Sal Rocca (October 29, 1946 – December 13, 2020) was an American politician who served as a member of the

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 ...

for several years, as well as serving a few terms as a member of the

Macomb County Macomb County ( ) is a county on the eastern shore of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the Detroit metropolitan area, bordering Detroit to the north and containing many of its northern suburbs. Its seat of government is Mt. Clemens, a ...

Board of Commissioners. He made an unsuccessful run for the Republican nomination for the

Michigan Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...

district in

Sterling Heights Sterling Heights is a city in Macomb County, Michigan, Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Sterling Heights is located roughly north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had ...

and areas north, losing to

Dave Jaye David Jaye (born 1958) is a former Republican politician from Michigan. He was the first state senator in Michigan's history to be expelled from the State Senate. He represented a district in Macomb County from 1997 to 2001, when he was forced ...

in the 1998 primary. Rocca's son Tory 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 Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

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

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

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

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. 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 Warren, Michigan. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The college's offerings include university transfer, early college, professional certification, workfo ...

. Rocca was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

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 (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

. 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. 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. From 1987 to 1994, he represented the 9th Senate district, and then from 1995 to his death in 1997, he represented the 12th district. He also ran as the Republ ...

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 General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

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 the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Troy, Michigan Troy is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Detroit, Troy is located about north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 87,294, ...

, on December 13, 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan The first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the American 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, ...

. He was 74.

References

{{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 21st-century members of the Michigan Legislature 20th-century members of the Michigan Legislature