Senior skydiver of Butler dies at 97
Thomas “Tom” Della Santa never missed happy hour.
Whether it was through his work life, or over the past couple years, when his daughters took him from the personal care center at Concordia Lutheran Ministries to its happy hour every Friday afternoon, Della Santa’s was heartily greeted upon entry.
“No matter what was happening, he had to stop what he was doing and go to happy hour,” said Della Santa’s second eldest daughter, Lisa Johns, of Allison Park. “Whenever we walked in the room, it was like walking into ‘Cheers.’ ’Tom, hey, Tom. We missed you so much.’”
Della Santa died Thursday, Nov. 28, at the age of 97. He is survived by three daughters, Johns, Mary Anne McBride and Joyce Della Santa; his stepchildren, George Vorel, Deborah McCandless and Barbara Vorel; nine grandchildren; and 17 great-grandchildren.
In addition to his parents, Della Santa was preceded in death by his wives, Frances Vorel Della Santa and Avanell Wright Della Santa; one daughter, Cynthia Percy; and two sisters, Jacqueline Mills and Joyce Cipolla.
Johns said her father was so active even into his 90s that he could have lived to be 115, if not for COVID-19. He joined the Butler YMCA in his 80s, where he went to swim and do yoga. Johns said all the people in his groups, especially women of all ages, loved her father, because of his personality, and because he was one of the few senior men in their programs.
Johns said she and her family moved Della Santa to personal care with Concordia Lutheran Ministries around 2021, when he began slowing down a bit after being less active because of the 2020 pandemic. The pandemic was especially hard on Della Santa, a lifelong social being, according to Johns.
“He loved being a mailman, he loved walking. Main Street was his favorite route, he delivered mail to all the stores, all the people, he just adored being around people,” Johns said. “COVID shut down all of his social activities. As a result, he became very frail.”
Nevertheless, Johns and the people who knew Della Santa said they will remember him for his humorous personality, which persisted throughout his life. He was a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service for 31 years before retiring, but would end up “retiring” a second time at age 80, after working on his friend Jay Goettler’s beer distribution business.
Additionally, Della Santa was active in the Butler performance community for decades, and had stints in Butler Musical Theatre Guild productions, Butler Little Theatre shows and he even sang with a barbershop chorus group.
Della Santa was a great stage presence, according to Jim and Claudia Sanzotti, who did shows with him with the Musical Theatre Guild over 50 years. Jim Sanzotti said the three acted together in a MTG production of “The Music Man.” Della Santa was particularly good at being the comedic character.
“Tom was the comedian and Jay (Goettler) was the straight man,” said Jim Sanzotti, of Center Township. “They did a Christmas program that was hilarious.”
Della Santa was also a World War II veteran of the U.S. Army, and was honorably discharged in November 1946. He continued to be active with American Legion Post 778 after he was discharged.
He was also a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, Elks Lodge 170, the Italian Society of Butler and the Barbershop Harmony Society.
Jeff Picerno performed with Della Santa via the barbershop chorus, and said the singer normally took on two of the quartet’s roles while performing with the group. Della Santa’s personality shined through the barbershop group, according to Picerno.
“He sang between lead and tenor parts,” Picerno said. “He just had a charming personality, very witty and quick with a joke, and everybody loved him.”
Della Santa was a great father, Johns said, but possibly an even better grandfather to his many grandchildren. His dedication to his grandchildren was proven in 2017, when he fulfilled a dare to go skydiving with his two granddaughters for one of their birthdays, in commemoration of his own 90th birthday. Jenny Chapla in Butler, had gotten a skydiving session for her 44th birthday in July 2017, and asked if her grandfather was coming.
At the time, Della Santa told the Butler Eagle that he jumped from 13,500 feet.
“Euphoric is the only word that comes to mind,” Della Santa said at the time. “There's complete silence. You can see how pretty the ground is, but you can’t hear anything.”
According to Johns, Della Santa would do anything for his family, so him fulfilling the skydiving dare was not completely unexpected.
“He called me afterwards and said, ‘Lisa, you’ll never believe what I did.’ I just jumped out of an airplane,’” Johns said. “He said it was amazing, he was all fired up. That was quite an event for him.”
As Johns, Claudia Sanzotti and Picerno all said, Della Santa was a gentle person, and Johns said he will be remembered for his ability to make everyone around him laugh.
“A warm, sensitive man — that's how I would describe him,” Johns said. “He liked entertaining and making people laugh, and that’s what he was good at.”
