ALFRED CASTAGNOLA class of 1953, passed away on January 18, 1999. He was a port-industry leader for 30 years who helped bring about growth and modernization on both sides of the Delaware.
Fred Castagnola, a native of Boston, had lived in Cherry Hill for the last 30 years. Most recently, he was a marketing consultant for the South Jersey Port Corp. "He successfully brought the port to experience its most successful years in history," said Joseph A. Balzano, the corporation's executive director. "A uniquely dynamic and passionate in his approach to marketing, broke new ground in labor relations which effectively improved the competitiveness of the entire port of the Philadelphia and Camden region."
Fred Castagnola was credited with helping the region's ports obtain modern labor agreements to make them more competitive and with bringing automation and other technological advances to the facilities. He "was one of the early visionaries [in Philadelphia, who developed the port as the prime port for Chilean fruit," said Robert W. Palaima, President of the Delaware Valley Stevedores Inc. After receiving a degree in marine transportation from the State University of New York Maritime College in 1953, Mr. Castagnola joined the Alcoa Steamship Co. as a deck officer in 1958. He later worked on the company's piers in the Port of New York/New Jersey, Baltimore, Puerto Rico, and New Orleans.
In 1968, Mr. Castagnola headed up the stevedoring division of the newly formed Delaware River Terminal & Stevedoring Co., where he advanced to Executive Vice President. He joined the International Terminal Operating Co. (ITO) in 1972 as Regional Vice President for the organization that would become the Delaware River Stevedores. He retired from Delaware River Stevedores as Executive Vice President in 1991.
While with ITO, Mr. Castagnola directed the firm's operations at the Tioga Marine Terminal in Philadelphia. Mr. Castagnola, chairman of the Maritime Exchange for the Delaware River and Bay for the last four years, was "instrumental in working towards port unification,"said Lisa Himber, a Maritime Exchange Vice President. His efforts included helping develop a computer-community automation-exchange system that coordinates maritime business throughout the Delaware River and Bay's five public port agencies serving the three states, Himber said.
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