John Dipaola

John Dipaola was born in Rochester, New York and died on February 26, 2016. He is survived by his wife, Lucy Sassone-DiPaola; daughter, Kimberly Sousa; and two brothers.

He was a commercial real estate developer who restored the Hiram Sibley Building in Rochester, N.Y. He also was a successful painter.

Early Life and Education

John Di Paola grew up in a working-class Italian family in New Jersey. He started college in the 1970s, but dropped out after his father fell ill and he needed to support his family. He then worked as a truck driver and an orderly at a hospital before he decided to go to medical school. He went on to receive a pre-med degree from Rutgers.

He moved to Portland in 1982 and trained as an orthopedic surgeon at Oregon Health & Science University. He started his own practice in 1998 called Occupational Orthopedics in Tualatin. Now, he is running for Congress in the 5th District of Oregon as a Republican candidate. He says he is a strong advocate for injured workers. The Statesman Journal reports that three other Republicans are also vying for the seat.

Professional Career

john dipaola has held several senior executive roles in the publishing industry for more than 25 years. He currently serves as the Vice President of Group Publisher for Babcox Media, a position that requires him to oversee the company’s publications and websites. Prior to joining Babcox, DiPaola worked for Penton Media where he managed six business-to-business magazines and websites.

In addition to his role at Babcox, Dipaola is a board member of the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine. He lives in Wilsonville with his wife Lori and their four children. In his spare time, he enjoys flyfishing and tending to his native gardens. He is a Republican, and is running for United States Representative in the 5th congressional district. He is seeking to represent the Multnomah, Clackamas, Marion, Linn and Deschutes counties in Oregon.

Achievements and Honors

John dipaola has been around the block a few times. He has been involved in a number of high profile legal and governmental cases in his career. The most notable of these was his role as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy for Civil Rights at the Department of Education, where he oversaw civil rights related initiatives including those involving gender, student access to higher education and federal employee health benefits.

His achievements and accolades also include his contributions to the University of New Brunswick’s broader campus community. In particular, he played a major role in the establishment of the School’s Center for Technology, Innovation and Creativity (CITC), which is a key hub for cutting-edge research on human-computer interaction and the digital future. He was also a key driver behind the School’s new interdisciplinary undergraduate minor in data science and engineering. The interdisciplinary major is a logical extension of the university’s already illustrious engineering and computer science program, and a step toward attracting and retaining the best and the brightest students on campus.

Personal Life

John DiPaola was born in Rochester, NY on October 29, 1924. He was a high school graduate and served in the US Army during World War II.

He married his high school sweetheart Lucy Sassone in 1947 and together they ran a successful business in Rochester for over 50 years. They also owned a number of properties in Europe, South America and Africa.

Besides his wife, he is survived by his daughter Kimberly V. Sousa; brothers Ronald J. and Stephen M. DiPaola; grandsons Andrew Sousa and Ty Jonathan Sousa; and his nieces Melissa Berube, Christine DiMuro, Kristy Colgate and a nephew Matthew DiPaola.

Please share your memories of John on our memorial page to pay tribute to a great man. He will be greatly missed.