Satriano memorial breast cancer foundation carries on

As youngsters they've seen tragedy, and they want to make something of it. I tell them that they're my heroes, and I feel good leaving the world in their hands.”

Joe Satriano, Founder, Memorial Scholarship Foundation

As Breast Cancer Awareness Month draws to a close, Joe Satriano’s work is just beginning. The Oceanside resident heads the Susan Satriano Memorial Scholarship Foundation in honor of his wife who died from breast cancer in 2005. To honor her memory, Satriano has been awarding college scholarships to students who have had a parent afflicted with the disease.

Though the decisions are not made until March, October is an especially important time for the foundation to find students who qualify for the scholarship. The only three requirements for the scholarship are: the student has to be a high school senior, heading to college and have a parent who is fighting or has died from breast cancer.

Every student who meets those criteria receives the scholarship, and Satriano interviews each and every one either in person or virtually. The foundation is now in 37 states across the nation and 70 school districts on Long Island.

Satriano said that often the students awarded the scholarship look for ways to pay it forward by starting their own foundations or seeking careers in the medical field. “It’s something that I didn’t expect to happen, but when it does it makes you feel like a million bucks,” Satriano said. “As youngsters, they’ve seen tragedy, and they want to make something of it. I tell them that they’re my heroes, and I feel good leaving the world in their hands.”

The Satrianos were both math teachers who treasured their roles in shaping young students’ lives, so it was a natural conclusion that Joe would gear the foundation toward helping students continue their educational journeys.

Satriano created the foundation six months after his wife’s passing, and using the money he received from his wife’s life insurance policy, Joe gave $8,000 in scholarships to four graduating Oceanside High School seniors.

While the foundation has struggled to find places for in-person events during the pandemic, it has continued to be funded from sales of Satriano’s book, “In Sickness and In Health.” Satriano said the book came to life when several of his friends and family members gave him journals to write in after the loss of his wife.

Satriano said that once conditions improve for indoor in-person events, the foundation would resume their benefit concerts at schools that they were at before the pandemic.

“Four people at Sue’s wake gave me journals, and they said, ‘Start writing, it’s good for you,’ and that was the last thing I wanted to hear at that time,” Satriano said. “I had just lost my wife of 29 years, and I wasn’t thinking of doing anything but crying and feeling sorry for myself.”

Satriano is now working on a second book called “After Math: An Unplanned Journey,” which chronicles the time from right after Susan’s death to the present.