ANTHONY CASTIGLIONE, 41, a chef and San Francisco resident, died of AIDS February 20. According to Castiglione’s partner, Tim Powers, in 1995 Castiglione left behind a history “filled with drugs and regrets” and moved to California where he began “successfully cramming for life’s final exam.” Although he was a chef at San Francisco’s upscale market, Mollie Stone, “Tony’s most impressive work was on himself,” Powers said. “In just a few short years he picked himself up, brushed himself off and grew to be a good, decent man who found peace before he died.”

Chicago performance artist LAWRENCE STEGER, 37, died of AIDS February 5. In 1989, Steger organized Public/Private, the nation’s first show about AIDS to be performed by HIV positive artists. At HotHouse, Chicago’s internationally renowned performance venue, Steger curated a monthly cabaret called The Faux Show. “He was very dedicated to facilitating opportunities for artists,” said HotHouse’s executive director, Marguerite Horbeigber. “He was never limited by any one ideology and was very open to those he collaborated with.”

More than 1,000 people attended the funeral of JOHN THOMAS, 51, a human rights activist who died of AIDS January 20. Known as “Dallas’ most visible gay role model,” Thomas was involved in dozens of gay organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, the Dallas Legal Hospice and the Turtle Creek Chorale. Thomas also headed the Dallas AIDS Resource Center from 1988 to 1995. In 1984 he became the first openly gay person to address the Republican National Committee. “John had the ability to walk in and be met with open arms, but he was just as radical as the rest of us,” said William Wayburn, former managing director of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.