Michael Monaco, 84, a genial fisherman who ran a state truck testing facility in Berwyn for 25 years and once owned his own milk transportation company, died Friday, March 10, of heart failure in his Riverside home. From 1941 until 1957, Mr. Monaco owned and operated Monaco Milk Co., transporting milk in big tanker trucks. Starting in the mid-1950s, he ran the truck safety testing facility in Berwyn, where he worked until his retirement in 1981. Perhaps it was his own good nature, or perhaps it was the influence of all those years of fishing, but Mr. Monaco was the type of person who liked passing the time of day with folks. “He loved the people in his testing lane. There was a constant stream of people,” said Mr. Monaco’s son, George. During more than two decades of checking parking brakes, turn signals and exhaust emissions, Mr. Monaco got to know most of the local tradesmen, delivery drivers and servicemen in the area. He went fishing with some of them, on the lakes and streams in the Chicago area, but he also took annual trips into Canada. “He enjoyed being with people and talking about fishing, the quiet communication with them as he fished,” his son said. Besides his son, Mr. Monaco is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; two daughters, Charlotte DeHaven and Michelle Monaco; two brothers, Raymond and Dr. Louis; and two grandchildren, Dr. Winifred Monaco and Benjamen DeHaven. Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Tuesday in St. Mary Catholic Church, 126 Herrick Rd., Riverside.
