Joseph Marrese

Joseph A. Marrese (born 1922/1923) is a former realtor and politician in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Toronto Metropolitan Separate School Board for most of the period from 1966-83, and was its chair from 1972-75. His political career ended following a criminal conviction in November 1983. His son, Fred, was an alderman in North York.

Marrese was born in Italy, and moved to Canada with his family during the mid-1920s at the age of two. He was a successful realtor in Metropolitan Toronto before entering political life. He was first elected to the Separate School Board's thirteenth ward in 1966, aged 43, and was re-elected without opposition in 1969. By 1971, he was chairman of the board's planning and development committee. During the 1971 provincial election, he encouraged Catholic residents of York—Forest Hill to support Liberal candidate Philip Givens, because of Givens' support for funding separate schools.

In January 1972, Marrese was selected without opposition as chairman of the Separate School Board. Following his selection, Marrese argued that the children of immigrants should start their education in their first language. He articulated a pro-life position on behalf of the board, and forwarded the board's correspondence on abortion with Premier Bill Davis to all Catholic hospitals in Ontario. Marrese was again returned without opposition in 1972 and 1974. His disputes with the Toronto Board of Education over school-sharing were frequently covered in the local media in this period. In early 1975, he was replaced as Separate School Board chairman by Joseph Grittani.

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