Panfilo "Ben" DiCenso

Panfilo “Ben” Di Censo died peacefully on 28 February under the care of the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers, MA, at the age of 87.

Like many of his generation, the Second World War overshadowed Panfilo’s childhood. Born in Sulmona in the mountainous Abruzzo region of Italy to Giuseppe and Gina (née D’Artista) Di Censo, he experienced firsthand wartime hardship. Primary education was disrupted and his town endured arial bombardment. The family was separated from their father for the duration of the conflict until it was possible to reunite in the US in 1948, when they settled in Boston’s North End.

Panfilo’s journey was a quintessentially immigrant experience in coming of age during the 1950s. His English as Second Language school renamed him “Ben” because such had been the convention for other children named “Panfilo”. Thereafter known as “Ben”, he attended Boston English High School, completed his military service, and graduated from Northeastern University. Ben achieved many ‘firsts’ for his family: a college degree, living in Manhattan, becoming a CPA, owning a home, and a long career with the Internal Revenue Service and, later, Ernst & Young LLP.

Ben’s personal interests were family, friends, food/wine, festivities, and football—mostly in that order. He particularly cherished the lifetime friendships formed during his childhood in the North End, some of which spanned eight decades. Proud of his Italian-American heritage, he was a member of several social organizations, most recently the Appian Club of Stoneham, where he served as the head of the scholarship committee. Ben was also fond of winemaking and bottling his own vintages; his family was less fond of drinking them.

Ben is survived by his wife of fifty-one years, Linda Di Censo (née Carson) along with their three children and respective partners: Joseph and Michelle Di Censo of London, UK; Monica Di Censo and David Chernew of Manhattan, NY; and Andrea Di Censo and Doug Lowe of Boston. Ben will be lovingly remembered by his sister, Vanda Di Tirro, of Boston; two adoring nieces, Maria Cornelio of North Reading and Gina Di Tirro of Boston; and their partners, Luciano Cornelio and George Efthimiadis. Ben was predeceased by his parents, Giuseppe and Gina Di Censo and his brother-in-law, Carmine Di Tirro. Ben considered familial relationships of any degree as close kin, including his paesani both in Italy and the United States.

Visitation hours will be 4-7 pm on Friday, 6 March, and 9-10 am on Saturday, 7 March, at the Barile-Cota Funeral Home in North Reading, MA. A Catholic mass will also be held at St. Theresa’s Church in North Reading, at 10.30am on Saturday, followed by a burial at Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett. Family and friends are invited for a luncheon at Venezia Restaurant, in Dorchester, at 1.30 pm on Saturday, following the interment.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Ben’s memory to the Italian Home for Children at https://www.italianhome.org, 1125 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130.