Sue and Andy DiLeo to receive Harry S. Cutting Award By Ken Powers, Contributing Writer 01/12/2007

Shrewsbury - Ask people who know her and they'll all agree that Sue DiLeo could talk a dog off a meat wagon. But, when Shrewsbury Youth and Family Services (SYFS) Director Jeff Chin stopped by her office at Oak Middle School last month to tell her who this year's recipient of the town's Harry S. Cutting Award for community service, he left her speechless.

The winner of the award is Sue and her husband, Andy.

"I was stunned because I know what a prestigious award this is in town," Sue said. "I was really floored. I didn't feel worthy."

The DiLeos will be honored at the SYFS Annual Spring Gala and Awards Dinner Saturday, March 24 at Indian Meadows Country Club in Westborough. Cutting, for whom the award is named, was a well-known philanthropist in town and one of the founding members of the SYFS.

"The DiLeos are a very well-known couple in town," Chin said. "Andy is heavily involved in the Knights of Columbus, where he's an officer [a chancellor], while Sue is involved in a lot of different things. She's the original organizer of the Spirit of Shrewsbury Fall Festival and is also very involved with Relay for Life Walk that benefits the cancer society."

"I'm sort of involved, but Sue is really the person who's involved. She's involved in everything," Andy said. "I get involved in things through being in the Knights of Columbus. Sue gets involved in stuff because she feels like she should. Things tug at her sense of responsibility and next thing you know, she's in the middle of it."

Sue and Andy are both lifelong residents of Shrewsbury, only leaving to go to college - Sue at UMass-Amherst, Andy at St. Michael's. They coached soccer and Little League together in town and have two children, a son, Joe, who is 30 and lives in Las Vegas, and a daughter, Nikki, who's 28 and lives locally.

"Sue is a mover and shaker in town," Chin said. "If you were to ask people in town, they definitely know who the DiLeos are. They've been pretty involved in town for a number of years, but you wouldn't know it because they prefer to stay in the background. They don't like any fanfare. In one way I'm sure they won't like this award because of all the attention it will bring."

Much of Sue's volunteer work is generated out of her position as an adjustment counselor at Oak Middle School, where she is involved in Educational Leadership in a Non-Violent Age (ELNA), a group organized to help kids find solutions to problems without resorting to violence.

"I teach the kids through ELNA about the importance of community service," Sue said. "The thing I try to get across to them is to help others out. When you give, you get. What I try to teach the kids is that one person can make a difference - a significant difference. No matter how small it is, when you impact the life of a human being, you make a difference that lasts forever."