For decades, Joseph Salerno served as a source of comfort for thousands of families and friends throughout the suburbs. In March, those family, friends and peers remembered and celebrated the 78-year-old funeral director who served as CEO of Salerno’s Rosedale in Roselle and Galewood Chapels in Chicago.

In the early 1960s, Salerno entered the family business — which was founded more than a century ago by his grandfather Rosario D. Salerno — and became president of the operation in 1995. Under his stewardship, the family in 1994 opened their Roselle facility. George entered the family business at that time after completing law school.