America's Largest Catholic Newspaper
Brother John Zito, S.D.B., who served in the archdiocese in vocation and development work, died June 8 at St. Philip the Apostle Residence, the Salesian retirement home in Tampa, Fla. He was 88.
He did youth ministry at the Salesian retreat center in Goshen, 1987-1991, and worked in the Eastern Province vocation office at Salesian Junior Seminary in Goshen and the Marian Shrine in Haverstraw (later Stony Point), 1972-1987.
From 1959 to 1972, while based at the provincial house in New Rochelle, he and another brother ran the St. Dominic Savio Classroom Club, a national organization that enrolled some 70,000 students at its peak. The club, which operated in Catholic schools, promoted devotion to St. Dominic Savio as a model of Christian virtue for children and youth to imitate.
Brother Zito returned to New Rochelle and served in the development and mission offices, 1999-2006, before retiring to the residence in Tampa in 2007.
Born in Niagara Falls, he entered the Salesian novitiate in 1942 and professed vows in 1943. He trained as a printer and practiced the trade in Salesian Schools in New Jersey and Florida, 1948-1956, then assisted in the training of novices. He also was treasurer of the house of formation in New Jersey, 1991-1999.
A Funeral Mass was celebrated June 9 at Mary Help of Christians, the Salesian church in Tampa, and June 11 at the Salesians’ Marian Shrine in Stony Point. Burial took place June 12 at the Salesian Cemetery in Goshen.
