Anthony Ronald Picciolo

ANTHONY RONALD PICCIOLO July 22, 1934 - May 31, 2015 On May 31, 2015, Dr. Anthony (Tony) Ronald Picciolo passed away. Left to grieve his absence are his wife Sherry Croft Picciolo; his sons and their wives Dr. Michael and Lisa Picciolo, Anthony (Nino) and Keri Picciolo, and Bradley Picciolo; his sister Marylou Thompson; his sisters- and brothers- in law Steve and Donna Croft, Sandy and Ray Shepard, and Sheri Croft; his nieces and nephews Kathy Overstreet, Susan and Scott Wallace, David and Priscila Thompson, Shelley and Chris Martin, Shanna and Josh Penn, Shawn and Sarah Croft, Justin Shepard, Hayden Shepard, and Elizabeth Shepard; his grandchildren, Vincent Picciolo, Dominic Picciolo, and Angelo Picciolo; his father- and mother- in law Howard and Betty Croft; and many, many extended family, lifelong friends, and colleagues whose lives he enriched. Born in Brooklyn, New York, on July 22, 1934, to Michael Picciolo (deceased) and Mary Greco (deceased), Sicilian-Americans whose families emigrated from Milazzo, Sicily, Tony Picciolo was deeply rooted in his Italian heritage. From the row houses of Brooklyn to the daily runs for fresh bakery bread, from the family gatherings around a small table in the kitchen to the freedom of kids playing games on the streets, from the history and lore of the Mafia dons to the justifiable bragging rights of Italian greats in art and music, from the taste of Italian ice and pizza made right only by New York water to the perfection of a "fluffy" meatball or a perfectly molded arancino, Tony celebrated his Italian heritage. He was a man who loved from the deepest places of his heart. Family was always first for him. Before he would do for himself, he would give to his family. Holiday gatherings would bring twenty plus people together to share a meal: "I just liked the warm and consistent presence of my Uncle Tony at the head of the table for family meals." He lived each day taking care of his family, expressing joy and pride in who they were. His boys all grew up with a constant image of their dad present at every swim meet, every ball game, every performance, every moment of need or celebration in their lives. "Call me when you get there" is engraved on the hearts of all of us who were blessed by his love, care, and concern. "Thank you for giving us the love, strength, and courage to grow" is our heart's message to you, Dad. Tony earned his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in zoology at the University of Maryland. The Smithsonian's National Zoo was Tony's job every summer between high school and graduate school, where it is rumored that a leaping alligator almost caught his throat as he peered quizzically over a barrier. In his graduate years of study, he spent two summers at the Bermuda Biological Station. There Tony discovered his focused fascination with marine biology. He worked on the behavior, autecology and bioacoustics of coral reef fishes. Later, at the U.S. Museum of Natural History, he studied ichthyology. For two more summers, Tony worked for the Division of Fishes (Indopacific fishes) and the Systematics Laboratory of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, the latter becoming the National Marine Fisheries Service under NOAA. Continued areas of focus included the reproductive biology of Southeast Asian fishes, bioacoustics and behavior of Chesapeake Bay fishes, behavior and ecology of freshwater stream fishes, and the developmental anatomy of tropical marine fishes. Over the years, Tony taught courses in biology, zoology, vertebrate anatomy and physiology, human ecology, vertebrate embryology, and advanced biological oceanography at the University of Maryland, Prince George's Community College, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Graduate School. Tony was a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration since its beginning in 1970. Throughout the decades he served in many capacities: Chief of the NODC Oceanographic Data Applications Branch, of the NODC Search and Acquisition Branch, of the Oceanographic Special projects Branch; several long-term stints as Acting Division Director for two NODC Divisions; developer and manager of the NODC/NESDIS Liaison Officer Program; developer and manager of NODC's biological program; developer of the international inventory of oceanographic samples and observations; NODC Principal Investigator for data management of the International Decade of Ocean Exploration; Executive Secretary of the Scientific Committee for the Exploration of the Atlantic Shelf; and author of the thousands of terms defined in NOAA's Glossary of Terminology. After forty-three years of Service, Tony retired from the federal government in 2004. Several years of consulting followed, as he worked through his eponymous organization, Picciolo Ocean Consultants. His final years were focused on family and friends. Almost apocryphal were the tales of his six-week exploration of the Cuban jungles in 1956. Part of the first team to climb Pico Turquino, the highest elevation in Cuba, while personally toting in all their food, water, equipment, and guns, two other firsts came out of that trip: Tony found a rare toad whose discovery was written up in The Washington Post; when scooping from the well that was their water supply for coffee, Tony captured a snake that had not been seen for many years. Other elements leading to the legend of this trip: believing that walking onto a base and requesting military air transport because they were a scientific operation was the most natural thing to do; wandering unmarked paths, following a guide with whom their high school Spanish provided the only communication; needing to stitch up an injured companion using only dead-specimen skills; leaving that injured companion alone to find more water; racing down paths whose sharply dropping edges were hidden by intense foliage; keeping collected snakes alive and warm within snake bags by surrounding their own sleeping bodies with those bags; awakening one morning to find they had camped next to a tree which housed an active community of tarantulas; being invited into the thatched hut of the village head to eat a whole chicken, eyeballs still firmly in place in its head; living the last three days on wild corn roasted over their fires because they had run out of food.