Remembering Salvatore Di Pilla

The AMHS lost one of its long-time, cherished members, Salvatore (Sal) DiPilla, who passed away suddenly on March 24, 2024. He suffered a heart attack while walking with his wife, Anna Maria, near their home. Sal was 82. His passing was a shock to his friends and fellow AMHS members who had just seen him two days before at Holy Rosary Church and afterwards in Casa Italiana, wishing everyone “Buona Pasqua!”

At the funeral Mass on April 6, the Holy Rosary Church was packed. Sal was loved by many people. Many parishioners, AMHS members, and Sal’s neighbors were there, as well as the priest and Anna Maria’s co-workers from the Catholic school day care center where she works.

Sal’s friends could expect to see him nearly every Sunday at the Italian Mass and afterwards having coffee in Casa Italiana. Sal and Anna Maria attended nearly all AMHS programs over the years.

Sal leaves behind his wife of 48 years, Anna Maria (Ciccone), his son Sistilio (Leo), and his grandson, Nico Salvatore. Sal’s two brothers-in-law, Vince and Mario Ciccone, were also faithful AMHS members for many years.

Sal was born in 1941 in Italy to Sistilio and Angelina.  Sal served in the Alpini, the Italian Army’s elite mountain infantry, before marrying Anna Maria Ciccone in 1966 at age 25.  Shortly after getting married, the newlyweds emigrated from Pacentro in Abruzzo to the Washington, D.C. area, where they joined Anna Maria’s brothers Vince, Mario, Dino, and Remo Ciccone, soon to be followed by Sal’s only sister, Rosina DiPilla Zandi.

It was in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., an unfamiliar place in an unfamiliar country, that Sal began to build a new life with his wife and two children, Leo and the late Angela. Sal was a talented, skilled, brick mason, in the Italian tradition of superb craftsmanship. Everyone who knew Sal knew that he loved spending time with his family, going to Sunday Mass, watching old James Bond movies, and watching his favorite sport – soccer.

Lucio and Edvige D’Andrea recall visiting Edvige’s home town of Pacentro years ago and visiting Sal’s family, including his mother who died last year at the age of 101.

Sal will be deeply missed, but his legacy is a life well-lived, full of love for his family. Our deepest condolences to Anna Maria and Sal’s family.