Vito Michael Loconte, Jr.

Vito Michael Loconte, Jr. passed away peacefully on October 14, 2022 with his wife, Helen, by his side.

Vito was larger than life. Known as “Papa Vito'' long before being a grandfather. He was the first to lend a hand, a meal, a ride, or even a bed to anyone in need. He enjoyed hosting parties and feeding whoever showed up to the house; the more, the merrier. Vito loved cooking with his kids-in-law and celebrating holidays – especially Christmas and Easter – with his extended family. “Have you had enough frittat? Really? Are you sure?”

Vito grew up in Chicago with his siblings, Vicky and Anthony. He attended Morton East High School and then studied Tool and Die Engineering. He met Helen in Lombard, where they bought their first home and started their family. He never missed giving flowers or gifts to the loves of his life for any occasion, with Sweetest’s Day always being a special day for Vito and Helen both. His gifts were always grand, and his love was large!

He grew up playing hockey and rooting for the Blackhawks. A lifetime of love for hockey kept him playing goalie well into his 40s and inspired his kids to follow in his footsteps - blades on the ice. Vito’s wealth of knowledge on and off the ice helped him be a great coach and teacher to many, up to and including his grandchildren.

Vito was a designer and a problem solver. He spent nearly 50 years as a Tool and Die Engineer. He genuinely enjoyed the challenge of designing the tooling that went into complex, progressive dies. He had a vast array of useless information that made him a formidable Trivial Pursuit opponent. His ability to repeat a movie quote, playfully state a commercial tag line, or even phonetically pronounce any word, came to be known as Vito-isms and Papa-isms. When he wasn’t showing off his useless trivia knowledge, you could catch him planning his next Vegas trip.

Vito will be deeply missed by his wife, Helen, of 47 years; daughters, Selina (Tom) and Jeannine (Nate); son, Michael (Alexis); grandchildren, Hunter, Tessa, and Enzo; siblings, Vicky (Pete) and Anthony (Lynn); siblings-in-law, Donna, Dave, Terry (Betsy), and Colleen; and many nieces and nephews.

Vito was preceded in death by his parents Vito Sr. and Lorraine; and his siblings-in-law, Chuck, Kathy (Jim), and Johnny.

A memorial visitation will be held on Sunday, November 6, from 10am until the time of a service at 1:30pm at Davenport Family Funeral Home and Crematory, 419 E. Terra Cotta Ave., Crystal Lake.