Remembering “Petro”
D.J. (Petro) Petruccelli, the longest serving Chamber of Commerce director in the United States, passed away Friday, May 14, after struggling with a heart condition. He would have been 82 years old next Saturday, May 29.
Many knew “Petro” -as he was affectionately called- as a hard worker who used to show up at the Beach Chamber office at 4 a.m. He leaves this world as the longest-consecutive Chamber executive in the United States at 55 years.
Beach resident Fran Myers was chairwoman of the Beach Chamber board when she hired Petruccello as Chamber president in August of 1985.
“We realized then that we had a real tiger,” she said. “For the 20-some years he was here, he really was a great leader. He accomplished a lot.”
Myers recalled a newspaper photo of Petruccelli’s face on a soaring superman. Among his accomplishments, “Petro” was a driving force behind the reconstruction of Lynn Hall Park and the purchase and remodeling of Bowditch Pointe Park as well as instituting the first trolley service on Estero Island. According to Myers, Petruccelli also organized a campaign called ‘Sharing Our Pride on Fort Myers Beach’ shortly after he arrived. The Beach Chamber raised $250,000 during that year-long campaign.
Petruccelli started his chamber community work as an executive secretary in Bettendorf, Iowa, in 1955. He served as executive director of the Beach Chamber Foundation until the day he died.
“He actually formed the Beach Chamber Foundation back in 1986,” said Myers. “We were the first Chamber in Lee County to form a foundation. We’ve given well over $100,000 in high school scholarships to our area. He was responsible for that.”
Beach resident Roxie Smith was another member of the Beach Chamber committee who hired Petruccelli.
“He loved Fort Myers Beach,” she said. “He totally revolutionized the Chamber. He also has a memory like nobody else. He could tell you the exact date and time when something happened several years ago.”
Two days before passing, “Petro” showed his great memory capacity when he reminded Myers of their testimony into the Congressional records against oil drilling in the late 1980s.
“He told me ‘Little did we think that we would ever have oil maybe coming to our shorelines,” said Myers. “He was a mover and shaker.”
FMB Chamber Board member Marguerite Burns also had the pleasure of working with Petruccelli and knew him for many years.
“He was a hard-working and kind individual,” she said. “He would never hang up without telling me ‘Love you, Tweetie.'”
Beach Mayor Larry Kiker referred to “Petro” as the Beach’s original mayor … long before Fort Myers Beach incorporated and voted Anita Cereceda into that capacity.
“He served in all purposes as our mayor before we became an official town,” said Kiker. “Not only did he do great work for the community, but he served as a leader in that capacity as many others. I will always remember him as our first mayor.”
Current FMB Chamber President John Albion compared “Petro” to Thomas Edison in some ways.
“This Chamber of Commerce was small, it never had a professional Chamber executive, and Petro coming here made it a professional Chamber,” said Albion. “The light bulb went off with what the Chamber could become. The foundation was created, a permanent home was bought and expanded on and the Chamber started to do events in more pronounced ways. As a professional, he took us to a legitimately high standard. Almost like Edison, he found a bunch of ways of how not to do things, and some things worked and some didn’t.”
Petruccelli is survived by his wife, Marianne, five children, nine grandchildren and one great-grandson.
Remembering “Petro”
D.J. (Petro) Petruccelli, the longest serving Chamber of Commerce director in the United States, passed away Friday, May 14, after struggling with a heart condition. He would have been 82 years old next Saturday, May 29.
Many knew “Petro” -as he was affectionately called- as a hard worker who used to show up at the Beach Chamber office at 4 a.m. He leaves this world as the longest-consecutive Chamber executive in the United States at 53 years.
Beach resident Fran Myers was chairwoman of the Beach Chamber board when she hired Petruccello as Chamber president in August of 1985.
“We realized then that we had a real tiger,” she said. “For the 20-some years he was here, he really was a great leader. He accomplished a lot.”
Myers recalled a newspaper photo of Petruccelli’s face on a soaring superman. Among his accomplishments, “Petro” was a driving force behind the reconstruction of Lynn Hall Park and the purchase and remodeling of Bowditch Pointe Park as well as instituting the first trolley service on Estero Island. According to Myers, Petruccelli also organized a campaign called ‘Sharing Our Pride on Fort Myers Beach’ shortly after he arrived. The Beach Chamber raised $250,000 during that year-long campaign.
Petruccelli started his chamber community work as an executive secretary in Bettendorf, Iowa, in 1955. He served as executive director of the Beach Chamber Foundation until the day he died.
“He actually formed the Beach Chamber Foundation back in 1986,” said Myers. “We were the first Chamber in Lee County to form a foundation. We’ve given well over $100,000 in high school scholarships to our area. He was responsible for that.”
Beach resident Roxie Smith was another member of the Beach Chamber committee who hired Petruccelli.
“He loved Fort Myers Beach,” she said. “He totally revolutionized the Chamber. He also has a memory like nobody else. He could tell you the exact date and time when something happened several years ago.”
Two days before passing, “Petro” showed his great memory capacity when he reminded Myers of their testimony into the Congressional records against oil drilling in the late 1980s.
“He told me ‘Little did we think that we would ever have oil maybe coming to our shorelines,” said Myers. “He was a mover and shaker.”
FMB Chamber Board member Marguerite Burns also had the pleasure of working with Petruccelli and knew him for many years.
“He was a hard-working and kind individual,” she said. “He would never hang up without telling me ‘Love you, Tweetie.'”
Beach Mayor Larry Kiker referred to “Petro” as the Beach’s original mayor … long before Fort Myers Beach incorporated and voted Anita Cereceda into that capacity.
“He served in all purposes as our mayor before we became an official town,” said Kiker. “Not only did he do great work for the community, but he served as a leader in that capacity as many others. I will always remember him as our first mayor.”
Current FMB Chamber President John Albion compared “Petro” to Thomas Edison in some ways.
“This Chamber of Commerce was small, it never had a professional Chamber executive, and Petro coming here made it a professional Chamber,” said Albion. “The light bulb went off with what the Chamber could become. The foundation was created, a permanent home was bought and expanded on and the Chamber started to do events in more pronounced ways. As a professional, he took us to a legitimately high standard. Almost like Edison, he found a bunch of ways of how not to do things, and some things worked and some didn’t.”
Petruccelli is survived by his wife, Marianne, five children, nine grandchildren and one great-grandson.