Local stone carver creating 9/11 police memorial
Franco Minervini completing project for police foundation
BY PATRICIA YOCZIS
Correspondent

PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff Stone carver Franco Minervini works on the Sept. 11 police memorial he is creating for the National Police Defense Foundation. One part of the artist's work will show Sirius, an NYPD police dog who was killed in the line of duty during the terrorist attacks.

When Franco Minervini was a young boy in his hometown of Molfetta, Italy, he helped his grandfather, Michael, who was a stone carver. Little did he know then that he would continue his family's tradition of stone carving.

"I didn't think I had any talent," said Minervini, whose studio has been in Freehold Township for 30 years. "I was impatient when I was young and compared my carving to master carvers. I learned it takes time and experience."

Now, Minervini has 17 years of experience carving stone in a variety of media, including limestone, marble and African black stone. His specialty is to create art in deep bas-relief as well as large-scale monuments and memorials.

His credits include his design and execution of the Monmouth County Sept. 11 Memorial, Atlantic Highlands, and the monument to Columbus in front of the Ocean Township Library.

In 1985 he was commissioned for three years with six other stone carvers to carve angels, rosettes, gargoyles and ornamental figures on the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C. In 1989, he was hired for restoration carving around the exterior of the White House in our nation's capital.

"I loved working on the National Cathedral and it was an honor to help restore the White House," said Minervini, 63, who is one of only three stone carvers in New Jersey. "Also, it was great to be working and exchanging ideas with other carvers."

Minervini, a member of the Stonecarvers Guild, worked on the National Cathedral with Vincent Palumbo, a master carver from Maryland. It was Palumbo who hired him to work on the White House.

"I found out Vincent and I both came from Molfetta, Italy," he said. "Our families knew each other. It was inspirational to learn from him and a proud moment when he reviewed my work and called me a master carver."

ERIC SUCAR staff Stone carver Franco Minervini puts the finishing touches on a piece of the Sept. 11 police memorial he is creating for the National Police Defense Foundation.

Before becoming a master carver, Minervini, who immigrated as a teenager to the United States in 1958, worked as a beautician and a machinist. In 1980 he considered stone carving and studied with sculptor Bruno Lucchesi at the New School in New York City. But it was a movie that clinched his decision to work in stone.

"I saw the 1984 Oscar winning documentary, 'The Stone Carvers' and I knew then that was what I wanted," he said.

Minervini and Diane, his wife and business manager, reside in Marlboro and have two daughters, Diana and Tina. He said Tina is carving a career in education at Le Moyne College, Syracuse, N.Y., while Diana, an art teacher in Sparta, has been an apprentice stone carver with him for three years.

"I am delighted that Diana is learning stone carving," he said. "Stone carving is more technique than strength. I always say that women have the brains to be stone carvers and men have the brawn."

Minervini said one project he would dearly love to do is a monument to Bruce Springsteen.

"He has given his music, which I love, and I would love to commemorate that in his hometown of Freehold," the artist said. "There's nothing in Freehold as a reminder of his work."

At present, Minervini is working to complete a Sept. 11 police memorial for the National Police Defense Foundation (NPDF), Marlboro, that will be carved from Indiana limestone. The memorial, weighing approximately 13 tons, will be 14-by-14-feet in dimension.

The design features an American eagle soaring over the World Trade Center's twin towers that are protected by an unfurled American Flag. On the right a uniformed police officer is depicted standing at attention with a police dog. The dog memorializes Sirius, the New York Police Department's yellow Labrador who was killed by the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"I selected Indiana limestone because it is an American stone, a durable stone and easy to work," Minervini said. "The design I made is patriotic, strong and righteous."

Joseph Occhipinti, the NPDF executive director, said Minervini was selected to create the police memorial for the organization because of his expertise and reputation as a stone carver.

"Mr. Minervini is a well-known excellent stone carver and he is a local artist," Occhipinti said. "I knew him as a member of the Sons of Italy when I was the president of the Monmouth County Chapter. Also, Franco wanted to do something to memorialize the police officers."

Occhipinti said the NPDF responded rapidly to the 9/11 tragedy, including providing food and housing for out-of-state police officers. But, he said, the members of the organization wanted to do something more and remember the police officers, many from New Jersey, who were killed on 9/11.

The original plan, Occhipinti said, was for a completed police memorial to be donated to the state of New Jersey. Instead, he said, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority offered an acre at the PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, for the memorial to be placed adjacent to the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

"Right now we are in the process of obtaining permits and engineering reports from the state," Occhipinti said. "With continued donations we hope to have the installation of the police memorial ready for the 2008 anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy."

He praised the efforts of everyone who has donated to the approximate $75,000 cost of the police memorial and asked for continued financial support. Also, he said volunteers have donated their time and talent to make the memorial a reality, including Joseph M. Sanzari Inc. construction company, Hackensack, and Joseph Zarrelli, of Marlboro, of the Sorrentino Construction Company.

The Sept. 11 Police Memorial is one of numerous services provided by the NPDF, which was founded by Occhipinti, a native New Yorker, in 1995. Its primary mission is to provide medical and legal support services for the national law enforcement community.

Also, it sponsors programs including Save Cop, which posts a reward of up to $10,000 for information that leads to the conviction of anyone who shoots a police officer, and Operation Kids, which provides live-saving operations for critically ill children.

For further information about the National Police Defense Foundation or the Sept. 11 Police Memorial click on www.npdf.org or call (732) 617-2330/1-888-SAFE-COP. For information about Franco Minervini click on www.francominervini.com.