Ernest (Ernie) J. Sabato

Ernest J. Sabato, Ernie to all who knew him, was born in Philadelphia on June 15th, 1937 to Giuseppe Sabato and Maria (Mazzola) Sabato.  The youngest of a blended family of seven, he was adored by his older siblings and formed life-long bonds with his beloved nieces and nephews.

He was a first generation American and the first in his immediate family to attend college.  While at Temple University he joined Alpha Phi Delta Fraternity and created friendships that lasted his entire life.  Within this fraternity, he was fortunate to find a group of “brothers” with whom he forged intimate bonds that were never broken.

After graduating Temple University, he worked as a teacher, then spent the early part of his career in pharmaceutical sales.  In time he entered the sales and marketing end of the IT field and worked there for many years.  This career change led to him meeting and forming a work relationship and dear friendship with Ted Sabarese, who invited him to be one of the founding members and principals of the Ultimate Corporation.  Ernie then created and became the President of the Ultimate’s first dealership, Phoenix Business Systems.  Due to the success of Ernie’s initial dealership, 150 subsequent dealers opened worldwide.  His success as a businessman and entrepreneur was surpassed only by his success as a husband, father, and grandfather.

Ernie met the love of his life, Rosa (Lanza) in 1962 and they were married in November of 1963.  They share two children, Lisa and Greg, and five grandchildren.  Lisa and her husband Scott Lukacs have one child, Jack Lukacs, and Greg and his wife Kathryn (Widder) have four children, Holden, Thomas, Gwendolyn, and Sophie. Being surrounded by his wife, children, and grandchildren filled him with joy.  He traveled the world and he and Rosa spent many wonderful vacations with family and friends. His intelligence and sense of humor were unmatched and his countless friends considered him to be one of their favorite people.

Ernie Sabato left this world on May 26th, 2023.  He was very loved.

In Lieu Of Flowers, please make a donation in his memory to St. Michael's Church in Cranford, or to your favorite charity.