On behalf of the officers and 85,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association, I extend condolences and deepest sympathy to the Caruso family on the passing of Donato “Dan” Caruso. To his colleagues at the Lambos Firm, and our management partners at the Shipping Association of New York and New Jersey and United States Maritime Alliance, the ILA shares in your grief at losing this remarkable man who served our industry for decades, honorably and with distinction.
A brilliant legal mind, blended with a good heart and a kind demeanor, Dan Caruso would countless times prove his value and worth to those he represented and a forceful challenge for those, like me and many in the ILA, who sat across the negotiating table from him.
I was grateful to call him a friend. Away from our Labor Management meetings, Dan Caruso and I enjoyed many hours of pleasant conversations from the great football traditions at Fordham to the best Italian Restaurants. We were contemporaries – he graduated from Fordham Law School in 1967, the same year I returned from service in Vietnam and joined the ILA. We found common ground in the Waterfront Industry and he did care about the good and welfare of the ILA rank and file members and their families.
His accomplishments were great, and his memory will endure.
Funeral arrangements have been announced: A wake will be held Sunday, October 20, 2024, from 1 pm to 5 pm at Smith Funeral Home, 692 U.S. 6, Mahopac, New York. Funeral Mass is on Monday, October 21, 2024, at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, 221 East Lake Boulevard, Mahopac, New York.