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Anthony and Suzan Giancristofaro
Anthony and Suzan Giancristofaro reside in Warren, New Jersey, and are members of Our Lady of the Mount Parish. Anthony is currently retired. Before his retirement he was co-owner with his brother of Grande Associates, a real estate investment company which owned multi-family apartment buildings in New Jersey and several other states.
Both Anthony and Suzan received their elementary and high school educations in the public schools of Newark and North Arlington, New Jersey, respectively. Although they themselves did not attend Catholic schools, their commitment to Catholic education took root in the education of their two daughters, Cheryl and Diana, who attended St. Ambrose in Old Bridge and Mt. St. John Academy in Peapack. Both went on to Marywood University in Pennsylvania.
The Giancristofaro’s believe that a Catholic education is the best available for children, especially for minorities. For them, education is the best way to break the cycle of poverty. “If you want to save kids, you have to educate them,” says Anthony. Out of their desire to provide an opportunity for poor children to receive a Catholic education, the Giancristofaro’s partnered with the Diocese of Metuchen and established The St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Scholarship Fund, a scholarship used to provide tuition grants to families for children that would not otherwise be able to afford a Catholic education. Over time, the Giancristofaro’s have doubled the amount of annual scholarship funding.
To recognize their great generosity in this quiet, simple way, the Diocese of Metuchen honored Anthony and Suzan Giancristofaro in 2003 as the first recipients of the Theodore Cardinal McCarrick Partners in Catholic Education Award. In addition to this distinction, the Giancristofaro’s were invested in the Association of Knights and Ladies of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem at the nomination of Bishop Paul Bootkoski, and also received the Benemerenti Medal for their exceptional service to the Catholic Church.
Clearly, the recognition the Giancristofaro’s have received shows their tremendous impact on Catholic education while holding them up as exemplary models of Catholic service and stewardship. It is hard to quantify the significant impact they have had because it is a measurement of the heart. Not only have families and students been provided with the monetary means to obtain the gift of a Catholic education, they have also learned a lesson of love which perhaps is the most important of all. Anthony and Suzan Giancristofaro are outstanding models of long-standing Catholic service and in spirit and by practice exemplify and carry on the legacy of what Mother Seton herself left behind.
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National Catholic Educational Association
