Joseph Michael Mancuso

February 23, 1923 - June 12, 2017

Joseph Michael Mancuso was reunited with the love of his life in heaven on June 12. He was 94. Joe first met Ruby Lorraine “Laura” Dunne in first grade. He started school late due to an illness, and their teacher assigned her to tutor him. She taught him to read in the cloakroom. The two married in 1942. Not long after the wedding, he deployed to Europe during World War II. As a member of the U.S. Army, he attained the rank of staff sergeant. His first language was Italian, which he learned from his Sicilian parents. Because of that, he was once asked to translate for an Italian prisoner. They couldn’t understand each other’s dialect and ended up communicating in French; Joe had served as president of the French Club at St. Philip High School in Chicago. After serving in Europe, Joe was on a ship headed to Japan when the U.S. dropped the atom bomb. As a result, the ship changed course, and Joe was among the first soldiers to return home. He was the only male member of his eighth grade class at Chicago’s St. Mark school to survive the war. On the train home, Joe passed by Wrigley Field, where the Cubs were playing in the 1945 World Series. He stopped at the ballpark and was allowed in free because he was in uniform. His beloved Cubs lost that series, but he relished their 2016 World Series victory 70 years later. Joe and Laura were longtime residents of Elmwood Park, where they had lived since 1964. There, they raised three children: Donna Billmeier (Joseph), Barbara and Joseph Michael II (Maribeth). The longtime owner and president of Dunne Roofing Company, Joe was a member of the Sertoma Club, an avid golfer and a voracious reader. Along with their daughter Barbara, he cared for his wife in their home during her long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, which ended in 2002. Throughout the years, Joe often could be found at sporting events, recitals and performances cheering on his children and later, his six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, who survive him. Friends may call from 9:15 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday at St. Emily Catholic Church, 1400 E. Central Road, Mount Prospect. A funeral mass will follow the visitation. In lieu of flowers, donations to Disabled American Veterans (www.dav.org) or to the Alzheimer’s Association (www.alz.org) would be appreciated.