Salvatore Panzeca, attorney and opera supporter, dies at 76

[Magda Hassan]

Salvatore Panzeca, attorney and opera supporter, dies at 76

Published: Thursday, July 07, 2011, 6:04 AM

By Times-Picayune Staff
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Salvatore E. "Sal" Panzeca, a lawyer who helped defend businessman Clay Shaw in a sensational 1969 trial and later was a leader of the New Orleans Opera and prominent supporter of Italian culture in New Orleans, died Tuesday. He was 76.
View full sizeSalvatore E. 'Sal' Panzeca
Mr. Panzeca spent more than two years working exclusively on the defense of Shaw, a New Orleans business leader who was indicted by then-District Attorney Jim Garrison in 1967 on charges of conspiring to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. Shaw was acquitted on March 1, 1969.
Mr. Panzeca has been cited and quoted in many books, articles and TV documentaries about the assassination and the Garrison investigation.
A lifelong resident of New Orleans, Mr. Panzeca graduated from Holy Cross High School, Tulane University and Tulane Law School. He was an Army veteran.
After graduating from law school in 1959, he joined the law firm of Racivitch, Johnson, Wegmann and Moledeaux. He became a full partner in 1965 and stayed on through a reorganization of the firm, which became Racivitch, Carriere, Panzeca and Charbonnet. He retired in 2009.
Mr. Panzeca was an attorney for the Orleans Parish Civil Sheriff's Office for 30 years. Mr. Panzeca, a longtime opera lover, was the New Orleans Opera Association's attorney for many years and was elected its president in 2005, just before Hurricane Katrina. He helped guide the organization during the difficult time when it was displaced from the storm-damaged Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts. He stepped down as president after four years. The company's 2009-10 season was dedicated to him.
A lifelong supporter of the Greater New Orleans Italian-American Cultural Society, Mr. Panzeca was honored as Italian-American of the Year in 2001 and was the recipient of numerous other honors from Italian-American organizations throughout Louisiana and the Gulf South. He was a vice president of the National Italian-American Foundation and during the 1980s and 1990s served three terms as president of the American-Italian Federation of the Southeast.
Mr. Panzeca was honored by the Italian government in 1977 for his work in aiding victims of a devastating earthquake in northern Italy. He spearheaded the fundraising efforts of Italian-American groups throughout the country.
During the 1984 New Orleans world's fair, Mr. Panzeca was involved in the popular Italian Village, assisting organizer Joe Maselli by handling legal work for the exhibit and participating as a vendor.
He was a longtime member of the Krewe of Hermes, riding at the head of the horse escort contingent.
Survivors include his wife, Robin Haynes Panzeca; two sons, John Vasquez Panzeca and Salvatore Pisciotta Panzeca; a daughter, Marisa Panzeca Potts; and two grandchildren.
A Mass will be said Saturday at noon at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, 4640 Canal St. Visitation will be Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. at Jacob Schoen & Son Funeral Home, 3827 Canal St., and Saturday from 11 a.m. to noon at the church. Burial will be in St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery No. 3.