Peter ‘P.J.’ Adonizio is the 2025 Gilmartin Achievement Award recipient for the 111th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Dinner sponsored by the Greater Pittston Friendly Sons of St. Patrick.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
PITTSTON — Peter “P.J” Adonizio Sr. has been announced as the 2025 Gilmartin Achievement Award recipient for the 111th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Dinner sponsored by the Greater Pittston Friendly Sons of St. Patrick.
Sean Rooney, Friendly Sons president announced the dinner would be held on Monday, March 17 2025, at The Banks Waterfront, Pittston, PA.
Adonizio, son of the late Peter V. and Eleanor Martin Adonizio, was born and raised in Pittston.
He graduated from Scranton Preparatory School, earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Leo University, FL and received a diploma of funeral service from Simmons Institute of Mortuary Science, Syracuse, NY in 1983, completing his internship and granted a PA funeral directors license in 1984.
Adonizio worked for many years with the Adonizio family business, the former Addy Asphalt Co. until its closure in 1991.
He then worked for Luzerne County as a Probation Officer and was later appointed Deputy Coroner in 1993.
In 1997, Adonizio was appointed Deputy Court Administrator where he earned his district magistrate certification.
In 2000, with the Supreme Court Order and the formation of the Unified Judicial Court System, he became a Deputy Court Administrator for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Adonizio received a special commendation by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania for his service to the judicial system as a member of the Judicial Council’s Committee on Judicial Security and Emergency Preparedness. He retired in 2013 after 20-years of service.
During that time, Adonizio also worked as a funeral director throughout Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.
In 2001, he founded the Peter J. Adonizio Funeral Home on Susquehanna Ave., West Pittston operating at that site until Sept. 2011 when Tropical Storm Lee hit Greater Pittston flooding the facility. Adonizio Funeral Home relocated to 251 William St., Pittston; the former location of Carl F. Adonizio Funeral Home.
He is a member of the Luzerne Co. and National Funeral Directors Associations.
Adonizio is a member of both St. Joseph Marello Parish and St. John the Evangelist Parish, Greater Pittston Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, Knights of Columbus, JFK Council 372, Pittston, Moose Lodge #1207, Fox Hill Country Club, and a former a board member of the Luzerne County Bar Association Charitable Foundation and St. Michael’s School for Boys, Tunkhannock.
In 2015, the Italian American Association of Luzerne County honored Adonizio as its Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, and in 2024, the Greater Pittston YMCA honored Adonizio Funeral Home, LLC as its Corporate Distinction Award winner.
Adonizio resides in Pittston Twp. with his wife, the former Alicia M. Ghilardi, of Peckville, who serves as the funeral home office manager.
The Adonizios have two sons, Peter J. Adonizio, Jr., Esq. (Maria), and Joseph P. Adonizio (Marnie), both licensed funeral directors, and is a proud “Poppy” to a granddaughter, Alora Adonizio.
