Sadie Josephine (Cascio) Russo
July 3, 1925 — July 8, 2014
Sadie Josephine Russo b. July 3, 1925
After a three-month illness, peacefully at 6:15 on July 8, 2014.
Sadie spent her entire life in West Baltimore and Catonsville. Although she worked in her youth as a hairdresser, and much later as a volunteer for Catholic schools and hospitals, and as a hostess at the Witzke Funeral Home in Catonsville, she saw her only real career as devoted wife and mother. The daughter of a Sicilian immigrant and his Italian-American wife (Anthony and Rose Cascio), whose own family suffered greatly during the Depression, Sadie and her husband often struggled without complaint to provide for her young family in the Fifties. Through incredible self-sacrifice, they managed to save enough to afford to send their three boys to private Catholic high schools and state colleges, the springboard for their own successes in life. The boys were the first in the family to graduate high school, let alone college.
A lover of music, one of Sadie’s few personal indulgences was, as a young adult, taking the Number 8 streetcar downtown to the Hippodrome Theater on weekends. There she and her girlfriends paid a quarter to see a movie followed by first class concerts. She spoke often of being enthralled by Duke Ellington, Louis Prima, Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, and countless others. Every July, her nuclear family of five, accompanied by her parents, made the then four-hour drive to Atlantic City and the Shoreham Hotel, where a week was spent on the beach and seeing still more concerts on the Steel Pier. She and her husband’s love of music was passed down to her three sons. Her boys also inherited her love of dogs.
After raising her sons, Sadie lovingly cared for her parents in their declining years. She spent much of her own last three months in the care of three wonderful facilities: St. Agnes Hospital, Catonsville Commons, and Gilchrist Hospice. The family is touched by the sensitive and caring services of their staffs. She was preceded in death by her husband, Anthony Russo, a World War Two veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, and her three brothers, Joe, Phil, and Vince.
A devout Catholic parishioner of St. Joseph Monastery, she is survived by sons Gus (of Catonsville), Tony (of Shepherdstown, WVA,) and Bob (of Timonium), in addition to three grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to The American Cancer Society and St. Jude’s Hospital.
After a three-month illness, peacefully at 6:15 on July 8, 2014.
Sadie spent her entire life in West Baltimore and Catonsville. Although she worked in her youth as a hairdresser, and much later as a volunteer for Catholic schools and hospitals, and as a hostess at the Witzke Funeral Home in Catonsville, she saw her only real career as devoted wife and mother. The daughter of a Sicilian immigrant and his Italian-American wife (Anthony and Rose Cascio), whose own family suffered greatly during the Depression, Sadie and her husband often struggled without complaint to provide for her young family in the Fifties. Through incredible self-sacrifice, they managed to save enough to afford to send their three boys to private Catholic high schools and state colleges, the springboard for their own successes in life. The boys were the first in the family to graduate high school, let alone college.
A lover of music, one of Sadie’s few personal indulgences was, as a young adult, taking the Number 8 streetcar downtown to the Hippodrome Theater on weekends. There she and her girlfriends paid a quarter to see a movie followed by first class concerts. She spoke often of being enthralled by Duke Ellington, Louis Prima, Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, and countless others. Every July, her nuclear family of five, accompanied by her parents, made the then four-hour drive to Atlantic City and the Shoreham Hotel, where a week was spent on the beach and seeing still more concerts on the Steel Pier. She and her husband’s love of music was passed down to her three sons. Her boys also inherited her love of dogs.
After raising her sons, Sadie lovingly cared for her parents in their declining years. She spent much of her own last three months in the care of three wonderful facilities: St. Agnes Hospital, Catonsville Commons, and Gilchrist Hospice. The family is touched by the sensitive and caring services of their staffs. She was preceded in death by her husband, Anthony Russo, a World War Two veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, and her three brothers, Joe, Phil, and Vince.
A devout Catholic parishioner of St. Joseph Monastery, she is survived by sons Gus (of Catonsville), Tony (of Shepherdstown, WVA,) and Bob (of Timonium), in addition to three grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to The American Cancer Society and St. Jude’s Hospital.
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