Mary Keating Croce DiSabato (December 4, 1928 – October 21, 2016) was an American

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician who served in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...

for three two-year terms, where she represented the 6th Legislative District from 1974 to 1980. She served as the Chairwoman of the

New Jersey State Parole Board The New Jersey State Parole Board is a governmental body in the U.S. State of New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New ...

in the 1990s.

Personal life

Born in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

on December 4, 1928, she attended Camden High School, graduating as part of the class of 1946.Naedele, Walter F
"Mary DiSabato; headed N.J. State Parole Board"
''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'', October 23, 2016. Accessed October 27, 2016. "Born in Camden, Mrs. DiSabato graduated from Camden High School in 1946 and served as a Sixth District Assemblywoman, covering parts of Camden and Burlington Counties from 1974 to 1980, son Stephen Croce said." A resident of

Pennsauken Township, New Jersey Pennsauken Township is a township in Camden County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township's population was 37,074, reflecting an increase of 1,189 (+3.3%) from the 35,885 count ...

, she died at the age of 87 on October 21, 2016. She was survived by her husband, Anthony "Sonny" DiSabato, as well as by two sons and five daughters she had with Remo M. Croce, who died before she did.

Public service

Croce served as a longtime member of the Camden County Democratic Committee, starting during the 1960s and continuing through the 1990s. In the November 1973 general election, Croce and Democratic running mate John J. Gallagher were elected to represent the 6th Legislative District in the

, the first election in which the 40-district legislature was established under the terms of the 1964

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decision in ''

Reynolds v. Sims ''Reynolds v. Sims'', 377 U.S. 533 (1964), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that the electoral districts of state legislative chambers must be roughly equal in population. Along with ''Baker v. Carr'' (196 ...

'', which required the populations of legislative districts to be as equal as possible. The new 6th District was based around the eastern suburbs of Camden inclusive of Cherry Hill, stretching from Berlin borough north to Pennsauken and included Burlington County's Evesham Township and

Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second ...

.New Jersey Legislative Districts 1974–

New Jersey State Library The New Jersey State Library, based in Trenton, New Jersey, was established in 1796 to serve the information needs of New Jersey's Governor, Legislature and Judiciary. The State Library is also responsible to assist in the provision of library and ...

. Accessed October 27, 2016. Croce and Gallagher defeated Republicans William K. Dickey, a former Speaker of the Assembly, and Eugene Raymond III.Results of the General Election Held November 6, 1973
,

. Accessed October 27, 2016. Croce and Gallagher were re-elected in 1975, again defeating both Dickey and Raymond.Results of the General Election Held November 4, 1975
,

. Accessed October 27, 2016. In 1977, Croce and running mate Barbara Berman, running in her first race for elected office, defeated Republicans Mario A. Iavicoli and Dickey (for the third time); Croce was the top vote-getter and Berman came in second, edging Iavicoli by a 170-vote margin.Results of the General Election Held November 8, 1977
,

New Jersey Department of State The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing artistic, cultural, and historical programs within the U.S. state of New Jersey, as we ...

. Accessed November 27, 2016. When Berman and Croce took office in January 1978, she and Berman became the first pair of women to be elected to a single Assembly district in state history, and were two of the 12 women taking office in the Assembly, the highest number ever to serve together in the 80-seat body. Waldron, Martin
"Women Gaining Stature in Legislature"
''

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'', December 4, 1977. Accessed October 27, 2016. "Mrs. Berman is the Director of Consumer Affairs for Camden County. She and Mrs. Croce are from the same district, and it will be the first time that both Assembly seats from one district have been held by women."Hanley, Robert
"Informality and Children Reign in Trenton"
''

'', January 11, 1978. Accessed October 27, 2016. "Twelve women, a record number, were sworn in for two‐year Assembly terms. And for the first time in the history of the Legislature, women now occupy both seats in a single legislative district. They are Mary Keating Croce, a 49-year-old three‐term Democrat from Pennsauken, and Barbara Berman, a 39-year-old freshman Democrat and lawyer from Cherry Hill." In the 1979 general election, Republicans John A. Rocco and

Thomas J. Shusted Thomas J. Shusted (August 3, 1926 – March 31, 2004) was an American attorney and politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly on two separate occasions, representing Legislative District 3D from 1970 to 1972 and the 6th Legislativ ...

defeated Berman and Croce to win the two assembly seats in the 6th Legislative District; Berman came in third, more than 1,300 votes behind.Results of the General Election Held on November 6, 1979
,

. Accessed October 27, 2016. She chaired the

from 1993 to 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croce, Mary Keating 1928 births 2016 deaths Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Camden High School (New Jersey) alumni Politicians from Camden, New Jersey People from Pennsauken Township, New Jersey Women state legislators in New Jersey 21st-century American women