SORICELLI, DDS, MPH
DAVID A. of West Brandywine Township, Chester County, PA, died of natural causes on May 28th, 2021, at the age of 95. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 61 years, June Caroline (née Ellis), who was his soul-mate and North Star in life and in death for more than 75 years, by his siblings: Silvio, Guy “Guido”, Mary Doreen (Tozzi) and Ontalee (Ruggiero), by niece Lisa (Tozzi) and nephew Duane “Jack”. His memory is held dear by his brothers: Richard and Duane, and sisters-in-law: Rhonda and Rosemary. He will always live in the hearts of his many nieces and nephews and their families: Cheryl (Askew), Donna (Scialanca), Sandra (O’Brien), Melinda (D’Ancona), Adrienne (Vogel), Nicola (Boerer), Andrea (Barbuzza), Aimée (Lischke), R. Gregory, Richard F., Nicholas (Ruggiero) and Karl (Hertz), and dear friends: Patricia MacBean-Puchino, Barbara Puchino and Timothy Foor.
Born in West Pittston, PA on April 14, 1926, David attended West Pittston High School before serving in the U.S. Navy Air Corps during World War II. After the war, he attended the University of Scranton and then earned a Degree in Dentistry from Temple University in 1955. Following two years as a Dental Officer with the U.S. Public Health Service, Division of Indian Health, in the Albuquerque Area, NM, he went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Harvard University in 1958. He immediately began a distinguished career with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, first as Director of the Division of Dental Health (1958 – 1972), then as Deputy Commissioner of Health for Community Health Services (1972 – 1981). He was known within the profession as a “thinker and a doer” and “a man ahead of his time.” He was President of the American Association of Public Health Dentistry (AAPHD) in 1971 and President of the American Board of Dental Public Health in 1974, supervised a dental public health residency program from 1968 – 1973, and directed the Philadelphia portion of the Legionnaire’s Disease investigation in 1976. He was the recipient of many honors including the highest award of the AAPHD, the Distinguished Service Award, in 1986, and the Myron Allukian Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association for Community Dental Programs, in 2011.
Memorial gifts in David’s name may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee: www.stjude.org and/or The Cooley’s Anemia Foundation in New York City: www.thalassemia.org/donate-to-the-cooleys-anemia foundation/.
Private arrangements by The Labs Funeral Home, Inc., Honey Brook, PA.