Italo S. Cappabianca was a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He graduated from

Strong Vincent High School Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

, in 1955 and earned a degree in political science from

Gannon University Gannon University is a private Catholic university in Erie, Pennsylvania. Gannon University has approximately 4,500 students and 46,000 alumni. Its intercollegiate athletics include 18 athletic programs for men and women competing at the NCAA D ...

in 1968. He was elected to represent the 2nd legislative district in 1978, following the resignation of Robert E. Bellomini. He married his wife Linda Lou Cappabianca late in life, and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with two fellow legislators,

Bill DeWeese H. William DeWeese (born April 18, 1950) is an American politician who is a former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party, DeWeese served as the 135th Speaker of the Pennsylvania House from 1993 t ...

and Frank Serafini. He was diagnosed with brain cancer in the summer of 1999 and underwent an

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

gene therapy Gene therapy is a medical field which focuses on the genetic modification of cells to produce a therapeutic effect or the treatment of disease by repairing or reconstructing defective genetic material. The first attempt at modifying human DN ...

treatment at the

University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute The UPMC Hillman Cancer Center (Hillman), previously titled the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI), is a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center located in the Hillman Cancer Center in the Shadyside n ...

. He died on May 28, 2001.

offers the "Italo S. Cappabianca Scholarship," an endowed scholarship in his name. Linda Cappabianca lost the endorsement of the local Democratic committee to succeed her husband, losing to her former friend Gayle Wright. Mrs. Cappabianca explained that "

right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical ...

really didn't call me and discuss what she was going to do." She decided against mounting a formal write-in campaign, citing time constraints, but encouraged voters to write her in as an independent candidate. Wright won the August 14 contest with 48.2% of the vote, with Cappabianca placing a strong second place with 39.1%.

References

External links

* official PA House profile (archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cappabianca, Italo 1936 births 2001 deaths Gannon University alumni Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Politicians from Erie, Pennsylvania 20th-century American politicians