Anthony Dionisio Jr.

He Took Her Everywhere
The focus of Anthony Dionisio Jr.'s life was his 11-year-old daughter, Stephanie. "On the last day of school last June, he met her at school and surprised her with a trip to Disney World in Florida," said Lucille Dionisio, his mother.

"That was the kind of things he would do. He was her best buddy," Mrs. Dionisio said. "They were inseparable. They went everywhere together, Yankee Stadium, basketball games, ice-skating shows, racetracks."

Mr. Dionisio, a divorced father, had custody of Stephanie on weekdays, and her mother had custody on weekends.

"Stephanie held out until the very end," Mrs. Dionisio said of her granddaughter's reaction to Mr. Dionisio's presence in the World Trade Center. "She said, 'I am not worried. Dad will make it out.' When we planned for a memorial service, we had to sit her down and talk her through it."

Mr. Dionisio, 38, quit college and worked his way up to become the vice president for operations at Cantor Fitzgerald. "We are Catholics, so we believe he is in a good place now. He will be our guardian angel," said his mother. After the tragedy, she put her son's picture on the wall, and every morning when there is school, the granddaughter says, "Good morning, Dad," and the grandmother says, "Good morning, Anthony. We are going to school now."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on October 23, 2001.


A. Dionisio, 38, daughter's best friend

Anthony Dionisio and his daughter, Stephanie, were inseparable.

From her games and activities at school, such as a father-daughter dance, to racetrack outings, to a Yankees game or an ice-skating show, Mr. Dionisio and 11-year-old Stephanie were side-by-side.

"His daughter was his whole life, and she misses him," said his mother, Lucille Dionisio of Glen Rock.

Mr. Anthony Dionisio, vice president of operations at Cantor Fitzgerald in the World Trade Center, has been missing since terrorists struck the Twin Towers. He was 38.

"All of our lives have come to a halt since Sept. 11 and we just want to move on," Mrs. Dionisio said. "We are looking for some sort of closure to this tragedy."

A Memorial Mass will be offered at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Catherine's Roman Catholic Church, 905 South Maple Ave., Glen Rock.

"I am one of the over 6,000 lives affected," she said. "We all keep hoping, but reality sets in. If a miracle should happen, we would be the happiest people in the world."

Mrs. Dionisio said her son, who worked in the Twin Towers during the 1993 bombing, was quiet and very caring.

She said Stephanie was "like his right arm. He even went to the store to buy her clothes and knew exactly what she wanted."

She said when Mr. Dionisio was not accompanying his daughter to a Girl Scout meeting or taking her shopping, he was busy being the "family baby-sitter" for his three nieces and three nephews.

"Whenever they needed a baby sitter they would call on him. He was there, ready willing and able. He never said no. He was great with the kids, great with the family," Mrs. Dionisio said.

Mr. Dionisio loved to play golf and enjoyed working out.

His mother said he also kept close contact with his classmates from Richmond Hill High School in Queens, where he graduated in 1981.

He worked at Cantor Fitzgerald since 1987.

"He was just an all-around guy, well-liked," he mother said. "He will be missed tremendously. All of our lives will be different now.

Mr. Dionisio also is survived his father, Anthony Sr.; a brother, Peter of Smithtown, N.Y.; a sister, Debbie Phinney of Cortland Manor, N.Y.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Lucille and Anthony Dionisio In Trust for Stephanie Dionisio, P.O. Box 128, Glen Rock, N.J. 07452