Larry Sassorossi has spent his life in community service. His occupations, his church work, and his volunteer efforts have all centered around helping his fellow man. “I was taught to give back,” he said in our recent interview. “We had a very active community in Highland Park where I grew up. The community is predominantly Jewish and my parents always had many Jewish clients or patrons as they used to call them. My mother was an expert cook and my dad was a carpenter, a cabinet maker. So a lot of the advice I received growing up, especially when it came to having a career came from my parents’ clients. So I wound up going to Marquette University and graduated in 1956 and went right into the Navy as an Ensign. When I came off active duty in 1960 I went back to the community and the same people who had advised me growing up got me into public service. Right away, they said it was time to ‘give back.’ I was immediately put on the school board and this committee and that. I joined the Jaycees which really was a training program to help people learn leadership and learn to be involved. In those days you couldn’t join until you were 21, now I think it is 18, and you can only do it until you’re 35. I became chairman of the Harbor Commission, was elected to the school board and I worked a great deal in community affairs. “

Sometimes the volunteer work would require two or three nights a week and Sassorossi would wonder if all his volunteering was hindering the success he might have obtained in his career. “But you know I think I’m a happier person because of all the volunteer work,” he said. “I think that kind of thing pays a dividend into your life that can’t be measured in money.”
Sassorossi believes that his values were also determined by his education. “I had eight years with the nuns in grade school and my first two years of high school was actually in a seminary down in Cape Girardeau, Missouri with the Vincentian Fathers. After that I think I discovered girls and realized that while it was good, I couldn’t see myself making a full commitment to the priesthood. So I came back to Illinois and I went to St. George High School in Evanston which was taught by the Christian Brothers. I graduated in 1952 and from there I went to Marquette and that’s really where the education came in. The Jesuits were phenomenal. From the nuns, I learned how the world should be and how wonderful the life of Christ was for all of us. The Christian Brothers pounded into your head that all that was wonderful but this is how the world is today and you have to learn to live in it. For me, the Jesuits at Marquette really taught me to appreciate faith. There’s religion and there’s Christianity. Religion has a lot of beliefs and a lot of mysteries, but the really important thing is Christianity as a whole. That provides you with how you should live your life. Things like the ten commandments, the golden rule and that portion of the St. Francis prayer, “I seek to comfort rather than to be comforted, to understand rather than to be understood, to love rather than to be loved and to forgive rather than be forgiven.’ It’s not a particular religion, but these are the things that form your beliefs and become your values in life.”

Sassorossi has had the good fortune to connect with many interesting people over the years. He helped put together the Korean War National Museum which included Buzz Aldrin, James Garner, Clint Eastwood and Ed McMahon as spokesmen, as well as the Ambassadors representing America and the Republic of South Korea plus numerous Members of Congress. In addition, he met the highest ranking Generals and Admirals, from both the Republic of Korea and those of Countries fighting under the United Nations during the Korean War.

He also worked for the late Paul Newman raising money for his charity. “Paul had a couple of camps that he put together for children with cancer. They were called The Hole-in-the-Wall camps after the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I only met him once at a gathering they had, but I had a lot of respect for him. He was a great guy.”

Among Sassorossi’s treasured moments is when he was one the speakers at the 2nd Annual Armistice Day Commemoration & Peace Vigil. It was carried directly to the “Blue House” in Seoul Korea. Standing at the basin of the Nations’ reflecting pool, looking up at the Lincoln monument, with audience sitting on the stairs and with the Washington monument behind me remains one of my most enduring accomplishments!

In this photo Sassorossi presents the Heroes Amongst Us Award

The fundraising work began late in life for Larry Sassorossi. In the early 90’s, I was thinking about doing something different with my life. It turned out that the Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese in that area was looking for someone who spoke Italian to help them with fundraising and he called our pastor and the pastor suggested me. So starting around age 65 or 66 I became a full-time fundraiser when before that I didn’t even know that was a career. “

Even though he has worked on many large projects like the Korean War Museum and the Italian Cultural Center, Sassorossi enjoyed doing the smaller projects just as much. “Going back I realize that I enjoyed working for the small community events as much as I enjoyed working on the larger scene. As I look back I realize that certain things governed my life. Like President Kennedy’s famous quote, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country?” Going back to the Jaycees that was our mantra – give back. We started the baseball league in town. We started the football league. Eventually, these leagues got so big that the Park District took them over. Those things also gave me a lot of personal satisfaction.”

Larry Sassorossi is not what you’d call a political person and generally avoids that kind of topic because he doesn’t want to upset people, but he does feel strong about some things in the national interest. “I think we, as a nation, have to restore family values,” he said. “This country was built on that. When you look at America’s past and realize that we did things like help to rebuild Germany and Japan after the war, you see true greatness. I mean, what other nation in history would’ve done that? We’re so secular now. It seems the nation has no belief. It almost doesn’t matter how you define God, but you have to acknowledge that He exists – that there is something greater than yourself. I’m scared where this country is going because of the breakdown of the family. Society starts with the family, then the extended family, then the neighborhood, the city and so on. But without a strong family people don’t develop real values.”

Sassorossi, as a family man, has been his most challenging, as well as his most rewarding, role blessed with four children and eight grandchildren. He is quick to acknowledge that he has been blessed in all aspects of his life. And when it comes to community service or just plain helping out his fellow man, Larry Sassorossi has a truly inspired attitude. “I figure I’m here for a reason. If I’m asked to do something, I do it. “

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