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Michael (Mike) was born on July 9, 1940, in Elizabeth N.J. to Joseph and Elsie Locascio. He resided first in Linden, and then Westfield N.J. for most of his life. After graduating from St. Benedict’s Prep, Newark, he matriculated at St. Peter’s College, Jersey City, where he joined the ROTC and proudly became a member of the elite Pershing Rifles marching division. Upon graduation from college, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and did his training at Fort Benning, Georgia. This was followed by 3 years of service in Mainz, Germany.
Mike, while in Germany, served in the 1st Battalion of the 509th Airborne Mechanized Infantry Division as a reconnaissance (recon) platoon leader as well as paratrooper. Recon platoon leaders were known as the ‘eyes and the ears’ of the battalion. During his service, he took 40 jumps achieving senior jumper status while leading as a jumpmaster. Mike liked to say he had a ‘high level government job’, ‘jumping out of a perfectly good airplane’.
In Germany, Mike met his future wife, Susan Barber, from Duluth, Minnesota who was teaching the children of service personnel stationed in Germany. During the early part of their relationship, they made their closest friends and held them closely for a lifetime. Known to Mike as ‘my Army buddies’ or Susan as ‘the Mainzers’ they regularly held reunions and visits throughout their lifetime. After being honorably discharged, Mike and Susan were married when they both returned to the U.S. and had a son, Michael. His family often asked him why he had to go to Germany to find a woman from Minnesota. His answer was simply “because she was there.” Susan predeceased Mike and they were very happily married for 53 years.
Mike started what became a very successful insurance business, which he worked in for over 50 years until just weeks before his passing. While expanding his insurance business, he obtained multiple insurance and financial certifications. In his spare time, he attended numerous cooking courses and as part of his love for cooking, he collected cooking knives. He had so many specialty knives, that he was written up in a feature article as ‘the knife guy’ in Food and Wine Magazine. When family members referred to him as “Chef Michael” he would correct them with “I am not a chef, I am a cook; I don’t do it for money; I do it out of love.”
Mike became a member of the Knights of Columbus and was a 4th degree Knight. He was very active in the Columbian Club of Westfield serving as President and actively supported their charitable and social events. He also served for many years on the Board of Fairview Cemetery.
The entire Locascio Family was very proud of Mike and the great love he had for them and for his country.
