion Committee and a Friend of the Natick Senior Center. One of his fondest activities while retired was singing with and directing the Goldenaires, Natick’s senior vocal group. He was a member of St. Patrick’s Church choir.
He is survived by Mary, their son, Ronald Todisco and his wife, Carole of Shrewsbury; their daughter, Cynthia Kennedy and her husband, Roy of Sutton; and three grandchildren, Ronald Todisco, Jr., and Angelica and Corinne Kennedy. He was predeceased by his bothers and sisters, Mario Todisco, Olga Sacco, Emma Grasso, and Robert Todisco.
His funeral will be from the John Everett & Sons Funeral Home, 4 Park Street at Natick Common, Natick, on Friday, August 9th at 10:00a.m. with a Mass of Christian Burial in Saint Patrick’s Church, 44 East Central Street, Natick, at 11:30a.m. Burial at the Agawam Massachusetts Memorial Cemetery in Agawam at 2:00p.m.
Donations may be made in Joe’s memory to the Alzheimer’s Foundation, 322 Eighth Ave, 7th Fl, New York, NY 10001.