Obituary of John Joseph Cesare

John Joseph Cesare CESARE - John Joseph, born December 7, 1937 passed July 18, 2009. Family vacations, which were really business conventions, became an opportunity to check out stock investments for John J. Cesare as he would take his family to the local regional fast food store and declare; "This is the fastest growing chain in this part of the country. We need to buy some stock!" The consummate businessman and lifelong resident of Huntington, John J. Cesare was always looking for great investments, working until the day he died, after suffering a stroke at Huntington Hospital. His immediate family was by his side. Cesare moved to Huntington from Jamaica, Queens, with his family in the 1940's, where he attended St. Patrick's Elementary school, Toaz Junior High and graduated from Huntington High School in 1955. He was a member of the volunteer Huntington Fire Department for 15 years. In 1956, Cesare joined the New York State National Guard where he wa on active duty at Fort Dixx, New Jersey and Fort Sam Houston in Texas. Cesare then graduated from Adelphi College in Garden City in 1963 as he was already working as an insurance investigator during the days. He received a B.S. in Marketing and was the recipient of the highly coveted New York State Marketing Award from the American Marketing Association. He joined Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance, (later named Mass Mutual,) 46 years ago where he stayed working up until his death. At the time of his joining the company, he was one of the few life insurance agents in the country to hold the professional designation of "Chartered Life Underwriter," C.L.U. He was also a member of ELIF, "Exceptional Level of Life Insurance," awarded to only those at the top in his company. He later started his own division of the company, John J. Cesare Associates, where he did insurance and investments for thousands of clients Always the business visionary, in 1965 he started a rok-n-roll magazine with his close friend, Jay Levy, called the "The Blast," and got to cover the Beatles first U.S. tour. But the pre-"Rolling Stones" Magazine didn't last long before Cesare got more serious about selling insurance and starting a family. Married for nearly 40 years to Claudia Cesare, the couple settled in Huntington where they raised their two daughters, Cindy Cesare and Sherry Cesare Pumar. He shared his passion for dogs, golf, Italian food, Star Wars and the NY Mets with his family over the years, where he got to witness the 1986 World Series champs win at Shea Stadium. He was a member of the Cederbrook Country Club in Brookville, NY. Cesare is survived by his wife Claudia, daughter Sherry Cesare Pumar and son-in-law, Carlos Pumar of Huntington, his daughter, Cindy Cesare of Las Vegas, and his younger brother, Samuel Cesare of Commack, NY. Visitation Sunday & Monday 2-5 and 7-9 PM at: M.A. Connell Funeral Home 934 New York Ave. Huntington Station NY 11746. Mass Tuesday 9:45am at: St. Patrick's Church 400 West Main Street Huntington, NY 11743. Because of Cesare's involvement with the Suffolk AHRC, in lieu of flowers the family is requesting adonation to the non-profit organization, which promotes the education and work programs for mentally challenged childrenand adults. Suffolk AHRC-In Memory of John Cesare 2900 Veteran's Memorial Highway Bohemia, NY 11716