Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/1546632
Friends we will miss Submit your Friends We Will Miss to sunlakesnews@yahoo.com. Please keep remembrances to 400 words and include one recent, high-resolution photo. | SUN LAKES LIFESTYLES | OCTOBER 2026 | 73 Salvatore "Joe" Farro Formino passed away in August, one month shy of his 102nd birthday. His life was marked by faith, service, devotion to family, and an enduring commitment to every community he called home. Joe was educated and ordained as a priest and carried that calling into the Air Force as a chaplain. Although his path eventually led him to marriage, he did not set his faith aside; he simply lived it in a different way. He and "Mrs. Jo" shared nearly 68 happy years of marriage before her passing in October 2024. Those who knew Joe learned from the way he lived. He showed what it meant to commit fully: first to God, then to his wife, and then to every community he served. Together, Joe and Jo taught those around them that love and happiness are choices to be made each day, not simply feelings to be experienced. Joe never mistook retirement for the end of purpose. Just when it seemed he had earned a rest, he found new ways to serve. In Sun Lakes, he became an elder statesman, serving as Master Board Member, District Delegate, Chairman of the Delegate Assembly, and a volunteer with many community organizations. He was also the first recipient of the Joe Formino Volunteer of the Year Award. His service extended well beyond Sun Lakes. For many years, he served as Celebrity Marshal of the Bob Hope Classic. His varied career and civic contributions also included work as a math teacher, business owner, packaging company president, Hacienda La Puente school board president, Little League president, and member of the Mount San Jacinto College Board of Directors. Together, Joe and Jo traveled widely, visiting Australia, England, Mexico, South America, Germany, Italy, France, Prague, Sicily, China, Japan, and Greece. They especially enjoyed European riverboat cruises and road trips throughout the United States. Joe built a career and a business on honest work, second chances, and steady service rather than easy profit. Time and again, in roles that brought little glory, he proved that showing up reliably for others year after year is its own quiet form of love. At his 100th birthday celebration, the community returned that love to him in full. Joe is survived by his son, Jeffrey Formino, and daughter, Lisa Flower (nee Formino); three grandchildren, Dina Formino Saavedra, Stephanie Formino Webb, and Andrew Flower; and six great-grandchildren, Marcell Saavedra, Makenzie Saavedra, Madisen Saavedra, Miles Webb, Isabelle Webb, and Aida Flower.

