Schenectady advocate for victims honored as Patroon

Pat Gioia was left speechless Wednesday — something even she said was a rare event.

The Schenectady resident, a tireless advocate for homicide victims and their families, was named a Schenectady Patroon. It’s the highest honor the city can bestow on a resident.

“I have seen the personal tragedy that she has gone through,” Mayor Gary McCarthy said at the surprise announcement, “and how she has turned that to benefit so many people, to benefit the community.”

McCarthy bestowed the award at the annual Ceremony of Remembrance of Homicide Victims at Schenectady’s Central Park.

The heart of the ceremony is the reading of homicide victims’ names. This year, those present read the names of 251 people killed around the region over the years.

Gioia’s personal tragedy came 29 years ago when her daughter, Mary Regina Gioia, was killed in California.

Gioia made it her mission to help others through their own tragedies. She has been a part of the support group Parents of Murdered Children since shortly after her daughter’s death.

She has long led the local chapter, which provides a support network for parents and other survivors of homicide victims.

“I’m just very, very honored by this,” said Gioia, 84, after receiving the award. She added a trademark “my goodness.”

She tried to add some other thoughts but finally said, “Boy, the first time Pat Gioia was speechless.”

Some of the names included in the ceremony have long been read, while others were read for the first time.

Among those added to the list this year were David Terry and his children, Layah, 3, Michael, 2, and Donavan Duell, 11 months. All four were killed in a May 2, 2013, arson fire on Hulett Street. Also new to the list was Theresa Bernard, 59, who was killed in July in Scotia.

Another name added to the list was a victim who never formally received a name, a child sometimes referred to as Baby Doe. Baby Doe was killed in March 2010 shortly after birth. Her existence wasn’t known to authorities until this past December.

Mary Greco’s name was read for the second time Wednesday. Greco, an 82-year-old former nun, was killed in late December 2012. Her killer is to be sentenced in June to 30 years to life in prison.

The ceremony includes an opportunity for family members of victims to speak. Greco’s sister Carmela Diehsner took the opportunity to remember her sister for her faith and for her life.

“She would go bike riding and skiing and walking all the time,” Diehsner told those gathered. “She really enjoyed life and we’re all going to miss her.”

Rosemary Oki remembered her son, Etemowei James Oki, killed in Albany in 2011 by a hit-and-run driver. “He was just 29 years old and had served in the Navy for six years,” she said.

He returned home less than a year before he was killed.

Some wounds were older. Kathy Cherry lost her daughter, Hillary Downey, and grandson, 13-month-old Romello Taylor, in January 2006. For Cherry, though, the wounds are still fresh.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of them and miss them,” Cherry said.

The annual event is hosted by the Vito A. Masi Memorial Center for Nonviolence and has been held each year since 1997. Many of the bushes in the Central Park Rose Garden are dedicated to homicide victims.

Tina Mazzucco is one of the ceremony’s organizers. She was a childhood friend of Masi, who was killed in 1995 in Schenectady. In her closing remarks, Mazzucco circled the ceremony back to Gioia’s work with homicide victims.

Mazzucco recalled bringing the Masi family to a Parents of Murdered Children group meeting after Masi’s death nearly 20 years ago. Gioia was there, as she has been for all those who have lost a loved one to violence.

“You provided a support system for us here,” Mazzucco told Gioia.

Mazzucco said the names are read every year to ensure that families know the victims are not forgotten.

“They know that we will always, always remember their loved ones,” Mazzucco said.

Categories: Schenectady County