Mariano "Skip" DiGiovanni Recognized for Lifetime
Achievement
For a young lad who once vowed he’d never lay a brick Mariano DiGiovanni
has come along way in the masonry industry as a contractor and a worker
for the industry’s betterment. Skip was born in Detroit and graduated
from Hazel Park High. One of his constant desires in grade school was
to accompany his father to jobsites. “I was young, perhaps around
12, and I had gotten some brick and mortar to an area where no one was
working. I didn’t know you started a lead at the end of a wall.
I started in the middle. My father came over and made me knock down my
wall. I swore I’d do no more brickwork.” That was just the
beginning.
At the1982 Builders Show (attended by 350,000) at Cobo Hall, Skip demonstrated
how to corbel brick. Skip was elected as an Alternate to the Board of
Trustees in 1987. His firm, Central Masonry and Cement, hit number 10
on the Michigan Private 100 list of the state’s fastest growing
companies in 1987. He was also cited as a “Who’s Who Among
Rising Young Americans in American Society and Business”. In 1988
he personally assisted with the repairs of the Michigan Society of Architects’
Beaubien House. In 1990 he was elected as a Trustee to the Board and has
been re-elected ever since. Skip received Masonry Certification in 1990.
In 1991, he donated the wall sculpture frame and the masonry labor to
erect the sculpture in the Institute’s new office in Livonia. From
1992 through1995, he was elected as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
Once again, in 1995 and 1996 at the International Builders Home Show at
Cobo Hall, he donated his labor. In 1997, Skip worked on committees for
continuing education for mason contractors and chaired the committee for
the development of Craft Tek Notes. In 1997, he received certification
for passing a workshop on Reinforcing Walls and Grouting Hollow Unit Masonry.
Skip assisted in the construction of masonry panels for the research that
published The Effects of Various Grout Consolidation Methods in 1998.
Also in 1998, he helped restore the Shrine to Our Lady at Our Lady of
Providence in Northville. In 2000, he donated his labor to assist in guiding
LTU students to brick veneer a scaled down version of a residential wood
frame house, and build the Great Wall of Lawrence. In 2000, he donated
his labor to the LightHouse of Oakland County. The list goes on and on…
He has been a mason for more than 35 years and first worked as a Quality
Assurance Consultant on Shenandoah County Club in 2006. He is certified
by the International Code Council as a Special Inspector for Structural
Masonry. Throughout his career DiGiovanni has donated his labor and materials
for the betterment of the community such as to the renovation of Holy
Redeemer Church in Detroit and more recently Habitat for Humanity.
The Life Time Achievement Award is granted to an individual who has rendered
special service to the masonry industry. The recipient of the award shall
be entitled to all of the privileges of the Institute.
“For outstanding voluntary contributions to the masonry industry
and dedicated service to the Institute the Life Time Achievement Award
is granted to Mariano DiGiovanni.”
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