Paul D'Ortona

[2] After a brief career as a professional boxer—he fought one match in the flyweight division, a draw—he found more permanent work in the shoe manufacturing business.

[3] After that, he worked briefly as a clerk in the city treasurer's office before being elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1940, defeating Anne Brancato in the primary.

By 1954, however, D'Ortona joined the efforts James Tate and Michael J. Towey to weaken the civil service reforms (they were unsuccessful).

D'Ortona again sided with the organization Democrats seeking the change, and the amendments found the required two-thirds vote in Council to make it on to the ballot for popular approval.

[14] After the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, D'Ortona ordered a study of firearms laws in the city, with the aim of increasing gun control.

While announcing that he would not seek a sixth term in council in 1971, he also told reporters that he opposed the mayoral candidacy of Tate's chosen successor, Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo.

[22] After retiring from City Council in 1972, he moved back to South Philadelphia, served as chairman of the state lottery commission, and spent time at his summer home in Avalon, New Jersey.