Person:Anthony Scaduto (1)

About Anthony "Tony" Scaduto

Anthony John "Tony" Scaduto was born 9 April 1919 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, the son of Alberto "Albert" Scaduto (b. 1887) and his wife Catherine Fricano (1895-1987), both Italian immigrants that migrated to America in 1910 and 1915, respectively [Source: 1940 U.S. Census]. Tony's father operated three markets in Chicago named "Scaduto & Sons", which Tony worked with his father and brother Joseph for several years, starting when he was just eight years old - plucking chickens.

A school baseball and football star, Tony graduated from Chicago's Lane Tech High School in 1937. After graduation, he began working full-time in his father's store, handling produce, cutting meat and operating the service deli. Enlisting in the United States Navy in April 1942, Tony taught meat cutting in the Cooks and Bakers School and served aboard a 35-man minesweeper in the South Pacific, seeing action in the Marshall Islands, Tinian, Saipan and Okinawa invasions. Promoted to Chief Commissary Steward, he was transferred to the Navai Base at Eniwetok. He was in San Pedro, California on V-J Day and said that "it was five days before the citzenry would let anyone in a service uniform pay for his own drink", in an interview in the Deli News Magazine in 1968.

Returning to Chicago in 1945, Tony opened his own 4,000 sq. ft. store, the Clifton Food Mart with the financial backing of his father. Two years later he sold out, and then became a meat market manager for the Jewel Tea Company. In 1948, Tony packed his bags and went to California and immediately went to work for Market Basket, a Southern California supermarket chain, where he was to remain for the next 12 years, starting as a meat cutter and advancing to a meat department manager at various Market Basket locations.

In 1960, Tony left Market Basket to open his own service deli in the Mayflower shopping center in Glendora, California. [Note: Market Basket was subsqquently acquired by the Kroger Company in October 1963*] He specialized in Italian foods - sausages, homemade sauces, and take-out dishes such as pizza, lasagna and ravioli. It became a family operation which he operated until he sold his operation in 1963, and afterwards he joined Mayflower Markets, founded by John McGill and Jack McKinney, as its Deli Director.

While working at Mayflower Markets, Tony was an active member of the Southern California Deli Council, which later was re-named to the Dairy/Deli/Bakery Council of Southern California (DDBC), a local Food Industry Trade Association, and attended many of its meetings, seminars and functions. Tony was elected and served on the Deli Counci's Board of Directors in 1968 and was awarded the Deli Council's "Big Cheese" Award in July 1968 for his leadership and support of the Council.

Tony met his wife Ann, when she was a customer of his father's store. The couple had two children: Albert, who studied poltical science at Mt. San Antonio College and a daughter, Diane. Tony loved bowling, watching sports, playing golf and gardening. He was a former Scoutmaster, Chairman of the Glendora Community Chest Driv, coach of the Lassie League (girls baseball) and a trustee and treasurer of the Elks Lodge in Glendora, California. Tony passed away 12 February 1987. His contributions and dedication to the food industry will be remembered by his friends and co-workers for many year to come.

• - Source: Pleasant Family Shopping Blogspot

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 California. Department of Public Health. Bureau of Vital Statistics. Death Index, 1940-1997.

   Name: Anthony John Scaduto
   Social Security #: 329248870
   Gender: Male
   Birth Date: 9 Apr 1919
   Birth Place: Illinois
   Death Date: 12 Feb 1987
   Death Place: Los Angeles
   Mother's Maiden Name: Fricano

2.   Ancestry.com. Public Member Trees: (Note: not considered a reliable primary source).

   http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/25898837/person/1735543695