Michael Sasso was ‘just a good, decent man’

In early December 2017, former Joliet resident Michael “Mike” Sasso didn’t want to meet with longtime friends in Joliet because his cat was sick.

But his wife, Mary Sheila Sasso of Indiana, felt they should make the dinner engagement. Although she and Mike had great health, some of Mike’s friends did not, she said.

So she told him, “What would happen if one of them passed away and you didn’t get to see them?”

Mike saw her point. So they got in their car on Dec. 1 and drove to Joliet from Indiana, where Mike, a retired industrial engineer, had moved 30 years ago when his job transferred him there.

Unfortunately, it was the last time many of Mike’s friends saw him, Mary Sheila said. Mike died of a sudden heart attack Dec. 17. He was 81.

His daughter, Karen Sasso of California, called her father a man of “quiet strength,” and Mary Sheila agreed.

“Mike Sasso was a man who earned respect and received respect,” Mary Sheila said.

She saw evidence of that at his funeral, which was held in Joliet.

“The turnout was amazing, and they represented all walks of life: from former neighbors and classmates to businessmen and members of the community,” she said.

Mary Sheila said Mike’s parents immigrated to the U.S. from Italy. He attended the former Sacred Heart Catholic School, the former Joliet Catholic High School, and attended Joliet Junior College for one year before transferring to the University of Illinois, graduating in 1958 with a degree in business management.

Mike was the first in his family to attend college, Mary Sheila said. And college was where she met Mike. He was a senior and she was a freshman. Both frequented the coffee shop in the university’s Catholic dormitory.

It was the place, Mary Sheila said, where “the best-looking young men on campus” hung out.

“My roommate noticed him, and he noticed me,” Mary Sheila said, adding Mike was “tall, athletic, ambitious and a great person. ... He was just a good, decent man.”

Eventually, she and Mike began dating. They dated for two years. After Mike graduated from college, he went into a six-month Marine program. The couple married in spring 1960 and had two receptions that day.

One reception was in Peoria, her hometown. The other was a former American Legion hall, which later became D’Amico’s, which later became Joliet Junior College’s Renaissance Center, Mary Sheila said.

According to his obituary, Mike belonged to the alumni associations of Joliet Catholic High School and the University of Illinois.

Mike also belonged to the Will County Old Timers Baseball Association and the American Legion. He was a past president of the Joliet Evening Lions Club and of the Holy Name Society of St. Joseph’s in Rockdale.

Mary Sheila said both she and Mike were very involved with the Jubilation benefit, which raised money for the former Joliet Catholic High School and the former St. Francis Academy. In 1983, he and Mary Sheila co-chaired the event.

Although Mike was a fan of the Chicago Cubs, Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks, he also was a fan of Joliet Catholic High School sports and a season ticket holder for the University of Illinois sports teams, according to his obituary.

Mary Sheila and Mike settled in Rockdale and began attending St. Joseph Catholic Church in Rockdale. She said Mike always was “community-minded, outgoing [and] very friendly,” as was she.

He was Italian; she was Irish.

“He liked lasagna, and I learned to make it,” Mary Sheila said

In retirement, they traveled to all 50 states, Ireland and Italy. In earlier years, they lived more simply.

“When we were young and poor, we liked taking car rides,” Mary Sheila said. “As we had children, we became very active in their activities, too. He coached baseball; I coached softball.”

But Mike mentored his children in other ways, too.

“He was the quiet stable force in my life,” Karen said. “He was disciplined, which sometimes did not work well with me, but he led by example: commitment, discipline and perseverance through trials. He encouraged us. He expected us to go to college and, yes, we all did.”

Sheila Sasso of Arizona, Mike’s other daughter, said her father wasn’t the “overtly playful, laughing, jovial” type of father, but he invested in his children, which included his son, Doug Sasso of California, in other ways.

“If we had a problem, we knew we could talk with him,” Sheila said. “I had friends whose parents were divorced or busy, but I always knew my dad was there, whether it was sports activities or whether I was in a play at school. He was tall and lean, so I always felt very protected, and I looked up to him.”

• To feature someone in “An Extraordinary Life,” contact Denise M. Baran-Unland at 815-280-4122 or dunland@shawmedia.com.