Retired VP Catucci Dies After Valiant Struggle Against ALS

Retired District 2 Vice President Peter G. Catucci, who spent a lifetime fighting for working families, died April 3 after battling ALS disease for more than two years.

Catucci, 60, was CWA's longest-serving district vice president, first elected in 1986. Catucci joined CWA Local 2336 after going to work at C & P Telephone, now Verizon, in 1968. He served as steward, strike captain and executive vice president before being elected local president in 1976. Through Catucci's dedication to organizing, thousands of workers in many sectors — airlines, health care, public service, printing, news media, broadcast, cable TV, higher education, and law enforcement — gained CWA representation and a seat at the table.

Despite his February 2007 diagnosis of ALS, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), Catucci continued to devote time and energy to pressing for an end to restrictions on the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, which holds great promise for victims of ALS and other diseases. Catucci retired at the CWA Convention in June 2008. Three weeks before his death, Catucci and President Cohen attended a White House ceremony to witness President Barack Obama sign an executive order removing restrictions on responsible scientific research and federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.