Raffaele Bernetti

Raffaele Bernetti, PhD, MBA, was born in Fiesole, the hills overlooking Florence, Italy. The oldest of five children he is survived by his brother Giovanni Bernetti, and sisters Dr. Maria-Grazia Bernetti, Dr. Elizabetta Bernetti, and Lucia Iacopini. Raffaele and his wife Paola, along with their two girls Clara and Margherita, emigrated from Italy to the USA in 1965. A much celebrated event was when they became USA citizens in1971. Daughter Luisa and son Giovanni were born in the USA. He will be dearly missed by his wife Paola, their children Clara (Dr. John Stuparitz), Margherita (Bernard Cantorna), Luisa (Thomas Hoch) and Giovanni (Genevieve) and their grandchildren, Raffaele, Edward, Otto, Tiziana, Elena, Andrew, Matteo, Gabriella, Gianna, and Lorenzo. Raffaele earned his first degree in Organic Chemistry at the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and the University of Pisa, in Italy. He served in the Italian Air Force as an interpreter and translator, earned his PhD in Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, and his Masters in Business Administration at the University of Chicago. A life long scholar and teacher, Raffaele, worked for Corn Products International, (Ingredion) first in Italy, then in the United States. He retired after 38 years as Director of Research and Development, of Analytical & Quality Support Product Technology Department. A funeral mass will be held at St. Cletus Catholic Church, 600 W 55th Street, La Grange, Illinois at 10:00am on Saturday, October 17th, 2015. In lieu of flowers, simple notes of condolences or a donation to the charity of your choice.