Dominick Pisano

Dominick was born in New York City on September 8, 1935 to parents Frank and Elizabeth Pisano. He grew up and attended schools in New Jersey. In 1953 he was awarded a four-year scholarship to Rutgers University and went on to earn a bachelor of arts degree in 1957. Upon graduation he entered active duty service in the U.S. Air Force.

After extensive training, Dominick was assigned to the Strategic Air Command as a navigator-bombardier on a B-52. He and his crew flew missions during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. He left active duty in 1964 and went on to serve in the Air Force Reserve, rising to the rank of major. He was honorably discharged in 1983.

Dominick married Marina Antoniou in 1958. The couple settled first in Wharton, New Jersey, in 1964, and he held management positions with associations and chambers of commerce in New York and New Jersey. He participated in early, visionary civic efforts to develop what later became the Meadowlands sports center.

In 1970, Dominick was hired as membership manager of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and the couple and their two children moved to Texas. He went on to become executive vice president of the San Antonio Builders Association and worked in real estate sales before being named president of the North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce in 1988. From 1995 until his retirement he was a vice president at the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.

Dominick worked with other community leaders in the development of the Alamodome. And he participated in efforts to improve the quality of education and access to quality education in the city. He was perhaps proudest of the student mentoring program that he pursued in coordination with Junior Achievement and other community youth organizations, a program that grew to involve thousands of students.

Dominick is survived by his wife, Marina, son Steven, daughter Lisa, daughter-in-law Susan and grandchildren Matthew, Justin and Gia.

He is also survived by his brothers, Mike and Frank and their wives, by his sister, Theresa, and by three nephews and a niece.

Dominick had been living with Parkinson's Disease since 2008. Donations in his memory to any one of the Parkinson's charities or to the San Antonio Humane Society are welcome.