08/26/2020
It is with a very heavy heart that I am sharing this post. Sal was my high school sweetheart and the love of my life. He was an amazing husband, father and friend.
Please read the the beautiful obituary my brother-in-law helped us prepare. I understand that with Covid, many are nervous to attend, but I was reassured by the facility that all precautions would be taken.
Salvatore J. Cusimano, age 49, of West Creek, NJ., passed away on Sunday, August 23, 2020.
He was the owner operator of Sal’s Construction, West Creek, NJ. The impact of the life of Salvatore J. Cusimano is impossible to capture in words. In the world in which he lived, the world that he ruled as absolutely as the sun rising in the morning, he was, simply, a legend. He was known as “the local legend” for his consummate skill as a champion dirt bike racer. Many local opponents didn’t always recognize Sal at first when they saw him on the street because they never saw anything but the back of him during a race. Because of this, it is easy to say that he was a hero to many. And he was. But when one looks at why he was a hero, the real reasons why, one sees an image far beyond. The skill of riding a dirt bike. That’s how legends are made.
His devotion to his family was evident every day of his life. They were his life. Jackie, Victoria, Sal Jr. They were always together, an intimate part of each other’s lives...at home…in the “pit’.. On the boat… on a trip…they were a family, in the truest sense of the word. And this did not exclude his birth family, the Cusimano family, no, far from it. It embraced them, it included and cherished them as not a separate family, but as an integral part of one big family where everyone was included and everyone was loved. His beloved brother and sisters, his parents, his niece and nephews…
But Sal went beyond this. He was selfless to a fault, always helping those in need. They didn’t have to be family. They just had to need help. This is how legends are made.
He was an extremely skilled builder and craftsman, and anyone who hired Sal ended up extremely happy that they did. He was hardworking, and honest, and…well, he was just damn good. He could fix anything, and I mean anything, which led to another nickname, the original “MacGyver”. And he was always making something new, just because he loved to. It was his nature to create, to build, to fix. Some people spend their lives tearing things apart. Sal spent his life putting things together. This is how legends are made.
And he loved to have fun, and share it with everyone, so that now, everyone was having fun. Another part of his selflessness. And he was incredibly adventurous. He relished any challenge and met life with a joyous reckless abandon, While the rest of us could only watch in wonder and admiration. And watch we did. This is how legends are made.
Almost.
But there’s one other thing. Without which, nothing else matters. Even the greatest engine ever made will not run without fuel, without motive power. Sal’s motive power was love. And that’s how legends are truly made.
Love for his family, his friends, his work, his craft. For riding and the people he shared this love with. For living, and the people who made life worth living. Salvatore J. Cusimano was a very complicated person. Salvatore J. Cusimano was a very simple person. Salvatore J. Cusimano was a legend. Legends never die.
Sal is survived by his wife Jackie, his son Salvatore, his daughter Victoria, his parents Joseph and Josephine, his brother and sister in law John and Kelly, his sister and brother in law Serena and Jim, his sister and brother in law Nadia and Mark, his sister and brother in law Rosalba and Drew, and his sister and brother in law Everette and Joe, as well as his nephews, niece and many friends and associates. A memorial gathering will take place on Friday, September 4, 2020, from 3PM to 7PM at Maxwell-Tobie Funeral Home, 573 Mill Creek Road, Manahawkin, NJ.
Due to Covid 19, the funeral home is operating at restricted capacity and can only accommodate 30 people total at a time. Please note that face masks and social distancing are required at all times for all in attendance.
