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Matthew Cianciulli, ex-legislator
By Sally A. Downey
Inquirer Staff Writer
Nov 20, 2008
Matthew J. Cianciulli, 66, of South Philadelphia, a retired grocer and former state representative who was convicted of voter fraud, died of heart failure Saturday in Kessler Memorial Hospital in Hammonton, N.J. Mr. Cianciulli, a Democrat, won elections to the state legislature representing the 183d District in South Philadelphia in 1976 and 1978.
In October 1979, he was sentenced to three years in federal prison for conspiring to encourage people to give false addresses on voter-registration forms so they could vote in his district.
Mr. Cianciulli had come under investigation in 1976 after reports that up to 16 of the 20 persons registered to vote from a house owned by his mother didn't live there. Eventually 142 names were struck from the registration roll of Mr. Cianciulli's division, including 10 names at the house owned by his mother and 16 at a house next door that had been owned by other family members.
After losing appeals, Mr. Cianciulli served 11 months at Allenwood federal prison. The minimum-security facility was no picnic, he told a reporter in 1991. "You're still confined and you still can't do what you want. . . . That cloud is always over you. You're not your own person," he said. Mr. Cianciulli said he worked hard and became a boss in the wood shop. Working there helped make the time move and helped him sleep soundly at night, he said.
Mr. Cianciulli grew up in South Philadelphia. He graduated from Bishop Neumann High School, now SS. John Neumann and Maria Goretti High, and attended St. Joseph's College for a year before joining his father in the family's grocery, Matt's Market at Sixth and Wilder Streets. He eventually inherited the business, retiring in 2000.
In the 1960s, Mr. Cianciulli, then a committeeman, was one of five "young turks" who got behind James J. Tayoun's bid to challenge the Democratic leadership in the First and Second Wards and backed his successful run for state representative.
"Matt was the personification of the grassroots Italian politician. He was always doing favors for people," said Tayoun, who also served on City Council before his own troubles with the law landed him in prison.
Mr. Cianciulli was married to Lorraine Ricci Cianciulli for 46 years. They met at a diner in South Philadelphia. He enjoyed politics and spending time at their summer home in Collings Lakes, N.J., she said.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by two grandchildren. His son Matthew III died in 1981 and his son Christopher died in 2005.
Friends may call from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. today at Pennsylvania Burial Co., 1327 S. Broad St. A Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. at St. Rita of Cascia Roman Catholic Church, Broad and Ellsworth Streets, Philadelphia. Entombment will be in Fernwood Mausoleum in Lansdowne.
Memorial donations may be made to American Diabetes Association, One Plymouth Meeting, Suite 520, Plymouth Meeting, Pa. 19462.
Contact staff writer Sally A. Downey at 215-854-2913 or sdowney@phillynews.com .
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