Born September 27, 1984 Hoag Hospital Newport Beach, CA
Died January 22, 2022 at the D’Agostino Private Residence Mesa, AZ
Justin Franklin D’Agostino, 37 years old, died peacefully in his sleep at 3am at the D’Agostino home in Eastmark – Mesa, AZ on Saturday January 22, 2022. Justin had a rare genetic disease affecting primarily young men called adrenomyeloneuropathy (a subset of ALD) which also took the life of his younger brother 12 years prior.
Justin was a competitor in basically everything, most notably as an accomplished athlete. He pitched for Bethany University, played intramural basketball, earned a black belt in karate, backpacked many peaks, golfed, and participated in e-sports. Raised coastally as a true California boy he loved the beach and sun and lived and sunned in Orange County, Ventura County, Santa Cruz County where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree, and finally up to Alameda County where he acquired his Master’s Degree from GTU at Berkeley.
Justin moved to the Phoenix metro area in Arizona to be with family and golf more. He worked mostly in tech recruiting in his professional career and also participated in many varied social circles. He knew everything about the Valley’s cuisine. He loved going out to dinner perhaps more than any other activity; to say that he was a foodie would be an understatement. Finally, in the end with reduced mobility, he turned to gardening with great passion and gusto.
Justin was involved heavily in the ALD community and dedicated his later years of life to bring more awareness to this disease. Justin has been foundational in getting newborn screening for ALD into the Arizona state legislature to offer early detection so that new parents can more appropriately address this disease. Many families will benefit from Justin’s work at the state level with health and human services. Additionally Justin mentored newly diagnosed patients where he provided valuable counsel and information when specialists failed due to the rarity of ALD. If you are interested in more details see aldconnect.org/adrenomyeloneuropathy
Justin is survived by his parents Captain Frank J. D’Agostino and Mrs. D’Agostino. Additionally, an entire clan of cousins far and wide that he loved deeply.
