Sal Donzella

Salvatore G. “Sal” Donzella owned and operated Sal Donzella Automobile Hospital in North Tarrytown, N.Y., until he retired. The name made a point: insurers didn’t negotiate with doctors, so they shouldn’t negotiate with collision repair professionals. He was active at every level of the collision repair industry, including the Westchester Putnam Rockland Auto Body Association, the Society of Collision Repair Specialists and the Collision Industry Conference. He was a driving force in the Collision Repair Conference, the forerunner of CIC, and pressed for years for better estimating guides and systems. He and John Loftus were the first two recipients of the SCRS Lifetime Achievement Award, and consultant Lou DiLisio, a 1998 inductee, credited Donzella with drawing him into industry work. A U.S. Army veteran of World War II, he died July 18, 2008, at 80.