Salvatore J. Panepinto

Salvatore (Sam) Panepinto, 87, of Dongan Hills, who is remembered for his pioneering work in substance abuse among young people on the Island, died Sunday in the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the Bronx.

Mr. Panepinto was a founder of You Participate in Solutions (YPIS) -- now known as the New York Center for Interpersonal Development -- in St. George, which provided mediation and youth programs. In response to a growing problem of youth substance abuse, in the early 1970s he helped open the former "Rap Center" -- a walk-in drug prevention center in New Dorp.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Mr. Panepinto enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II right after high school, and was stationed in Bavaria, Germany. He was riding in a Jeep when it swerved to avoid another military vehicle and was thrown from the Jeep, sustaining a spinal cord fracture. He was left a paraplegic and had to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life. His determination, however, made him a role model for veterans and others with physical disabilities.

"My dad led the most independent life of anyone I knew; he was an inspiration to me," said his son, Joseph, director of the Catholic Youth Organization for the New York Archdiocese, and husband of state Supreme Court Justice Barbara Panepinto.

But Mr. Panepinto's "bad break" -- as he often called the accident -- brought him to Staten Island and some of the best years of his life, he would say.

HALLORAN DAYS

He was shipped to the former Halloran Hospital, an Army facility in Willowbrook that is now the campus of the College of Staten Island. He was hospitalized there from 1946 to 1948, and continued as a daily outpatient until 1952. He was one of a group of paraplegic patients with whom Dr. Howard Rusk, founder of the internationally known Rusk Institute at New York University Medical Center, did his pioneer work in rehabilitative medicine.

Mr. Panepinto met his future bride, Esther (Mickey) Majchrzak, at Halloran, where she was among those who regularly visited the hospital. The couple wed in 1948 and settled in Dongan Hills, becoming one of the first families to move into the new Berry Houses complex.

Community activist Charles Greinsky grew up in the Berry Houses building where the Panapintos lived.

"He was the first person I knew who was in a wheelchair. I can still remember him rolling around, getting out and about," Mr. Greinsky said. "He was a real role model, who didn't let anything get in his way."

Mr. Panepinto later moved from the complex, but remained in Dongan Hills.

His neighbors remember him shoveling snow from around his home, and stowing his wheelchair in his car before getting in and heading off -- sometimes to his Jersey Shore retreat in Wildwood Crest.

Surrogate Robert Gigante, a neighbor, called Mr. Panepinto "a friend and mentor."

Said Gigante: "My memory of Sam will always be of him whipping that wheelchair out and heading off for a ride in his big old Cadillac. He was disabled, but he never let his disability disable him."

"It's a sad day for all of Staten Island," he continued. "We've lost another member of the 'Greatest Generation.' He was way ahead of his time. He helped get a lot of families talking about substance abuse when people didn't want to talk about it and politicians didn't yet see it as a problem here."

DRIVEN BY SOCIAL CONCERNS

Mr. Panepinto worked as an office manager at two Island companies, Elgin Supply, a home improvement firm, and later, Post Exterminating Co., Port Richmond.

But his social conscience drew his attention to problems on the Island, namely a lack of support centers for young people, and their families, dealing with substance abuse.

Mr. Panepinto enlisted help from the Kiwanis Club, the late Borough President Robert Connor, and the city's Addiction Services Agency to open a walk-in drug prevention and counseling center in New Dorp called the "Rap Center." The center remained open for eight years, until it was closed due to budget cuts in 1978.

At the same time, he helped found YPIS, which pioneered the concept of mediation to solve minor conflicts. The center reached out to borough high schools to train teens in peer mediation.

Retired state Supreme Court Justice John Fusco was one of the first board members of YPIS.

"Once again, Sam was ahead of his time in training young people in peer mediation," Fusco said.

Over the years, Mr. Panepinto became his personal friend. "Sam was one of the nicest, kindest, most loving and determined people I've ever had the experience of knowing. I will miss him."

Mr. Panepinto also played a role in helping gain city support in establishing Camelot Counseling, the community-based substance abuse program that has been in existence for more than 40 years.

Luke Nasta, Camelot's executive director, said Mr. Panepinto "realized that young people, their neighbors and friends, needed special attention, and not punishment."

Mr. Panepinto was a member of the Men's Club of St. Charles Seminary, the Men's Club of St. Ann's R. C. Church, in Dongan Hills, where he was a parishioner, and he was at one time in charge of the CYO program at St. Ann's. When his son was young, he was among those who helped found the Staten Island Little League and coached in the Staten Island Babe Ruth League.

In later years he enjoyed painting and other arts and crafts, completing portraits of the Blessed Mother, Princess Diana, and his granddaughter, Lauren. He also enjoyed reading and listening to music.

Esther, Mr. Panepinto's wife of 37 years, died in 1983.

Surviving, along with his son, Joseph, and his granddaughter, Lauren, are his sisters, Nancy Galvin, Jenny Miller and Rita Nordo.

The funeral will be Friday from the Casey Funeral Home, Castleton Corners, with a mass at 11 a.m. in St. Ann's Church. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.