Anthony
William Sariti "Tony" of Bethesda, Maryland, passed away
July 16, 2025, of complications from Parkinson's disease.
Tony was born in Camden, New Jersey January 28, 1943. His
parents were Anthony Sariti and Margaret Sariti. He is
survived by his wife, Mary Ellen Sariti, a daughter and a
son, two granddaughters, and a brother and sister.
He
graduated from Delaware Township High School in Cherry Hill,
New Jersey in 1961 and received a B.A. in Linguistics and
Chinese from Georgetown University in 1965 and a Ph.D in
Chinese History in 1968. After teaching Chinese language and
history at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA for seven
years, Tony joined the U.S. Foreign Service (USIA), where he
served in Yaounde, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Berlin, Tashkent
and Shanghai.
Anyone who
knew Tony and his skill in foreign languages would not be
surprised to know that he demonstrated an intense interest
in language very early. At age 11 he "invented" his own
language. From there he went on to study Latin, French and
German in high school and "picked up" texts on Chinese and
Swahili languages at the Philadelphia Public Library to
study while still in high school. He worked on numerous
translations and published The Early Revolutionary
Activities of Comrade Mao Tse Tung, by Li Jui, from Chinese
to English and translated, with an introduction, In The
Distant Confines, by Nikolai N. Karazin, from Russian to
English.
After
retiring from the State Department, Tony became a skilled
wood worker. He made and sold a number of furniture pieces
using only hand tools. He also made homemade wine and beer,
blew glass and crafted boats in bottles.
|
A list of accomplishments and
hobbies can never capture the whole person.
Tony's energy for learning and doing was
unusual, but his most meaningful attribute was
his humility. He never bragged or showed off his
abilities, which will be his enduring legacy to
all who knew him. |
|
A private memorial will be held
in his honor. |
|
Published by The Washington Post
on August 18, 2025. |
Tony’s wife Mary Ellen is the daughter of
Alice Hart and
James Kennedy
of Philadelphia,
granddaughter of Cornelius and
Alice Tinneny Hart and
the great-granddaughter of Patrick
“Yankee
Pat” Tinneny of
Goladuff, Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh, N. Ireland;
Greenock, Scotland and Philadelphia.
