Anthony M. DeLuca Sr. (June 3, 1937 – October 9, 2022) was an American politician of the

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 ...

. A longtime resident of the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

suburb of

Penn Hills Penn Hills is a township with home rule status in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 41,059 as of the 2020 census. Penn Hills is the second-largest municipality in Allegheny County, after Pittsburgh. History In 178 ...

, he was a member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

for the 32nd District from 1983 until his death. Before being elected to the state legislature, he served on the Penn Hills City Council and was the town's deputy mayor.

Early life

DeLuca was born on June 3, 1937, in the East Liberty neighborhood of

. He graduated from Westinghouse High School and

Community College of Allegheny County Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) is a public community college in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. With four campuses and four centers, the college offers associate degrees, certificates, and diplomas. History The Pennsylvania legis ...

. DeLuca became a co-owner of DeLuca's Market in East Liberty, which was opened by his father. DeLuca moved to Penn Hills in 1952.

Career

In 1975, DeLuca was elected to the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

Penn Hills, Pennsylvania Penn Hills is a township with home rule status in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 41,059 as of the 2020 census. Penn Hills is the second-largest municipality in Allegheny County, after Pittsburgh. History In 178 ...

. The city council elected DeLuca to become the deputy mayor in 1978. DeLuca ran for mayor of Penn Hills against Phyllis Kernick in the election in 1979, but lost the election. DeLuca ran in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

in March 1980 for Pennsylvania's 32nd Representative District in the

, seeking to fill the remainder of Kernick's term, which she resigned when becoming mayor. He lost the election to Republican Albert Rasco. In the 1982 general election, DeLuca ran again for the 32nd district in the Pennsylvania House, and he defeated Rasco in a rematch. Rasco challenged DeLuca again in 1984, and DeLuca won reelection. DeLuca won election to the Pennsylvania House for 20 terms. At the time of his death, he was the longest serving member of the Pennsylvania House. He was the top Democratic member on the House Insurance Committee for 20 years. In 2022, DeLuca was reelected posthumously, triggering a

Personal life and death

DeLuca was inducted into Westinghouse High School's

hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

in 1996. DeLuca and his wife, Constance, were married for 66 years until her death in 2021, and they had four children. Their son, Anthony Jr., was elected to serve as mayor of Penn Hills and as a magistrate judge. DeLuca died from

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...

at his home on October 9, 2022, at the age of 85.

References

External links

Pennsylvania House of Representatives – Anthony M. DeLuca
official PA House website {{DEFAULTSORT:Deluca, Tony 1937 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians Businesspeople from Pennsylvania Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania Deaths from lymphoma Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Politicians elected posthumously Pennsylvania city council members People from Penn Hills Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania