Leonard J. Scioli

Leonard J. Scioli, a retired Foreign Service Officer, 91, passed away September 15, 2013 surrounded by his loving family in the Reading Hospital and Medical Center. He was the husband of Lucia (Gianfreda) Scioli, a former staff member of the Italian Legation in Sofia, Bulgaria, where they met.

Scioli attended Reading Public Schools and continued his education while serving in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). On December 2, 1941, Scioli enlisted in the United States Coast Guard and completed Fleet Sound School in Key West, Florida. During World War II, he served on USCG Cutters on convoy duty in the Atlantic and Caribbean seas to protect merchant ships carrying war supplies to US Forces in North Africa.

Scioli was honorably discharged on February 25, 1947, and was awarded the Area American Campaign Medal, American Defense Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal and the Coast Guard Good Conduct Medal. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Hunter Liggett Post #38, Reading, PA.

In August 1947, Scioli was appointed by the Department of State, Washington, D.C. for duty to the American Legation in Sofia, Bulgaria. He remained in Sofia until the United States broke diplomatic relations with Bulgaria in February 1950. After all classified files were destroyed, the Legation staff was evacuated by the famous Orient Express to different embassies across Europe. Scioli was assigned to the American Embassy in Rome, Italy. One month later, his fiancée, Lucia Gianfreda, resigned her position with the Italian Legation and returned to her family in Rome. They were married on April 5, 1950. Other diplomatic posts were in Iraq, Japan, South Africa, and Turkey. While living abroad, Mrs. Scioli had a son born in Japan and a daughter born in Turkey.

Between assignments, Scioli attended courses at the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, VA regarding security matters, management and executive studies.

After completing tours of duty at embassies in the Sudan and Cameroon, Scioli was assigned to the Department of State, Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs as Post Management Officer.

In 1967, Scioli was appointed Attache and assigned to the American Embassy in Moscow, now Russia, then known as the USSR, for two years.

In 1969, Scioli was assigned to Italy to serve four years as United States Consul in Naples. In 1973, he was transferred to the Embassy in Rome to join the personal staff of Ambassador John Volpe as First Secretary of the Embassy in charge of protocol and to handle all official visitors to Italy.

In 1975, Scioli was transferred to the US Consulate General in Toronto, Canada, to serve as US Consul and Administrative Officer. On July 8, 1977, he retired from the Department of State after completing 35 years of meritorious service. He was a member of DACOR (Diplomatic and Consular Officers, Retired) of Washington, D.C.

In July 1978, Scioli accepted a Foreign Service Reserve Officer appointment with the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs for short assignments at diplomatic posts in Latin America. For the next 15 years he would serve at US Embassies in Jamaica, Ecuador, Bahamas, Suriname, Guyana, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Barbados, and Mexico City. In addition, he was appointed Acting Principal Delegate of the USA to the Commission for the Study of Alternatives to the Panama Canal in Panama City, Panama.

Also in 1978, Scioli received a five-year mayoral appointment to serve on the Reading Redevelopment Authority which included two years as Chairman.

In 1980, Scioli was recalled for three months to serve as the Associate Director of the Cuban-Haitian Task Force at Fort Indiantown Gap, PA to assist in camp management and resettlement of Cubans shipped to the Florida Coast by Fidel Castro's Cuba.

In 1981, Scioli was nominated by Governor Dick Thornburg for a position on the local Selective Service Board No. 29, and served until 1994 which included eight years as chairman.

Born in Reading, Scioli was the son of the late Joseph and Angeline (Pangaro) Scioli. In addition to his wife of 63 years, Lucia, he is survived by his son, Leonard J. Jr., Monmouth Beach, NJ, and a daughter, Lorraine S., wife of Paul G. Wiedorn of Coopersburg and two granddaughters, Alexandria and Victoria Wiedorn, both of Coopersburg. Also, a brother, Alfred R. Scioli, Reading, and sisters, Helen, wife of Harry Zillhardt York, Adeline, widow of Louis Schmehl, and Lena, widow of James Lucchese both of Wyomissing, one niece and six nephews also survive him.

Services will be Friday at 12:30 p.m. in Edward J. Kuhn Funeral Home, Inc., 739 Penn Ave., West Reading, PA 19611. Burial will be private. Friends may call Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the funeral home. Online condolences may be recorded at www.kuhnfuneralhome.com.