John Tusa of East Hampton, who had worked as a community advocate and activist for most of his professional career, which included many years as an addiction therapist at the Family Service League here, died in Southampton last Thursday at the age of 91.
Mr. Tusa had a deep empathy for those struggling with addiction, and one of his proudest professional endeavors was initiating the Bowery Residents Program in the 1980s in Lower Manhattan, which sought to address alcohol addiction. Later in life, at the age of 60, he returned to school to earn a master’s degree in social work from Stony Brook University.
He was born in New York City on Oct. 1, 1933, to Giuseppe Tusa and the former Rose Marie Maiorca, both Sicilian immigrants. Raised in tenement housing on Orchard Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, he “had a deep appreciation for the vibrant culture and community that defined his early years,” his family wrote. His lifelong love of learning and dedication to self-improvement served him well in his professional and personal life, they said.
Mr. Tusa and Paula Peterson were married on March 17, 1990, and shared many travels and adventures in their 35 years together. Their “commitment to the Quaker tradition brought them to experience the benefits of many spiritual retreats.” Their bond “was built on mutual respect, love, and laughter.” She survives him.
Friends and family remember Mr. Tusa “as the life of any gathering.” The couple’s “get-togethers with his large Sicilian family were always a highlight of the year and an opportunity to be proud of his heritage.” Whether cooking for friends and family or seeking out the best restaurants, “he believed food was meant to be savored and shared as the conduit to companionship.”
His appreciation of music extended from the folk anthems of his youth to Italian opera and Broadway musicals. He was also a student of music, taking singing classes for much of his life, and on family birthdays he was known to call for “singing impromptu lyrics and melodies.” A student of chess, he enjoyed playing with his stepsons and grandchildren.
His is a legacy of “kindness, service, and humor,” his family said. “John’s love of puns was legendary — he never missed an opportunity to bring a smile, or a groan, with a perfectly timed quip.”
“John was a man who truly believed in the power of community and the importance of helping others.”
In addition to his wife, Mr. Tusa is survived by a sister, Francie Valerio of Massapequa, three stepsons, Aubrey Peterson and his wife, Susan, of East Hampton, Erik Peterson and his wife, Kristen, of Amagansett, and Oliver Peterson and his wife, Colleen, of Center Moriches. He also leaves four grandchildren, Aubrey, Finn, Stella, and Baekeland Peterson, and many nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren.
Three siblings, Bessie Ligotti and James and Dominic Tusa, died before him.
A private celebration of his life will be held at a later date.