… not quite your everyday bedtime story, but "jungling" called to Tony. Later, in his 30's, Tony could no longer resist the jungles of the Amazon, so off he went. His plans? Walk in. Explore. Walk out. Fortunately, at the jumping off point, he heard tales of three Germans who had walked in on their own. They never came out. Tony conceded that he needed a guide. Accommodations were hammocks strung between trees to avoid the dangers of what might crawl over them while still having to ignore what might drop down on them from the branches above. The two of them hiked the jungle, paddled the Amazon, and made it all the way to Angel Falls. The photographs that Tony took rival any that National Geographic has published! One of his wife's personal treasures is a small rock he brought back from Angel Falls. Other specimen collection trips took him to Guadeloupe, St. Vincent, and Trinidad and Tobago. As a scuba diver, he explored the reefs of the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos, the Florida Keys, the Dominican Republic, Cozumel, Dominica, St. Lucia, the Bay Islands of Honduras, and Belize. No one category can fully describe this wonderful man. AFRICA – Tony could out-trivia-tize any native-born citizen of various African countries when it came to recounting the dates, places, names, and events surrounding the history of the Zulu nation and the African continent as a whole. While recovering from surgery, one of the nurses discovered that Tony had on his iTune list seven versions of Nakupenda Malaika, a Swahili lullaby of East Africa. She sang it to him during that first night. One of his last conversations about African history was with his physical therapist, a man from Ethiopia. They both agreed that their favorite king was Haile Selassie! MUSIC – Tony could play the piano by ear, a total frustration to those of us who spent years running scales! There is also an old accordion tucked away in the house as a reminder of previous efforts. He said he could not sing, but listen in as he sang along with his favorite tunes and you knew that was not correct. His listening interests were eclectic and wide. An iTune account of almost 1000 songs reveals the music of Al Green, Al Martino, Il Volo, the Everly Brothers, old-school country music, early rock-and-roll, and of course Frank Sinatra. When Tony was hallucinating under the surgery drugs, he said he felt as if he were in Sinatra's body and he was singing just like Sinatra. That was a magical moment for him! ART: This man had talent! He was probably the only youth whose parents were proud of a crouching leopard in a tree painted on his bedroom wall! At work, Tony was always the go-to person to create the perfect satirical drawing of a retiring colleague or a birthday celebrant. He could capture every foible of the physique and personality. No one ever had to ask, "Who's that?" WRITING: Those of you who followed his sagas on Facebook know what a great storyteller he is. Those who have received letters from him (an ancient form of communication) know of his clever phrasing and witty perspective, as well as a tenderness of expression. SPEAKING: Never one to write out a speech, Tony's ability to access his stored information at a moment's notice plus his strength of word play made him a requested speaker at many events, both solemn and entertaining. READING: Drawn to biographies, science, and history, Tony probably remembered more of what he read than most people have read at all! Never one to read one book at a time, the final books he was reading were The Miracle Detective, Galileo's Daughter, and The Quantum Moment. WEIGHT-LIFTING: From age twelve up into this current year, Tony was a devoted weight-lifter. His disciplined presence in the gym is only overshadowed by the amazing strength he maintained, even exceeding the weight capacity of almost all those present in the gym, most being decades younger than he! CUISINE: Tony's culinary skills were amazing. Be it lasagna, meatballs, chicken cacciatore, homemade noodles, pasta e fagioli, alfredo sauce, shrimp sauce, the beauty of a simple tomato sauce, or the artistic presentation of the most bountiful of antipasto offerings, Tony expressed love through his cooking. All of his sons have inherited that desire to express themselves through cooking. All have experimented with some of Tony's best recipes, although to say "recipe" is really not accurate: "Hey, Dad, when making Sunday meatballs, how much breadcrumbs do I use?" "Just the right amount." This musician, artist, writer, public speaker, scientist, avid reader, weight-lifter, chef, husband, father, brother, uncle, cousin, grandpa, and friend --- this renaissance man --- will always be alive in our hearts. Thank you, God, for letting Tony be in our lives all these years. If you prefer, in lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Coral Restoration at www.coralrestoration.org/donate/ So that the family may express its appreciation, please fill in the following information under "Send acknowledgement via email to": Name - S. C. Picciolo / Email - asbpicciolo@comcast.net

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Anthony Ronald Picciolo

July 22, 1934 - May 31, 2015