Anthony Senerchia was an American contractor diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease who became the inspiration behind the viral craze, Ice Bucket Challenge. ^[6]

Born and raised in the state of New York, he grew up in the town of Pelham and lived there the most of his life. He attended Pelham Memorial High School where he became a distinguished American football player and heralded by his community.

His high school named a special athletic award for character and leadership in his honor.

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He attended Manhattan College where he received a degree in Civil engineering. ^[2]

After graduating from college he was hired by a firm as a Project manager in New York City. He later started his own contracting business called SCC Construction. ^[6]

Some time after marrying his wife, he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease.

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Senerchia became the inspiration behind the Ice Bucket challenge.

Initially, the challenge first began with Senerchia's wife, Jeanette.

Her cousin, Chris Kennedy, a professional golfer, performed an Ice Bucket Challenge after he was nominated by a friend.

He was asked to choose a charity and remembered his cousin's husband is part of ALS.

He decided to nominate his Jeanette.

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Jeanette accepted the challenge and proceeded to do the challenge, which she later shared on Facebook and used the hashtags: #takingiceforantsenerchiajr and #StrikeOutALS. The Ice Bucket challenge gathered attention by the community he grew up with in Pelham which began to share and commit to the challenge as well. This led to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in honor of Senerchia Jr. to go viral. ^[6]

He died in November 25th, 2017. He struggled with Lou Gehrig's disease for 14 years.

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Later in life he married his high school sweetheart, Jeanette Senerchia.

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Anthony was considered a popular person in his hometown.

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