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Mary Keating Croce DiSabato (December 4, 1928 – October 21, 2016) was an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly for three two-year terms, where she represented the 6th Legislative District from 1974 to 1980. She served as the Chairwoman of the New Jersey State Parole Board in the 1990s.

Personal life

Born in Camden, New Jersey on December 4, 1928, she attended Camden High School, graduating as part of the class of 1946.

A resident of Pennsauken Township, New Jersey, she died at the age of 87 on October 21, 2016. She was survived by her husband, Anthony "Sonny" DiSabato, as well as by two sons and five daughters she had with Remo M. Croce, who died before she did.

Public service

Croce served as a longtime member of the Camden County Democratic Committee, starting during the 1960s and continuing through the 1990s.

In the November 1973 general election, Croce and Democratic running mate John J. Gallagher were elected to represent the 6th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly, the first election in which the 40-district legislature was established under the terms of the 1964 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Reynolds v. Sims, which required the populations of legislative districts to be as equal as possible. The new 6th District was based around the eastern suburbs of Camden inclusive of Cherry Hill, stretching from Berlin borough north to Pennsauken and included Burlington County's Evesham Township and Palmyra. Croce and Gallagher defeated Republicans William K. Dickey, a former Speaker of the Assembly, and Eugene Raymond III. Croce and Gallagher were re-elected in 1975, again defeating both Dickey and Raymond.

In 1977, Croce and running mate Barbara Berman, running in her first race for elected office, defeated Republicans Mario A. Iavicoli and Dickey (for the third time); Croce was the top vote-getter and Berman came in second, edging Iavicoli by a 170-vote margin.

When Berman and Croce took office in January 1978, she and Berman became the first pair of women to be elected to a single Assembly district in state history, and were two of the 12 women taking office in the Assembly, the highest number ever to serve together in the 80-seat body.

In the 1979 general election, Republicans John A. Rocco and Thomas J. Shusted defeated Berman and Croce to win the two assembly seats in the 6th Legislative District; Berman came in third, more than 1,300 votes behind.

She chaired the New Jersey State Parole Board from 1993 to 1998.

References

1. ^ Naedele, Walter F. "Mary DiSabato; headed N.J. State Parole Board", The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 23, 2016. Accessed October 27, 2016. "Born in Camden, Mrs. DiSabato graduated from Camden High School in 1946 and served as a Sixth District Assemblywoman, covering parts of Camden and Burlington Counties from 1974 to 1980, son Stephen Croce said."
2. New Jersey Legislative Districts 1974–, New Jersey State Library. Accessed October 27, 2016.
3. Results of the General Election Held November 6, 1973 Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey State Library. Accessed October 27, 2016.
4. Results of the General Election Held November 4, 1975 Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey State Library. Accessed October 27, 2016.
5. Results of the General Election Held November 8, 1977 Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Department of State. Accessed November 27, 2016.
6. Waldron, Martin. "Women Gaining Stature in Legislature", The New York Times, December 4, 1977. Accessed October 27, 2016. "Mrs. Berman is the Director of Consumer Affairs for Camden County. She and Mrs. Croce are from the same district, and it will be the first time that both Assembly seats from one district have been held by women."
7. Waldron, Martin. "Trenton Topics: Assembly Will Have 12 Women Members – A Record", The New York Times, November 12, 1977. Accessed November 27, 2016. "Two women were elected from one district—the Sixth, which consists of parts of Camden and Burlington Counties. This has never happened before. They are Mary Keating Croce of Pennsauken and Barbara Berman of Cherry Hill, both Democrats."
8. Hanley, Robert. "Informality and Children Reign in Trenton", The New York Times, January 11, 1978. Accessed October 27, 2016. "Twelve women, a record number, were sworn in for two‐year Assembly terms. And for the first time in the history of the Legislature, women now occupy both seats in a single legislative district. They are Mary Keating Croce, a 49-year-old three‐term Democrat from Pennsauken, and Barbara Berman, a 39-year-old freshman Democrat and lawyer from Cherry Hill."
9. Results of the General Election Held on November 6, 1979 Archived April 28, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Department of State. Accessed October 27, 2016.

• 1928 births
• 2016 deaths
• Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly
• Camden High School (New Jersey) alumni
• Politicians from Camden, New Jersey
• People from Pennsauken Township, New Jersey
• Women state legislators in New Jersey
• 20th-century American women politicians
• 21st-century American women
• 20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature