Joseph "Joe" Chianese

Joe was our fellow coworker and legal specialist at the Office of Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) at the US Department of Labor. He always had a rosy complexion; I recall that his coloring got even more rosy when we were discussing subjects we especially cared about.

I had the pleasure of sitting near him a few times during events including a town hall with Hilda Solis, who was then our Secretary of Labor. He had a very dry sense of humor, excellent timing, and a pungent sense of irony. He was listening intently to the input from workers in the Bay Area who attended in order to inform the Secretary about the ways in which the Department of Labor could help support them professionally. Joe cared very much about civil rights, about equal treatment under the law, and about working to insure equal opportunity in the workplace.

Though I never had an opportunity to meet Pete, we inherited some of his wool things after he was gone; Joe wanted us to be able to use them to create quilts, providing more warmth for other people.

Joe shared stories about days in Youngstown, about his Dad's gas station, about attending big family wedding receptions that included dozens of different specialty cookies (though I never got the recipes, we once exchanged some notes about where to get the best chestnut puree in the Bay Area) which appear only at very special occasions.

He was a true and great friend and coworker. We are verklepmt in knowing we will have no more visits with Joe. May his memory continue to be for a blessing to us all.

Lulu Winslow
El Cerrito, California