Joe Donato , 82, a plumbing contractor and World War II veteran who loved large family gatherings, died Thursday, June 8, in Holy Family Medical Center in Des Plaines. He had pneumonia but the exact cause of his death was not known, said his daughter Anna Marie Hopper. A Chicago native and longtime resident of the Northwest Side, Mr. Donato graduated in 1936 from Steinmetz High School. He served 52 months in the Army with the 137th Infantry and was part of the second-wave D-Day invasion–a month after the first attack–at Omaha Beach in Normandy. In 1946, he married Mamie Guarisco . She died in 1996. After the war, Mr. Donato started working as a plumbing contractor, a trade he had learned from his father, and installed plumbing in houses and subdivisions for about 50 years, his daughter said. He had a large extended family and enjoyed big gatherings. “There were always people coming over, and the more the merrier,” his daughter said. “His brothers would come with their kids, and my mother’s family would come and they would sit around and talk and drink coffee.” Mr. Donato and his wife frequently hosted family cookouts at their vacation home in Wisconsin. He liked to play golf, “but I think he liked to golf because he liked to be around his family and friends,” his daughter said. “He was very easygoing, very loving, very kind.” Other survivors include another daughter, Angie Cisek; three brothers, Ray, John and Anthony; a sister, Grace Jespersen; and five grandchildren. Visitation will be held from 3 to 9 p.m. Friday in Cumberland Chapels, 8300 W. Lawrence Ave., Norridge. Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Saturday in St. Eugene Church, 7958 W. Foster Ave., Chicago.
