Anthony A. Abruzzese, EdD
Anthony A. Abruzzese, EdD, 87, died March 23, 2014, with his family by his side. Born in South Boston on June 6, 1926, Tony and his family later moved to the Neponset section of Dorchester where he grew up. Tony attended the Boston Public Schools. The first in his family to attend college, he received both BSc and MS degrees from Boston College, later receiving a doctorate in education from Calvin Coolidge College. Tony embarked on a career in education in the Boston Public Schools, serving as a Teacher, Principal and ultimately an Assistant to the Superintendent. As a principal, he developed an innovative program in which students were placed, based on their individual learning preferences, with teachers whose methods of teaching allowed those students to thrive in the classroom.
In 1953, Tony met the ‘love of his life’ Phyllis Taylor of Kilkenny, Ireland while crossing the Atlantic on a cruise. They married in 1954, lived and raised their family in West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. They were both very active members in both Irish and Italian cultural groups. Tony was a founding father of the two leading Italian cultural organizations in New England, the Dante Alighieri Society of Boston and The Pirandello Lyceum. He served these two organizations for many years, in a variety of offices. An avid storyteller, he wrote several books depicting the lives and achievements of notable Italians and Italian-Americans, his recollections of life in Boston, the people he knew and their effects on his life. Tony will be dearly missed by those for whom his friendship and counsel helped shape and enrich their lives.
Tony is pre-deceased by his wife Phyllis (Taylor) Abruzzese, his parents Maria and Michale Abruzzese, his elder brother Michael and younger brother Salvatore. He is survived by his children and their families: son Anthony (Jr.) and his wife Dianna of Billerica, MA; son Michael of Jamaica Plain, MA; and daughter Siobhan Belanger, her husband Mark and their children Gregory and Kiera of Toronto, Canada. He is also survived by his sister Anna Moloney, brothers Peter, Gaetano, and Lawrence and their wives. He was the loving uncle and grand-uncle to many nieces and nephews and brother-in-law to Kathleen Taylor Guarnagia and her husband Domenic of West Palm Beach, Florida.
Visitation will be held from 4 PM until 8 PM on Thursday, March 27, 2014 at the Robert J. Lawler & Crosby Funeral Home at 1803 Centre Street, in West Roxbury. A funeral mass will be held 11:00 AM on Friday, March 28, 2014 at Our Lady of the Cedars of Lebanon Church, 61 Rockwood St, Jamaica Plain, MA. The burial will be at St. Joseph’s Cemetery.