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Alfonso Pasquale DeIuliis (DiULUS) 1871-1964, was for much of his life an entrepreneur. He was determined to learn. He worked long hours as a common laborer in order to underwrite and set out on his own path. He remains today the quintessential everyman -everywoman who passed through Ellis Island in the late 19th Century.
Alfonso infused one word into the minds of his descendants - Education. Today, Alfonso and Josephine's family include doctors, lawyers, scientists, college professors, K-12 teachers, union leaders, community activists, coaches, corporate leaders, sports agents, politicians, police officers, firemen, and others in multiple professions too numerous to mention. The have married and formed families with litrally all ethnic groups that exist in America today. They are what Alfonso and Josephine hoped they would become - Educated, successful, loyal, and patriotic Americans. Alfonso DeIuliis came in search of a dream. And although his name was involuntarily changed for him by immigration officials seeking to spell what he was pronouncing, they actually made it easier for him to assimilate into the melting pot called "America". On looking back, they actually made it easier for him to do business in his new homeland. As a student of life, he summed up his love of America and the educational opportunities it provided his family this way:
In English, the literal tranlation is: Lighting the Lamp of Knowledge
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Arriving in New York in the1890's, Alfonso was a man of drive and determination. He was obsessed with a burning desire that his children and his children's children would have every education advantage both life and freedom in America could possibly provide. It was not easy for Alfonso and Josephine. she was an immigrant from France whom Alfonso met and married in the coal country of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. A widow who had lost her first husband in a tragic coal mining accident and with several small children, she met, fell in love with, and married Alfonso, a promising entrepreneur. Together, they had five more children. They fought ignorance, prejudice, and financial hardship. Possessed by the dream of America, they endured and succeeded. 
The DiUlus Institute stands in memory of Alfonso and the legacy he left his family. His name represents the common bond of immigrant American families who helped build the United States into the world's great nation it has become. These courageous, selfless men and women empower us today to shine the light of knowledge for all who would follow their sacrifice, determination, and resolve to be successful. 
