STOUGHTON - Anthony J. Martino, 77, a retired U.S. Navy seaman, passed away March 15, 2024, from a heart attack at the Stoughton Meadows assisted living facility.

A longtime member of the Catholic Church, Anthony served as an usher at St. Ann Catholic Church in Stoughton for more than a decade.

He was born in Dearborn, Mich., on May 31, 1946, to parents Frank and Fannie Martino who worked in the auto industry.

Prior to his college days he attended St. Barbara’s Catholic school and Fordson High School in Dearborn where he became interested in journalism.

While attending Henry Ford Community College he volunteered for the Navy during the Vietnam war. He was posted on the USS Oklahoma City in San Diego, Calif.

Anthony was discharged from the military in 1973 and completed his college education by attending the University of Detroit, the University of Michigan Dearborn Campus and Oakland Community College, where he earned an associate degree.

He then worked as a security guard at the Ford Motor Company River Rouge plant. After completing his education, he traveled with members of St. Barbara’s church to Poland and Israel on religious pilgrimages.

Anthony was a Fourth-Degree member of the Knights of Columbus with the Monsignor Schulte Assembly and the O’Kelley Council in Dearborn and later a member of the Knights of Columbus in Stoughton.

He moved to Wisconsin in 1998 to be close to his older brother, Sam.

Anthony was an active collector of baseball and sports memorabilia and religious artifacts and an avid follower of the University of Michigan and Notre Dame sports teams. One of the highlights of his sandlot baseball days was to have been scouted by a St. Louis Cardinals scout.

He also worked as a Detroit Tigers baseball youth usher and as a salesman at several men’s clothing stores where he became a meticulous dresser.

Friends nick-named him Mr. Personality for his outreach to converse with others and offer friendship. He volunteered at St. Ann’s as an usher and in the church office.

Anthony is survived by his brother, Sam Martino of DeForest; nephews, Joe Martino of Tomah, Wis., and his children Sam and Sophia; and Patrick Martino of Shanghai, China; niece, Anne Louise Martino of Evanston, Ill; aunt, Thresia Martino; cousins, Maureen, Georgina, Kathy, Mary Jo, Greg, David, Lee; and extended family. He also is survived by others who were important to him: Judy, Pagee, Maddex, Parker, Tom, Mary Lou, Holly and John, Gloria, Mike, Father Randy, Father Healy, Father Z., Father White, and the staff at Stoughton Meadows.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at ST. ANN CATHOLIC CHURCH, 323 N. Van Buren St., Stoughton, at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. A luncheon will follow at church. A visitation will be held at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of the Mass on Wednesday. A graveside service will be held at St. Hedwig Cemetery in Dearborn, Mich., at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 22, 2024.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) and St. Ann Catholic Church in Stoughton, WI.

Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson Stoughton

Funeral & Cremation Care

1358 Highway 51 N. @ Jackson St.

(608) 873-4590

Anthony Martino

May 31, 1946 - March 15, 2024

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