Matthew J. Casamassima

Matthew “Marty" Casamassima , son of Joseph and Antoinette Casamassima; passed on July 2nd after a period of hospitalization. He was predeceased by his mother and father and sister "Francine" Casamassima .

As old Italia tradition goes, ALL six sons of Matteo Casamassima and Francesca Florio Casamassima were named in the Italian Tradition so every first grandchild of the male persuasion was named Matthew and every female grandchild was named Frances or some variation of Francesca, as the sign of respect and the preservation of the naming ritual which allowed families to be able to trace their ancestry back in generations.

Marty was a bachelor and an entrepreneur who both started his own transportation business specializing in antiques and relocation and in the transportation of ecological products derived from new processes transforming municipal waste into fertilizer and construction materials business. He later assumed his Father's share of the Ice Business that Grandpa Matteo started in 1898 and eventually sold to a major Canadian conglomerate who was buying and consolidating the ice business. He liked to say that he never had a 9 to 5 desk job. In later years, he occupied his days by studying the stock market and managing his stock portfolio.

Marty lived his whole life within a five-block radius of the Family brownstone at East 50th Street in NYC and had vacation homes in Key Biscayne, Florida and later in Lake George, NY where he enjoyed spending time with his family and friends boating and playing golf and relaxing.

His handicap rivaled professional golfers.

A talented athlete, Marty was recruited by "Cookie Lavagetto of the Washington Senators Major League Baseball Team and went to Spring Training to be evaluated for the Majors but the Florida heat and dormitory living and training and cafeteria foods, did not enhance the experience and he resigned and returned home .

An avid Yankee baseball fan, he lived vicariously through Joe D and Mickey Mantle and all the NY Yankee players and could speak intelligently and passionately about all baseball!

Frank Sinatra was another of Marty's passionate interests and his idol... if you sneezed in front of him, he would say Sinatra bless you and then chuckled as only he could. He followed "The Rat Pack" especially Frank from Ocean's 11 in Atlantic City, NJ to Las Vegas and everywhere in-between! He bought blocks of tickets to Radio City, Forest Hills, and Carnegie Hall and wherever Frank played and attended every night and invited family and friends to enjoy the shows with him as his guest. Being a consummate New Yorker and in the restaurant service business (providing ice) Marty had contacts who advised him when Frank was "In town" and whether at "Patsy's" or “Brother Jilly’s, Marty arranged reservations on the nights Sinatra was there and eventually developed a friendship with Barbara and Frank Sinatra and even convinced Frank to sell him some original Sinatra paintings to go with the other items in Marty's collection!

He loved good food, Johnny Walker Black and beautiful women.

He devoted his life to caring for his Mother and Father in their Seniority, was very close with his sister Francine, and was devastated by her untimely passing. As good as, he could be, he could also be cantankerous, difficult, demanding and critical, easily angered and non-communicative and the NY Clan suffered him graciously and included him for dinners and the holidays.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Matthew's memory may be made to the following charities:

https://secure.bideawee.org/site/Donation2?df_id=3560&mfc_pref=T&3560.donation=form1

https://act.alz.org/site/Donation2?df_id=51079&51079.donation=form1&mfc_pref=T&utm_source=google&utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_campaign=giving_google&s_subsrc=giving_google&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD8nX1qJmxVjsoQ53o979jtVbDbqm&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7ZO0BhDYARIsAFttkCiqo9EY7A1plDjx0K7bdk8OZx_yH1TVqznn_Q6L8dJPIYbpd_65IgoaAsR5EALw_wcB