Joseph DeLuca (racing driver)
Joseph DeLuca, (born 1949/50 in Succasunna, New Jersey, died 11 September 2001 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania), was an American racing car driver and cartoonist.
Early life[edit]
Joseph DeLuca went to Vailsburg High School. He attended the Newark College of Engineering and Jersey City State College, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Mathematics. He later started to work at Pfizer Consumer Healthcare in Morris Plains as a Systems Business Consultant in the Information Systems group.
Racing[edit]
DeLuca was an avid sports car enthusiast and rally racer, starting at amateur races from an early age. From 1967 to 1979, he rallied pro competitions. In 1979 he joined the SCCA to race Showroom Stock cars. From 1980 through 1995 DeLuca competed at the Showroom Stock and Improved Touring, winning the NARRC Improved Touring Championship in 1986.
Upon completion of his racing career, DeLuca was a regional executive for the NNJR from 1988 to 1989.
DeLuca was an English Motor Car aficionado who had taken first place in a Morgan car meet in Massachusetts just before boarding United Flight 93.[1]
Cartooning[edit]
Joseph DeLuca also created the comic strip, The Adventures of Raymond the Cat. The strip about a anthropomorphistic sports car-driving cat later leaving home to become a "SCCA flagger" appeared in the San Francisco Regions' WHEEL and Cal Club Regions' newspaper, and in newspapers in Philadelphia and New York.
Print publication of The Adventures of Raymond the Cat ceased in 1995 while the New Jersey Racing Section of the Sports Car Club of Ameirca preserved, archived, and maintains DeLuca's cartoons online.[2]
Death[edit]
DeLuca was aboard United Airlines Flight 93 that was part of the September 11, 2001 attacks.[3] Joseph DeLuca called his father at 09:43:03 from row 26 to inform him the flight had been hijacked.[4] He died when the plane crashed in Stonycreek near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
DeLuca's sister, Carol Hughes, told reporters that she believed that "her big brother would have been one of those who stood up to fight the hijackers."[5]
Congressional Gold Medal[edit]
Along with the other valiant passengers and crew on United Flight 93, DeLuca was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on September 11, 2014.[6]
References[edit]
- ↑ "JOSEPH DELUCA, ENGLISH CAR ENTHUSIAST". Legacy Obituaries. Legacy.com. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ↑ "Raymond the Cat". SCCA-NNJR. 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
- ↑ "The Passengers and Crew of Flight 93". Flight 93 National Memorial Campaign. 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
- ↑ Gregor, Joseph A. "Air Traffic Control Recording-Specialist's Report" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board Document Library. National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ↑ "JOSEPH DELUCA, ENGLISH CAR ENTHUSIAST". Legacy Obituaries. Legacy.com. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ↑ Pierce, Paul; Pickels, Mary (11 September 2014). "Congressional Gold Medal bestowed on Flight 93 heroes on anniversary of 9/11". Newspaper (online version). Trib Total Media, Inc. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
External links[edit]
- Short biography at United Heroes Retrieved 26.April 2014
- Short biography at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 28.October 2001 Retrieved 26.April 2014
- Joseph DeLuca 2001 Obituary
- Photo of Joseph DeLuca at New Jersey Racing division of the Sports Car Club of America
- Biography of Joseph DeLuca from Sports Car Club of America
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