Mario Donato Saltarelli

Born in Cisterna di Latina (Italy) in 1934, Dr. Saltarelli survived World War II in his ancestral mountain village of Pescasseroli (Abruzzo), before immigrating to the United States in 1952. On the boat ride over, he met his first love, Madeline. Together they settled in Urbana, Illinois, and had two sons -- Mario and Marc.

After finding his first work as a dance instructor, Mr. Saltarelli completed his doctoral studies at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) and eventually became a professor at the University's fledgling linguistics department. It was there, in 1970, where he published his seminal work, "A Phonology of Italian in a Generative Grammar," the first book to propose a formal, unifying system of Italian pronunciation.

In 1986, he moved west to chair the Department of Spanish at the University of Southern California, where he also taught Spanish, Italian, and Linguistics until his retirement at age 80. During his time at USC, he published more than 30 works, including Basque (1989), the first grammar to describe the Basque language in English.

A curious academic, teacher, and constant traveler, his adventures took him to Ethiopia, Spain, and the Amazon rainforest, but his heart never strayed far from Italy, and in particular, his beloved Pescasseroli. A day was never complete without several espressos and a long walk.

He is survived by his wife Sarah, his sons Mario and Marc, son-in-law Steve, daughter-in-law Mary, and his grandchildren Stephen and Jai. They are planning a celebration of life in the future.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Disease Research.