Services for Former SMFD Capt. Mike Delgatto This Friday

Photo from cabotandsonsfh.com

Mike Delgatto, former Captain in the Sierra Madre Volunteer Fire Dept. and former president of the Sierra Madre Chamber of Commerce, passed away in Monrovia on Jan. 27th at the age of forty-nine.

He was born on April 1, 1962, in Arcadia, California, and was the son of Vera and Joe Delgatto, brother of Tony and (Ginny) Delgatto, uncle of Angela and (Jimmy) Arms, Lucy, Vinny, and Frankie Delgatto, and brother of Maryann Griffin.

Michael was proud to be a Retired Captain of the Sierra Madre Volunteer Fire Department. He served for many years as manager of the Pantorium Cleaners in Sierra Madre.

The Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday, February 3rd, 11:00am, at St. Rita Church in Sierra Madre, California.  By family request, the interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Sierra Madre Volunteer Fire Department and the Passionist Fathers Retreat Center in Sierra Madre.

Photo courtesy of Kris Lowe

Captain Delgatto was recalled on the Facebook page of fellow firefighter Kristine Lowe, who observed the following with the picture to the right:  On October 27th, 1993, a brush fire that started above Kinneloa Mesa in Pasadena and L.A. County, began to burn toward Sierra Madre.The closest call on the first day was when Captain Mike Delgatto had to make a stand behind the parking lot overlooking Bailey Canyon. The big oak trees were in the fire’s path, but Mike and his crew; Eric Peterson, Pat Ferguson and Rich Snyder, made a stand and turned the fire north. This was the beginning of the plan to move the fire to the Northeast and have it avoid the town.