Mike Dalessio Loses Battle With Cancer

Traveler, baseball fan, music aficionado, master storyteller—all these things described Mike Dalessio, who died May 20 from cancer.

Dalessio, 57, was a Dove Canyon resident for 20 years. Before that, he and wife Diane camped out for their first home in Rancho Santa Margarita in 1987 and moved to the young community in 1988.

After a courageous battle with soft tissue sarcoma cancer, Dalessio passed at 2:05 a.m. at Mission Hospital while surrounded by loving family and friends.

He is survived by his wife, daughter, son, and two sisters.

"We live on this incredible street with wonderful neighbors and friends who have been so supportive and helpful over these past months," said wife Diane. "As difficult as it has been losing Mike, our family, friends and neighbors have made it bearable. We are very grateful for the support of our community."

Born Nov. 14, 1954 in Erie, PA, Michael Joseph Dalessio was the son of Michaelina and Mike Dalessio who were originally from Marchenese, Italy and preceded him in death. He was the younger brother of Marguerite Miller (married to Rodney) and older brother to Anna Iverson (Charles).

He graduated from Erie's Strong Vincent High School in 1972 and received his B.S. in Management from the Pepperdine University School of Business and Management on Dec. 15, 1984.  Dalessio went on to earn his California Real Estate License in 2002 and his California Insurance Licenses in 2009.  He was the Business Development Director at AWA Collections in Orange for the past three years.

He married the love of his life, Diane Marie Bagdasar, on Nov. 27, 1987.  Together, they raised two children. Megan Danielle Dalessio graduated from the University of California on May 12, and Jack Ryan Dalessio currently attends Tesoro High School.

Mike Dalessio is the loving uncle of Laura Miller of Saxonburg, PA and Emily Miller and Michael Iverson of Erie, PA. His extended family includes his adoring mother-in-law, Elisa Bagdasar (Jack) of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, sister-in-law, Laura Ackermann (Jim), niece Natalie Pitman, nephew Andrew Pitman, sister-in-law, Sue Trible (Tim), nephew Patrick Mnatzakanian, brother-in-law James Bagdasar (Jan), and nieces Brooke and Claire Bagdasar.

An active member of the parish congregation at San Francisco Solano, Mike was an enthusiastic participant in Christ Renews His Parish Retreats, a lector, a regular at the Friday Morning Men’s Fellowship, and co-emcee of the 2011 San Francisco Solano Fiesta. He and son Jack ushered for many years, and he and daughter Megan took several house-building trips to northern Mexico with Corazón.  As a way of sharing his professional skills, he hosted a résumé-writing night for parishioners and presented a money management workshop to the parish youth group.

Mike’s loved ones will always remember him as a kind, generous, and fun-loving man. He was passionate about music and enjoyed playing guitar and keyboard. He was the drummer for the bands Sans Culotte and Made in America.

He loved to travel and visited the local desert and mountains, Hawaii, New York, Mexico, Canada, France, and Italy three times with his friends and family. 

A baseball fan, Mike alternately rooted on the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim—an expression of his bi-coastal life.  Mike was also a talented writer, master of jokes and nicknames, and a wonderful story teller.  His family and many friends will miss him dearly as he brought joy, laughter, and ultimately courage and inspiration to all the lives he touched. 

He was laid to rest at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Orange on May 25.