Joseph Rocco Demartino

Joseph Rocco DeMartino (formerly Joseph Ronald Samalion) passed on June 25, 2024, at Santa Clarita Skilled Nursing Center of natural causes.

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Joseph (Joe) was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 16, 1933, to his stepfather Murray and natural mother Carmella Samalion, who preceded him in death.

He is survived by his loving friend and companion, Yolanda Luna, daughter Debra Jo DeMartino (Phillips), and his sons Joseph Paul DeMartino, Craig Stanley DeMartino, and Angel Alberto DeMartino, as well as nine grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Business Career

Joe was the personification of the American Dream. During his earlier years he began his photography skills while working for his Uncle Vic Scocozzas' professional studio-serving the entertainment and other industries. He continued playing baseball while following the Brooklyn Dodgers with intense dedication. Joe was selected to play professional baseball for the House of David travel team and, eventually, the Chicago Cubs AAA team in Chickasaw, Oklahoma, as he began to experience the world as a young man. to become

In his late teens, he traveled across America to pursue a career in professional baseball, tackling any job that he was hired to do, eventually forging a powerful career of dedication, devotion and honor through a vast number of professions.

A work history which included working as a guard at Rikers Island, as well as becoming an integral part of many fledgling companies, including: BF Goodrich, Bacon Brothers, Technibilt Corporation, Spiegal, Mayco Concrete Pump Company, Aeroquipt, Rack N' Roll and Magna Screen Corporation, where he was a pioneer of the "Rear Projection Telecommunications Industry."

Military Career

Joe proudly served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, where he refined his lifelong passions of photography and baseball. Honorably discharged from service and eventually drafted by the Chicago Cubs, Joe became a formidable pitcher who mastered a knuckleball that would hang and evade some of the most aggressive hitters of the time.

Choosing family over a professional baseball career, Joe began working with Little League, where he mentored hundreds of young baseball players in the San Fernando Valley Leagues... many of whom continued on to become professionals, and all of whom became the recipients of his love and passion for life by sharing his finer qualities with anyone he touched.

This passion is immortalized by any young baseball player and older enthusiast who may have had the opportunity to play, learn, and grow on the meticulously manicured diamonds of the Northridge (California) Little League Field. His

conceptualization, design, and construction of this co-opted dream included many late nights of drafting and exploring the feasibility and implementation of this massive endeavor. The results of his dedication may be evidenced by the colossal Clubhouse and iconic Sycamore Trees that were planted by many of the local baseball enthusiasts and hopeful dreamers anxiously awaiting the brilliant chalk lines to be illuminated against the stark red rock infields calling out to them..." Play Ball!"

A truly remarkable man who stood by his beloved Dodgers from the days of watching games through the knot holes in the wooden fence surrounding Ebbets Field on a balmy spring day to rarely missing a game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

This is the powerful and indelible memory of a living Norman Rockwell rendition of Americana at its finest. His presence will be missed, but the soul of this American Hero will forever live in his friends, students, and loved ones.

The dream of all ball players is to be the winning run as they slide into home plate. From the bottom of the ninth, we lovingly say, “Welcome Home, Joe.” The championship has been won!

 - Joseph DeMartino II