Activist helped build Crystal River area
DeRosa dies at 78
How many people can say they built a hospital, a community and a fire department?
Pete DeRosa Real estate activist helped build Crystal River could claim those accomplishments - and more.
The 78-year-old Crystal River activist died Friday at Seven Rivers Regional Medical Center, but he left his mark on Citrus County.
DeRosa was born Jan. 27, 1926, in Italy and moved to Citrus County 36 years ago from Islip Terrace in Long Island, N.Y.
He believed the west side of Citrus County needed its own hospital, and that dream started to come true when DeRosa, the chairman of the hospital planning committee, and other board members proved to the state that the area could support its own hospital.
On June 24, 1974, Florida's Department of Health and Rehabilitation Services issued the Certificate of Need for Seven Rivers Community Hospital, now named Seven Rivers Regional Medical Center.
Joyce Brancato, the chief operating officer of the hospital, said DeRosa continued to support the hospital long after it opened in 1978.
"He truly has been an outstanding asset to this community," Brancato said.
After DeRosa moved to Citrus County, he developed DeRosa Village off County Road 495 in Crystal River. In 1973, he organized the DeRosa Fire Department. He donated land for the firehouse. He was fire chief for two years and a volunteer for over a decade. He was a county fire commissioner for seven years.
More than a decade ago, he started a foundation to raise scholarship funds for local residents who wanted to pursue medical careers
Fancy Taylor, the vice president of the Seven Rivers Medical and Educational Foundation, said DeRosa was the driving force behind that organization, and he was always fund-raising for good causes.
"He was such a great mentor," Taylor said. "I never saw a man, one individual, that could do so much for a community. It was just him - he wasn't a big business or anything. He was just an individual who wanted to give back and did in many thousands of ways. He was a great man, a truly great man."
The foundation has raised more than a quarter million dollars in private contributions to provide scholarships to about 300 Citrus County residents.
He was a charter member of the Crystal River Rotary Club and a past president of the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce.
Last year, DeRosa organized the group that raised money to design the Fallen Heroes of Citrus County memorial and build it at Bicentennial Park in Crystal River.
In January, the Chronicle editorial board named DeRosa the 2003 Citizen of the Year. In 1999, he received the Rick Quinn Award from the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce.
The Citrus County Commission honored DeRosa last week with a resolution honoring his many contributions to the community.
Commission Chairman Josh Wooten said he went to visit DeRosa about two weeks ago when DeRosa was riding a stationary bicycle at a rehabilitation center. Wooten said DeRosa expected to recover from his illness.
Soon afterwards, Wooten said it occurred to him that the county commission should honor DeRosa for what he had done for the community.
"He is the embodiment of the American dream, so last Tuesday, we did just that," Wooten said.
DeRosa is survived by two sons, Vinnie DeRosa and his wife, Debbie, of Sarasota; Peter DeRosa and his wife, Linda, of Crystal River; a daughter, Irene Self, Crystal River; a sister, Maria Noetzel and her husband, Otto, of New Port Richey; nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
His wife, Bruna Eleanor DeRosa, died Oct. 11, 2001.
The funeral Mass for Pete DeRosa, 78, Crystal River, will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004, at St. Benedict Catholic Church in Crystal River. Burial will follow at Crystal River Memorial Cemetery.
The visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday and from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Strickland Funeral Home Chapel in Crystal River.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are requested to the Seven Rivers Medical and Educational Foundation, P.O. Box 232, Crystal River, FL 34423 or the Fallen Heroes of Citrus County, P.O. Box 975, Crystal River, FL 34423.
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