Warren Wilhelm Jr. This person is of Italian descent and the 109th mayor of New York City. Yes, he is none other than William de Blasio. On May 8, 1961 the Mayor was born and named Warren Wilhelm Jr. His mother was Maria Angela de Blasio and his father was Warren Wilhelm. De Blasio has two older brothers, Steven and Donald still carry the name of Wilhelm. William changed his name in 2001 to Bill de Blasio. The literature implies he did this to honor his mother’s family with whom he identified. His maternal grandfather came from Sant’Agata de’Goti, Italy and his grandmother from Grassano, Matera, Italy. His paternal grandfather Donald Wilhelm was from Ohio, and his grandmother Nina Warren was from Iowa. They were of German, French, English, and Scotch-Irish descent. His mother and father were well educated. She attended Smith College and he was a Yale graduate. She served in the Office of War Information during World War II and in 1988 published a book, The Other Italy: The Italian Resistance in World War II. His father served in the War. In 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and fought in the Pacific theater and lost his left foot, and later the leg from the knee down. He returned home married Maria, and fathered the three children, however; they broke up during De Blasio’s early formative years. The four moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts close to the De Blasio family. His mother reared him and his brothers in concert with her extended family. In De Blasio’s eighteenth year his father committed suicide. He was battling incurable lung cancer. De Blasio graduated from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in 1979 where he served in student government and received the name “Senator Provolone.” He went on to college acquiring a bachelor’s degree in metropolitan studies and a master’s degree in international affairs. In 1981 he received the honor of being a Harry S. Truman Scholar. During his later college years, he worked for the Urban Fellows Program in the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice. Afterward in 1987, he was hired as a political organizer. In this position, he traveled to Nicaragua for ten days to help distribute food. A revolution was occurring and De Blasio, in opposition to President Reagan’s policies, supported the Sandanistas. He continued his work with a non-profit organization aimed at improving health care in Central America. During David Dinkins successful 1989 bid for Mayor of New York City (1990-1994), de Blasio worked as a volunteer and became an aide in New York City Hall. In 1994 he ran Charles Rangel’s successful 1971 campaign for a U.S. Representative for districts in New York. In 1997 President Clinton’ Administration appointed him as the regional director for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for New York and New Jersey. In 1999 the Brooklyn School District 15 elected him as a board member. The next year he managed Hillary Clinton’s successful campaign for the U.S. Senate. In 2001 de Blasio ran for the New York City Council’s 39th district and won. He maintained that position until 2009. During his tenure de Blasio’s sought to improve public schools and help many less-fortunate New Yorkers with food stamps, housing, and children’s health. In 2009 he became a candidate for the New York City Public Advocate seat and won. In this position, he fought the good fight for affordable housing, education, and campaign financing. In 2013 de Blasio announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City and won and won again in 2017. The position comes up for election in 2021. DeBlasio met Chirlane McCray in 1991 while both were working for Mayor Dinkins, by 1994 the tied the knot (married) in 1994 holding their wedding in Prospect Park. They have two children, a daughter, Chiara, and a son, Dante. McCray has been and is very politically active many issues. She is a speechwriter having written speeches for Mayor Dinkins, for Herman McCall, (state cabinet officer) and William Coleridge Thompson Jr. a former comptroller of NYC, besides editing her husband’s speeches. She publically claimed herself in 1979, as a Lesbian and published an article on that subject in Essence, a popular African American magazine. De Blasio, after becoming mayor, appointed her as the chairman of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance NYC.