Harvey Sass may have inherited Elmer & Son Locksmiths in Steger, but the idea to convert some of the space in the 1970s into a museum of locksmithing memorabilia was all his own.
“Some of this stuff has been laying around here for the last 60 or 80 years,” Sass told the Daily Southtown in July 2023. “We’ve been in business for 82 years and some of the stuff never sold or was sitting in the corner.”
“People donated to us and I bought a few at flea markets or auctions, and we got all different types of items. We had it all kind of jimble-jumbled, so we laid it out to make it more interesting.”
Sass, 86, died Sept. 1 in Matteson, according to a Panozzo Brothers Funeral Home obituary. His love for locks and related items allowed him to amass more than 900 items his Locksmith Museum and helped develop a reputation as the community’s person to call for locksmithing needs, said longtime friend Joseph Zagone, the Steger village clerk.
“I can’t remember him ever saying a bad word about anybody,” said Zagone, who inherited his own father’s flower business that he operated from 1993 to 2011. “He was a very gentle man, and he was great to do business with.”
Sass was born in Crete and graduated from Bloom Township High School, where he met his wife, Patricia Bross, in 1958, according to his obituary. He joined the U.S. Navy soon after graduation and served as a petty officer on the USS Stoddard until 1962, the same year he got married.
What followed was a return to the business his father, Elmer Sass, started when he was 2. Sass told the Southtown he became an official employee “the day after Labor Day in 1962,” to support his new wife and himself.
“Harvey was a locksmithing expert and was exceptional with safe technology, taking time to even teach new safe technicians,” his obituary states.
The business at 3001 Chicago Road was expanded in the 1970s, with Sass founding the Locksmith Museum in part of the new space. The museum was devoted to historical devices, including century old padlocks, a prison ball-and-chain and different style handcuffs, and anti-theft mechanisms for early automobiles.
When interviewed by the Southtown, he said couldn’t pick just one highlight, saying “everything” was his favorite.
“There are locks and keys going back to the early 1800s,” Sass said. “All kinds of fancy stuff. Weird looking locks and keys and different things.”
As of Monday, the business’ phone number led to voicemail announcing its closure after 84 years and its website no longer functioned. Zagone said Elmer & Son Locksmiths, up until Sass’ death, was Steger’s longest running business.
Outside of the museum and locksmithing business, Sass was deeply involved in the community. Zagone said he was always among the first to offer his support to the Kiwanis service club.
Sass’ love for golf led him to organize with a group of friends the Watermelon Golf Invitational, which included awards dinners aimed at bringing people together. Zagone said Sass recruited him to arrange a watermelon out of flowers after the death of one of its members.
“Harvey frequently espoused the personal and professional benefits of golf to his grandsons. He was beyond thrilled when they learned to golf and gifted them personalized golf balls,” Sass’ obituary says.
Sass is survived by his sister, Lorraine; his four children, Kevin, Julie, Dwayne and Amy; and 10 grandchildren.
His family will host an open house celebration of life from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday at Scrementi’s Restaurant and Banquets, 3760 Chicago Road, Steger. A brief program is scheduled at 1:15 p.m., according to the obituary, with more information available from Chicago Heights’ Panozzo Brothers Funeral Home.
