From an Italian farming family, enduring the ravages of World War, to two children who earned college degrees, long time Hawthorne resident Pasqualino DiSisto encompasses the American ideals of improving your life through hard work and embracing the potential of education to open up your world. His best teacher may have been a colonel in the U.S. Army.

DiSisto, well-known throughout the community, is a member of American Legion Post 112, serving on the post’s honor guard and its Medal of Honor Committee. The post is working to install a monument outside Mt. Pleasant Town Hall, which will contain the names of all Mt. Pleasant Vietnam veterans.  DiSisto is also a member of the Kensico Italian American Society and the Knights of Columbus.