Deacon R. Steven Santoleri, Permanent Deacon, Saint Cornelius Parish, Chadds Ford, died at Christiana Hospital, on Friday, September 13, 2013. He was 55 years old and had a lengthy struggle with colorectal cancer.

Deacon Santoleri was born on June 18, 1958, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Adelaide Rofi Santoleri. He attended Our Lady of the Assumption Parochial School, Strafford, and Archbishop John Carroll High School, Radnor. He also received a Bachelors Degree in Chemical Engineering from Villanova University. Deacon Santoleri was employed by DuPont for 33 years, where he worked most recently as a Manager in Global Operations, retiring just this year..

Deacon Santoleri was ordained a permanent deacon on June 2, 2012, at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Philadelphia, by Most Reverend Daniel J. Thomas, and assigned to Saint Cornelius Parish, Chadds Ford. Deacon Santoleri served on the Board of Directors for Generation Life in West Chester and Amigos de Jesus, an orphanage in Honduras, with their local office in Malvern. He also worked with Prolife Education Foundation in Philadelphia and Wilmington Legatus. He was a 4th Degree Knight of Columbus at St. Cornelius Church and was involved with the King's Men in Lansdale.

The Reception of the body will be held at Saint Cornelius Church, Chadds Ford, on Monday, September 16, 2013, at 5:00 P.M., followed by Visitation from 6:00-8:30 PM. Visitation will also be held on Tuesday, September 17, 2013, from 9:30-10:45 AM. Most Reverend Daniel E. Thomas will celebrate Deacon Santoleri's Funeral Mass at 11:00AM. Concelebrating the Funeral Mass will be Most Reverend W. Francis Malooly, Bishop of Wilmington, Reverend Monsignor John P. Hopkins, Diocese of Wilmington, Reverend Michael J. Fitzpatrick, and Reverend Dennis J. O'Donnell. The Deacon of the Mass will be Reverend Mr. Jason Buck and the Deacon Chaplains will be Deacon Harry Morris and Deacon Richard Wirth. Bishop Thomas will be the homilist.

Deacon Santoleri is survived by his wife, Carla, his five children: Matthew, Stephanie, Jeffery, Rich and Carl, his mother, Adelaide, two brothers, and one sister. Interment will be at Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken.

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