Anthony Lewis Genetta

Anthony Lewis Genetta, 99, died peacefully on November 25, 2022 at his home in the Evergreens Community in Moorestown, NJ.The cause of death was lung cancer. Born in Jacksonville, FL on June 1, 1923 to the late Cosimo and Emilia DiCiacco Janetta, Anthony was the personification of both the Greatest Generation and the American Dream. The youngest child of eight in an Italian immigrant family, he grew up and attended schools in Vineland, NJ. When Pearl Harbor was bombed, he promised his mother he would finish high school before enlisting in the US Navy. During WWII he volunteered to serve on PT boats as Motor Machinist Mate 1st class - in New Guinea (Squadron 7), and in the Philippines (Squadron 17), where he saw a great deal of combat action on patrol, and survived his boat being sunk under fire. After the war he took advantage of the GI Bill and received a degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Delaware. He met Beverly Startt, his future wife, there; and later took graduate coursework in it at University of Pennsylvania. While an engineering manager at RCA, he was instrumental in the conception, design, development, and implementation of the first data communications network for the U.S. Defense Communication Agency. Every element of the system, hardware and software, was made from scratch, and advanced networking techniques had to be created to handle the movements of large amounts of secure data. Many of the concepts developed on this project were key to the development of what became the internet of today. He said there were few textbooks on computers at the time so they had to create it as they went along. Subsequently, he became Business Area Manager for RCA’s Communications Systems Division, which developed many additional command and control systems for the US military. From 1976 through 1980, he left RCA to act as management consultant with International Computers, Ltd in England and Siemens in Germany. He returned to RCA as Vice President of Data Communication at Global Communications, where he traveled extensively through the world until his retirement. At the height of his career over 400 engineers and key personnel in various operations reported to him. Beverly retired shortly after he did, giving them many opportunities for leisure travel in the U.S. and Europe. He was a glider-rated licensed small plane pilot, an avid sailing enthusiast on the Delaware & Chesapeake Bays, a Past Grand Chaplain of the Free and Accepted Masons of NJ, and a Past Master of Palestine Lodge #111 F&AM in Princeton, NJ. A life member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, he maintained a lifelong study in Physics and Cosmology. He is survived by his beloved wife of 72 years, Joan Beverly Startt Genetta; their four children – Susan B. Genetta and her husband, Joel Vineberg, of Montreal; Thomas L. Genetta and his wife, Sylvia Yount, of Manakin Sabot, VA; Andrew S. Genetta and his wife, Charlotte Berger Genetta, of Haddonfield, NJ; Ann H. Genetta and her husband Robert Edinoff of Lincoln University, PA; and three grandchildren – Emily W. Genetta, Bradford H. Genetta, and Tristan B. Genetta. One of the last things he said was “I love my children more than it’s possible to imagine”. Loved and respected by many, his quiet presence, affectionate nature, keen intellect, & impromptu sense of humor will be much missed. A memorial service will be held December 9 at 11am at the Chapel at Acts at the Evergreens, 309 Bridgeboro Rd. Moorestown NJ. With a reception to follow, and all are warmly welcomed.