Michael Angelo Guastella

In memory of Michael Angelo Guastella born May 4, 1926, living 93 celebrated years until his passing on November 18, 2019. Brought to this earth in Manhattan, New York, he spent 64 years of his adult life and left this world in the city he called home, Shreveport, Louisiana.

Born to two Sicilian immigrants, Nunzio & Biagina Guastella, his life was defined by family and hard work. He was the oldest of 2 siblings, his brother Joseph and his sister Mary. They were raised a strong Catholic family in an atmosphere of love and respect imbued by a “fun-loving” but strict mother and an austere patriarch. Together, they taught him the most about providing well for his own family and keeping them close.

His earliest days consisted of finding odd jobs to bring in money, chores in the home, and running the streets of New York with his gang of friends on the lower east side. With innate leadership qualities, as the gang grew, he had them organized enough to sponsor dances and parties. He later became known as quite the dancer, always looking sharp and fashionable in his young-adult years.

He had fond memories of becoming a lifeguard at Coney Island Beach where he was discovered and asked to become a model of health and fitness. After graduating from high school and attending NYU for 2 years, he was drafted into the Army for WWII at the age of 18 in 1944. He traveled to Europe on the Queen Mary, then to France and Germany under General Patton’s Third Army. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge in December, 1944, the most critical American battle that ultimately lead to victory. He received 2 battle stars after that offensive and participated in the liberation of Jews from the Buchenwald concentration camp.

Discharged in 1946, he returned to New York and joined the bricklayer’s union. During his 4-year apprenticeship, he married Maxine Yasslow and shortly afterward had his son Neil. After she was taken from this world too soon, his son went to live with his grandmother and he traveled several states to find work as a brick mason. He married his second wife, Edith Moorman, and finally settled in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1955. He had 4 more children, Michael, Mark, Matthew, and Michele. Always the New Yorker, he cultivated the same gang mentality he grew up with, and formed a close bond with the many friends he made in his new home.

After 26 years of marriage to his second wife, he married Jeannette Stevens in 1982, the woman who would become the “joy of his life.” At that time, he became the stepfather to her 4 children, Leo, David, Chris, and Sharon, adding to the many that would come to respect and admire this man for his commitment to family.

His legacy of hard work through his many years left monuments to his unique artistry all over the city of Shreveport. Working alongside his son Michael in the family business he created, the buildings, homes, and various structures in the community still stand as strong as the hands that laid the brick.

The legacy of his reverence for family is evident in the many dinners, gatherings, and social events that meant so much to him. He regularly traveled to New York to stay close to his father, mother, sister, and brother as well as the many uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews in his ever-expanding lineage.

He found pride and joy in all occasions when family members would gather to share homecooked meals, storytelling, and the ensuing laughter. He positively beamed at any table that had family and cherished friends surrounding it, and lived for those moments above all.

He was loved and respected as the patriarch of his still-growing family. He is survived by his wife Julia Jeannette Guastella, his sister Mary Marinelli, his children Michael Guastella, Jr., Mark Guastella, Matthew Guastella, Michele Polander, and his step-children Leo Stevens, David Stevens, and Sharon Shoaf. He is grandfather to 14 children and great grandfather to 13 children.

We should hope to live our lives as passionately and dedicatedly as he did, and aspire to leave a legacy as great as his. Whereas he will be missed in body, his spirit will continue to be felt richly in his descendants. May all their joys and successes in this life serve to honor the name of Michael Angelo Guastella.

A Mass celebrating the life of Michael Angelo Guastella will be held Friday, November 22, 2019, 11:00 AM at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Shreveport, LA A visitation with the family will begin at 9:30 until 10:30 AM with a Rosary Service at 10:30 AM at the church before the service. Officiating will be Monsignor Earl Provenza. Interment will follow in Centuries Memorial Pak Cemetery.