Modestino Carbone was born on November 24, 1947 to Genoeffe and Luigi Carbone in the small town of Santa Agata, not far from Avellino, Italy. "Gus" was 4 years old when he sailed to the United States in 1952. He and his sister, Josephine, grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and attended elementary school at Saint Lucy's on 7th Avenue. It was there that he served as an alter boy for Father Dante DiGirolamo.

Tino attended high school at St. Mary’s Manor and later attended Catholic University in Washington, D.C. It was during a summer psychology class at Seton Hall University that he met Maureen Gartland and asked her out for coffee. Years later he would recount the story to their three daughters and recall the blue dress she wore the first day that he met her.

After graduating from Catholic University in 1969 with a BA in psychology, Tino returned to New Jersey and married Maureen on March 19, 1972. The two initially lived in Lakewood, New Jersey, but later moved to Hunterdon County where they raised their three daughters, Jody, Kristin and Erin.

Tino began his career as a probation officer in Essex County and attended Seton Hall Law School at night. On November 19, 1980, Tino received notice in the mail that he had passed the New Jersey Bar--the same day that his second daughter was born!

Throughout his career, Tino was a member of the American Bar Association and the New Jersey Bar Association. Serving as Deputy Attorney General, Tino represented the State in child abuse prosecution and later in tort actions. Tino was never intimidated by a challenge, and never walked away from one. This perseverance, along with his clear and often creative perspective on issues and on law, made Tino a formidable adversary. He was a Certified Trial Attorney in the state of New Jersey and successfully argued before its Supreme Court.

While respected for his high standards of morality and ethics, Tino also had a reputation for having a great sense of humor. . . (see Stories About Tino page).

In 1990 Tino entered private practice and later became partner in the firm of Mondelli and Carbone. There Tino continued to be respected by his peers and received the Fireman’s Fund national “Litigator of the Year” award.

A former colleague once said of Tino, “He was the kind of lawyer I always aspired to be.” Tino lived his life according to principle and was a man of integrity and character. Despite his successes in private practice, Tino always believed that the most important and rewarding cases where those that he handled while working for the Division of Youth and Family Services. Tino returned to public service prior to his diagnosis in 2004.