John D. Massa

John D. Massa,79 of Elkhart, Indiana died at 11:40 P.M. February 9, 2008 at Elkhart General Hospital. He was born on April 4, 1928 in Newark, New Jersey to Frank and Santa (Primavera) Massa. He married Eleanor M. Sesso.

She survives along with a son, Frank (Lori) Massa of Elkhart; a daughter, Patricia (Richard) Barth of Phoenix, Arizona; nine grandchildren; a brother, Anthony (Connie) Massa of Florham Park, New Jersey and two sisters; Geraldine (Peter) Graziano of Barnegat, New Jersey and Josephine (Arthur) Carluccio of Clifton, New Jersey. Two sisters, Teresa Leonardis and rose Ferrara preceded him in death.

Friends may call from 11:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. Thursday at Stemm Lawson Peterson Funeral Home, 1531 Cobblestone Boulevard, Elkhart. The Rosary will be recited at 4:00 P.M. Thursday at the funeral home. The Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 10:00 A.M. Friday at St. Vincent dePaul Catholic Church, 1108 South Main Street, Elkhart with the Reverend Phil DeVolder officiating. Burial will follow at St. Vincent Catholic Cemetery.

Mr. Massa was Vice President of International Sales for Selmers Band Instrument Company. He supervised the company's sales administration, dealer and customer relations, export sales, marketing and the company's educational departments. Prior to joining Selmer, he was associated with the Lionel Corporation and the Ampeg Company in various distribution and administrative sales capacities. He remained with Ampeg when it became a division of the Selmer company in 1972, ultimately serving as general manager until its sale in 1980. At that time, he assumed the duties of customer service manager for Vincent Bach International, export division of The Selmer Company. A familiar figure at music industry trade shows, Mr. Massa has become widely known and highly respected in the domestic and foreign markets. He attended Rutgers University and earned a certificate of transportation.

Mr. Massa was a member of St. Vincent dePaul Catholic Church for 36 years where he served on the Finance Committee. He was also a member of The Knights of Columbus in Elkhart.