Arkansas Blog

Speaking of chicken feet when I go to our local messicun grocery market on Hunstsville St. for Pippin's monthly supply of fresh beef liver there's a large plastic tray of chicken feet in the meat counter. I asked one of the butchers how they use the feet. He said, "to scratch momma's back." Well, so much for being the lone gringo at a specialty market.

Santo was a class act all the way through.

Could someone help inform us folks on the left side of the state who have no idea who Mr. Formica was. Did he invent kitchen counter tops? I don't believe I knew of him.

ARK. BLOG: Just an agreeable older fellow with a lot of interests. He started a line of Sicilian food products -- pesto, for example -- that was sold in specialty stores. Gregarious, never met a stranger. Kind of well-known around LR.

One of the great joys during my career as a journalist was interviewing Santo Formica. The phrase "larger than life" gets thrown around a lot, but for Santo it definitely applied. He was passionate, loud, funny, caring, generous and loving. I was privileged to share with him leftovers from the last meal he had prepared with is beloved wife, Mabel. And I feel I got far more out of our friendship than I put in. His funeral was a truly sad experience for me, but I am not the least bit surprised to see that his generosity extends from beyond the grave. Ciao, Santo, and thanks!

Here's the UALR announcement

Formicas Bequeath Funds to Establish UALR History Scholarships
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (March 19, 2008) - Sicilian immigrant and World War II veteran Santo D. Formica and his wife Mabel, whose love of learning led both to earn post-retirement degrees at UALR, have bequeathed their alma mater a gift to establish history scholarships and speakers.

The $90,000 gift from the couple's estate will be used bring speakers to the UALR History Institute and to provide scholarships for history majors. Half of the annual income from the endowment is to be used for guest lecturers and half for scholarships

The Mabel W. and Santo D. Formica Endowment will be established for the Department of History to bring to campus exceptional scholars, "who will excite the imaginations of our faculty, students, and community leaders and who will exemplify the rewards of the vibrant community-university relationship and the importance of education for a society's well-being," the couple said in documents establishing the endowment.

The couple met while Formica was in boot camp in Fort Chaffee, Ark., and promised to marry if he came home from serving with the Third Army. He earned a degree in animal science at Purdue University and made animal nutrition and the poultry industry his life's work. She was a homemaker, gourmet cook, and helped raise $1 million for her church. She enrolled at UALR in 1980 and he joined her when he retired. Both earned degrees in anthropology in 1988.

"In addition to their love for their family and each other, Santo and Mabel dearly love learning," said Mary C. Boaz, UALR's director of planned giving. "Thanks to their generosity, their legacy of learning will continue at UALR."

Mabel Formica died in July 2001 at age 78. Her husband died in May 2007 at age 84.

yes, he was a class act, a friendly guy. I got to visit with him a few times at Iriana's. He liked the pizza there. (and DBI, my first question there after Santo left after our first visit was, "he didn't invent Formica, did he?).

Yeah jimmyboy, I should have known better. It's like thinking there's a real person named Jacuzzi....I am so dumb at times!