Fr. Philip Grasso

CUBA CITY -- Fr.  Philip Grasso, a priest of the Diocese of Madison, died Monday, July 18, at the Southwest Health Center Nursing Home in Cuba City, Wis. He was 92.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Rose of Lima Church, 519 W. Roosevelt St., Cuba City, on Friday, July 22,  at 11 a.m. Bishop Robert C. Morlino will be the principal celebrant with Fr.  John Norder as homilist. Visitation will be held at St. Rose of Lima Church Friday, July 22, from 9 until 10:45 a.m. prior to Mass. Interment will be in St. John the Baptist Cemetery, Wilton, Wis. A luncheon will follow the Mass in the Mazzuchelli Hall of the St. Rose of Lima Parish Rectory.

Father Grasso was born on May 26, 1919, to Philip and Sara (Damino) in Newport News, Va. He attended St. Andrew Catholic Grade School and High School in Roanoke, Va.; St. Paul College in Washington, D.C., where he studied philosophy; and Holy Name Theological College in Washington, D.C.. where he studied theology.

Father Grasso was ordained by Bishop John McNamara on May 29, 1943, at Trinity College in Washington, D.C. He served as associate pastor at St. Edward Parish, Corona, Calif. (Diocese of San Diego) and St. Patrick Parish, Pueblo, Co. (Diocese of Pueblo); pastor at Our Lady of the Annunciation Parish, Springfield, Co., and St. Francis de Sales Parish, Lamar, Co. His first assignments in the Diocese of Madison were as associate pastor at St. Joseph Parish, Baraboo, and St. James Parish, Madison.

He was pastor at St. Patrick Parish, Loreto; St. Joseph Parish, Argyle; St. Paul Parish, Mineral Point; St. Mary Parish, Palmyra; St. Joseph Parish, Sinsinawa (rural Hazel Green); and Our Lady of Hope Parish, Seymour, with the mission of St. Peter, Elk Grove, from where he retired. During his years of service to the Diocese of Madison, Father Grasso authored two books entitled The Purpose of Life and Under Two Flags.