Sal Rocca (October 29, 1946 – December 13, 2020) was an Italian-born American politician who served as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives for several years, as well as serving a few terms as a member of the

Macomb County Macomb County ( ) is a county located in the eastern portion of the U.S. state of Michigan, bordering Lake St. Clair, and is part of northern Metro Detroit. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 881,217, making it the third-most populous co ...

Board of Commissioners. He made an unsuccessful run for the Republican nomination for the Michigan Senate district in

Sterling Heights Sterling Heights is a city in Macomb County of the U.S. state of Michigan, and one of Detroit's core suburbs. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a total population of 134,346. It is the second largest suburb in Metro Detroit, and the fourth la ...

and areas north, losing to Dave Jaye in the 1998 primary. Rocca's son

Tory Rocca Tory Rocca (born 1973) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented the 10th district of the Michigan Senate from 2011 until 2018. Early life In 1973, Rocca was born in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Rocca's father is Sal Rocca ...

later represented the district previously represented by his father.

Early life

Rocca was born in

Casalvieri Casalvieri (Campanian: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located about southeast of Rome and about east of Frosinone. Casalvieri borders the following municipalities: Alvito, Arpino, Ati ...

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, Italy, to Virginia and Ororio Rocca. When Rocca was six, his family moved to

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

, Canada. At age 13, he immigrated with his family to the United States, settling in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. Rocca graduated from Detroit's Southwestern High School and has taken courses at

Macomb Community College Macomb Community College is a multi-campus community college in Macomb County, Michigan. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The college's offerings include university transfer, early college, professional certification ...

. Rocca was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and a member of St. Blase Catholic Church in Sterling Heights.

Career

Rocca was first elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 1974 as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. He served through 1980. In 1982, he was again elected to the State House serving through the end of 1994. In 1992, he switched parties to become a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. From 1995 to 2001, Rocca served as a member of the Macomb County Board of Commissioners. During this time his wife Sue filled the state house seat he had previously held. In 1998, he ran for the Republican nomination for the state senate seat vacated by the death of

Doug Carl Douglas Carl (August 12, 1951 – August 17, 1997) was a state senator in Michigan who also ran as the Republican nominee in Michigan's 12th Congressional District in 1988 and in the 10th Congressional District in 1992, losing to David Bonior bot ...

but lost to Dave Jaye in the primary. He was again elected to the State House in 2000 and served through the end of 2004. Rocca previously worked for General Motors and was a licensed real estate broker. During his last term in the Michigan House Rocca had the most time as a member of the house of any member, since unlike most of his other fellow house members in 1992 he had not used up all his post-1992 six years allowed by the term limit laws.

Death

Rocca died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

Troy, Michigan Troy is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, United States. Its population was 87,294 at the 2020 U.S. census, making Troy the most populous city in the county and the 13th most-populous municipality in the state. Troy is a northern suburb of Me ...

, on December 13, 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan The first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. state of Michigan were discovered on March 10, 2020, one day before the outbreak of the disease was officially declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. As of December 20, 2022 ...

. He was 74.

References

Sources

bio from Michigan legislature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocca, Sal 1946 births 2020 deaths Michigan Democrats Michigan Republicans Catholics from Michigan County commissioners in Michigan Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan Italian emigrants to the United States Macomb Community College alumni Members of the Michigan House of Representatives People from the Province of Frosinone Politicians from Detroit 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians