Athlete.
Born at St. Boniface on 3 March 1928, son of Annunziato San Fillipo (1887-1944) and Sebastiano Tascona (1874-1943), brother of Antonio “Tony” Tascona, he was the youngest of 16 children. Although an employee of Manitoba Hydro for many years, his passions were baseball and hockey, and he served for over 55 years as a player, coach, and umpire for various Winnipeg teams, including the Kildonan Rangers, West End Bengals, and St. Boniface Native Sons. He coached midget, junior, senior and intermediate teams, winning championships with Winnipeg Precious Blood and Fannystelle teams.
In 1954, he was junior all-star coach and led many successful tournaments through the 1950s and 1960s. He was umpire-in-chief for the 1967 Pan Am Games, and then officiated in rural tournaments for over 20 years, providing mentorship for young referees. He was inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame (1998) and the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame (2001). At the 1999 Pan Am Games, he was honoured by being asked to throw out the first pitch. He also mentored his grandchildren in their chosen sports. Along with his activities in baseball and hockey, he was a fan of horse-racing and with his son Tom spent every day of the racing season in Winnipeg watching the ponies run. With his wife Patricia May “Pat” Harker (1930-1995), he had three children.
He died at Winnipeg on 27 March 2006.
Obituary [Patricia May Tascona], Winnipeg Free Press, 6 November 1995, page 15.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 1 April 2006.
“Samuel (Sam) Jack Tascona,” Cullen Family Tree, Ancestry.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 19 July 2024
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