Roy S. Sannella

Roy S. Sannella, 85, of Port Charlotte Florida died Thursday evening, Feb. 3 peacefully at home surrounded by family. Sannella was born on October 14, 1925 in Revere, Massachusetts and moved to Port Charlotte from San Francisco, California in 1999. Sannella was a veteran of two wars, having served in the United States Navy during World War II and the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War. During World War II, he survived what became known as the Second Pearl Harbor Disaster, and explosion in the West Loch area of the naval installation. As a survivor, he journeyed to Hawaii twice as a guest of the United States Navy to commemorate the incident. Sannella entered business following his discharge from military service as a buyer for the Jordan Marsh department store chain, working in Boston and Framingham, Massachusetts and San Diego, California. Sannella eventually became a nightclub owner in Los Angeles during the Golden Age of Hollywood. His club, the Royal Room on Hollywood's Sunset Strip, hosted luminaries such as Louis Armstrong. Sannella developed lifelong friendships with a pantheon of Hollywood legends, including Frank Sinatra, Harry Guardino, Broderick Crawford, Richard Burton and others. In his private life Roy was a benefactor. For example, when Guardino died, leaving a young widow with two boys, Sannella set up an annual fund that benefitted the boys well into manhood. Sannella devoted himself to veterans and charitable organizations. He was a member or officer of: Marine Corps League #036; DAV #82, Port Charlotte; Military Heritage Museum, Sons of Italy #2507, The Peace River Center for Writers, WWII Memorial Organization, USS Arizona Memorial Organization, Charlotte County Veterans Council, Douglas T. Jacobson Residents' Fund, San Francisco Hotel Association, Masonic Shrine of San Francisco, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Hawaii Lions Club, Guam; Fraternal Order of Eagles, VA Clinic of Port Charlotte and Toys for Tots, among other organizations. In 1960 Sannella visited Guam, where he was hired to run that island's Navy PX. He rose to become a general merchandise manager for the U.S. Navy Resale System in Guam, Saipan, Japan, Italy, Cypress, London Morocco, Washington D.C. and San Juan, Puerto Rico, living overseas for thirteen years. He later managed nightclubs in Los Angeles and California and worked for the May Company in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In 2005 he published an autobiography "My Nine Lives". His book led to the discovery of a son he never knew he had, who since then became a part of Sannella's life. In 2008 Sannella suffered an injury that required a rehabilitative stay at the Douglas T. Jacobson State Veterans Home in Port Charlotte. He was so impressed with the facility that he wrote his second book, "A Home for Heroes", that told the story of the facility's namesake and described the staff and patients at the home. He donated the proceeds of that second book to the home's residents' fund. At the time of his death, Sannella was working on a survivor's account of the Typhoon Karen, a 1962 storm that wreaked havoc on Guam. In his later years, Sannella spent time in both Fawcett Memorial Hospital and Signature Health Care of Port Charlotte. He was also attended to by Tidewell Hospice in his home. In his last days, he praised the staffs of the three facilities for their caring and kindness. In lieu of flowers, his family asks that donations be made to DAV #82, 1232 Market Circle, #B2, Port Charlotte Fl., 33953 and the Military Heritage Museum in Fisherman's Village, Punta Gorda, Fl. 33950. Sannella is survived by his daughter, Michelle Desrosiers, of Weston, Florida; son, Dean DePhillipo, of Santa Barbara, California; brother Anthony (Ted) Sannella and sister, Laura Sauerwein, of Punta Gorda; sister Carol Varnum, of Chelsea, Massachusetts; five grandchildren and a host of nieces and nephews. A military internment service will be held on March 4, 2011 at the Sarasota National Cemetery, 9810 State Road 72, Sarasota, Fl., 34241, at 3 pm. On March 5, 2011 at 1:00pm a celebration of Roy's life will be at the Larry Taylor and Cremation Services. To express condolences to the family, please visit www.Ltaylorfuneral.com and sign the online guest book.