Anthony J. "Tony" Girardi

Anthony (Tony) Joseph Girardi, 96, of Bryn Mawr, PA, passed away peacefully at his home on August 4, 2022. He was the husband of AnnMarie Mackway Girardi, with whom he shared 34 years of adventure and service. Tony, the son of Sadie and Anthony Girardi, was born in Philadelphia in 1926. After his father passed away only two years later, Tony was raised by his mother and his extended family, and at age 7 he entered Girard College, graduating in 1943. He served in the United States Army in a tank destroyer during World War II, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. After the war, he completed his undergraduate degree at Penn State University, and went on to earn his PhD in virology and immunology at the University of Pennsylvania. During a post-doctoral fellowship at Yale, he was involved in investigating the transmission process of the poliovirus. Then at National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD, he developed culture media for supporting cells growing for virus cultures. Returning to Philadelphia, he worked on the polio vaccine development at Merck, and the in his own lab at Wistar Institute on cancer virology and immunology. In the 1970s, he moved to Knoxville, TN to organize and direct the new East Tennessee Cancer Research Center. Returning to Philadelphia 3 years later, he worked at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research, and later for an NIH funded medical research information company. In 1988, Tony met and married AnnMarie, and helped her earn a physician degree. While living in Collingswood, NJ they were instrumental in developing and expanding the Interfaith Homeless Outreach Council in Camden, NJ, with Tony serving a term as its president. In 1998, Tony and AnnMarie moved to Lee County, VA to help the people in the area Tony had grown to love two decades before. While AnnMarie was serving the community as a physician, Tony, although officially retired, worked on many projects to improve drinking water quality and sanitation in surrounding communities. On their farm he implemented sustainable grazing practices, and in 2003 earned the Enhanced Agricultural Stewardship Award from the Daniel Boone Soil and Water Conservation District. He loved their farm! He was also very active in St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Middlesboro, KY, and with the Friends of the Wilderness Road State Park in VA. Tony was an avid reader. He enjoyed visiting museums, watching his beloved Penn State Nittany Lion football team, cooking and eating Italian food, and spending time with his pet cats. He never relinquished his duty to mow, with a push mower, the two acres of sloped, rocky yard surrounding their farm house. In addition to AnnMarie, he is survived by his two children, Nona Marina Girardi and Eric Anthony Girardi; two stepsons, Jonathan Mackway Wells and Matthew Bruce Wells; two grandchildren, Miriam Marina Barnum and George McKnight Barnum; and a step-granddaughter, Madeleine (Maddie) Wells. Memorial services, with full military honors, will be held at Washington Memorial Chapel, 2000 Valley Forge Park Road, King of Prussia, PA, on August 30, 2022. Visitation 9:30 am. Funeral 10:30 am. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Interfaith Homeless Outreach Council, 1989 Route 70 East, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003, or to St. Mary's Church Repair Affair Fund, 131 Edgewood Road, Middlesboro, KY 40965. Arrangements are being handled by the Campbell-Ennis-Klotzbach Funeral Home, Inc., Phoenixville, PA 19460.