Italian American Digest Winter Digest 2018 | Page 5

Italian American Digest
WINTER 2018
PAGE 5
2019 LAISHF Honorees
CIVIC AWARD
SHERIFF JOSEPH P. LOPINTO III
A
ttorney Joseph P. Lopinto, the
new sheriff of Jefferson Parish,
began his career as a deputy sheriff
with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s
Office in 1997. Upon graduating
from the police academy, Lopinto
worked in the First District before
being promoted to narcotics detec-
tive. The Brother Martin graduate
worked his way through Loyola
University and its law school, where
he received his Bachelor of Arts and
Juris Doctor degrees.
Lopinto served in the Jefferson
Parish Sheriff’s Office as chief crimi-
nal deputy and commander of
field operations, legal liaison to
Sheriff Newell Normand, narcotics
detective, and deputy. He has been
instrumental in law-enforcement
education, serving as both teacher
and mentor in the Jefferson Par-
ish Academy as well as with other
sheriffs and law schools throughout
the state.
Lopinto was a Republican mem-
ber of the Louisiana House of
Representatives, where he served
as vice chairman of the Commit-
tee on Commerce and as chairman
of the House Committee on the
Administration of Criminal Justice.
Upon entering his third and final
House term, Lopinto announced
that he would cross party lines to
support the Democrat Walt Leger III
for Speaker of the Louisiana House
of Representatives.
In 2016, Lopinto resigned from
the Louisiana legislature to become
chief counsel at the Jefferson Par-
ish Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Newell
Normand soon appointed Lopinto
to be chief of field operations as
well as chief deputy, the highest ap-
pointed rank in a sheriff’s
office. In 2017, Sheriff Normand
unexpectedly resigned, and
Lopinto was appointed interim
sheriff. On March 24, 2018, he
was elected to complete Newell
Normand’s term as sheriff of
Jefferson Parish.
A lifelong resident of
Jefferson Parish, Lopinto and his
wife, Lauren, have been married
for 15 years and have 7-year-old
twins, Joey and Lily.
JOSEPH MASELLI
HERITAGE AWARD
DONNY ROUSE
D
onny Rouse , Rouses CEO,
is the third generation to
lead his family’s Thibodaux-
based grocery chain. The family
has a 58-year history in the gro-
cery business, beginning with
Donny’s grandfather, Anthony J.
Rouse, Sr., who opened his first
store in Houma in 1960. When
Anthony Rouse died in 2009, he
was lauded as a pioneer of the
modern supermarket; Rouses
was operating 35 stores with
4,700 employees, and was still
growing.
For years Donny worked in his
family’s stores after class, and on
weekends and holidays. Follow-
ing his graduation from the Uni-
versity of Louisiana in Lafayette,
he stepped into a management
role at Rouses, working side by
side with his father, Donald, and
uncle, Tommy.
In 2007, as Rouses’ real estate
specialist, Donny was called
upon to help plan the company’s
acquisition of A&P’s Southern
Division, which doubled the com-
pany’s size overnight, and
to oversee the company’s pur-
chase of stores and shopping
centers throughout Louisiana,
Mississippi and Lower Alabama.
Since becoming
managing partner in late 2010,
Donny has focused on
increasing his company’s fresh,
organic, and gourmet offerings
while spearheading new develo-
ments, including the company’s
first locations in downtown New
Orleans, Lafayette, Baton Rouge,
Denham Springs, Ponchatoula
and Mobile, Ala. Under Donny’s
direction, Rouses recently
acquired LeBlanc’s Food Stores,
which included nine locations in
Baton Rouge and the surround-
ing area.
Rouses is now one of the larg-
est independent grocers in the
United States. It has repeatedly
been voted “Best Supermar-
ket” and “Best Place to Work”
by local, regional, and national
publications and organizations.
In 2016, Donny assumed his
new role as CEO of his family’s
company. The stores continue
to evolve, with new formats and
(continued on pg. 6)
The 91st Annual Mass
Honoring St. Lucy of Syracuse
Patron Saint of Eye Diseases
Saturday December
15th at 4 pm.
at
St. John the Baptist
Catholic Church
1139 Oretha Castle
Haley Blvd.