Memorial Service for Floyd Agostinelli

A catered reception will follow in the St. Francis de Sales School Hall. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to: "St. Francis de Sales SVDP" at the address above.

Floyd was born in Anaconda, Montana on December 1, 1930 to Italian immigrant parents. He was the youngest of seven children. Born during a depression which was followed by World War II, Floyd's early youth was marked both by the poverty of the depression and the fears of World War II. (Three of Floyd's older brothers served in combat during WWII.)

At an early age, Floyd became a self-confessed Communist, was very engaged in "social causes" and was and remained proud of his union membership during the McCarthy era in the communist alleged International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers. Floyd became both the editor of the local Union paper and a lobbyist for the Union. Floyd hated the Catholic Church with a passion because he thought the Church always sided with the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. Deciding to pursue an education, Floyd attended Montana State University. (Later on, he earned a B.A. degree in Philosophy and a M.A. degree in Sociology.) While there, Floyd met a Catholic layman and a Priest who were interested in the same issues as he but were interested in these issues because they were Catholic. This began Floyd's journey to the St. Peter Claver Center and back to Catholicism. Floyd moved to Washington, D.C. in 1955 and joined the St. Peter Claver Center. This was an interracial friendship house in Washington, D.C., where staff lived interracially (even during legal segregation) and were paid board, room and $6 a month. Floyd was and remained also a pacificist, an anti-death penalty advocate, a freeway opponent and an original DC Statehood member and supporter. He met and married his lovely wife, Beth Ann Cozzens, an ex-St. Peter Claver Center staffer, in 1956. Their very happy marriage of 44+ years was blessed by seven children and 11 grandchildren.

Floyd was very active with the National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice (NCCIJ) ending up as one of the six member local representatives of the six major national sponsors of the 1963 March on Washington. The local committee was responsible for the arrangements for the original March on Washington in 1963. Also, through the National Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs (NCUEA), Floyd developed a capitalization program for "low income" credit unions and helped develop the new model for the Community Development Credit Union (CDCU) which became an official credit union charter of the National Credit Union Administration. Over a period of six years, Floyd stimulated the deposits of over $5 million in nonmember deposits in Community Development Credit Unions. On September 14, 1991, Floyd became ordained as a Deacon for the Archdiocese of Washington. For both Floyd and Beth Ann, this was an added blessing to them.

Throughout most of his life, Floyd tried to do what he saw as God's work on earth. In this work, his lovely wife Beth Ann was always there with him. It was Beth Ann's unqualified love and concern that enabled Floyd to do so many things in his lifetime. For Floyd, Beth Ann made his life worth living. As his wife before him, Floyd has donated his body to the Howard University School of Anatomy. Floyd is survived by Damien; Peter, his wife Sandy, their 3 children Dominic, Teneisha and Kenny; Paula, her children Leah and Jordan; Gregory, his wife Jeri; Andrew; Sharon's two sons Forest and Floyd; Ann-Marie, her husband James, their 4 children James Chigungu, Maurin, Bethann and Paul.

For more information, visit http://www.agostinellifamily.com.

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