John Sass

Beloved husband, father and grandfather
John Sass, 98, of Bloomfield, passed away peacefully on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021, at Mountainside Hospital, Glen Ridge, due to non-Covid 19 related health issues.
The family will receive relatives, friends and guests on Tues., Oct. 26, from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Levandoski-Grillo Funeral Home, 44 Bay Ave., Bloomfield. The Funeral will be conducted at the Funeral Home on Wed., Oct. 27, at 9:00 a.m. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. at St. Valentine’s R.C. Church, 125 N. Spring St., Bloomfield followed by the burial at Glendale Cemetery, 28 Hoover Ave., Bloomfield. Please express condolences at www.levandoskigrillo.com
Mr. Sass, a native of Bloomfield and former resident of Nutley, was born on January 26, 1923. He was the son of Andrew Sass (originally Andrzej Sas), a mason who helped in the construction of St. Valentine’s Church, Bloomfield, and Victoria Pula, both of whom immigrated to the U.S. from the Dabrowa Tarnowska in the Galicia area of Poland in 1906 and 1907 respectively.
For 37 years, Mr. Sass was an inspector for Allen B. DuMont Laboratories Inc. in Clifton, best known for making improvements to the cathode-ray tube for television receivers, developing the modern oscilloscope, and inventing the magic blue tube used as a tuning accessory in radios. The company later manufactured black and white televisions and AM/FM radios. In 1971, the company became Fairchild-DuMont Electronic Corp. They relocated the Clifton facility to Dover, NJ, in 1983 and later became Thomson Electronic Tubes and Devices Inc. He continued to work as an inspector for them until his retirement in December 1989. Before that he was a millwright for eight years (1940-1948) at the Clark Thread Co., a bottler for several months at the Springwood Dairy and for two years (1950-1952) an employee in the Lamp Division at Westinghouse Corp., all located in Bloomfield. He was also a member of the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers, AFL-CIO, Local 420.
Mr. Sass enjoyed sports especially, basketball, football and baseball. He was scouted by the Brooklyn Dodgers before they relocated to Los Angeles in 1957. He was an active member of St. Valentine’s Church Athletic Association during the 1940’s to the early 1960’s, winning several championships on their basketball and baseball teams.
He is survived by his beloved wife of 68 years, Joan Eileen (nee Heinle); cherished children, John Andrew, Jeffrey Thomas, and Jennifer Mary (late Paul John) Kelm, precious grandchildren, Paul John Kelm Jr. and Amanda Erin Kelm, all of Bloomfield, and one cousin, Mrs. Evelyn (nee Pula) Niemira of Belleville. He is also survived by his many loving nieces and nephews, their children and grandchildren. Mr. Sass was predeceased by his two brothers, Joseph Stanley and Sigmund “Doc” Sass, and five sisters, Veronica (Joseph) Kopacz, Helen Rosalia (Adam and John) Slawinski-Hornick, Mary Marie (Demetrio) Hrywny, Emilia “Millie” (Joseph) Androccio and Victoria Florence (Peter) Pizzuti.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Saint Jude Children’s Hospital (https://www.stjude.org) or to the Bloomfield Volunteer Emergency Squad (http://www.bves.org).