Michael A. Fresolo
Millbury
As a friend, Michael A. Fresolo, 32, of Millbury, was as loyal as they came. As a brother to Joseph, he was always there, a constant companion cheering on their beloved New York Yankees or unwinding during their weekly round of golf. But it was at home with his family, where Fresolo would pull his little girls, Emily, 4, and Maria, 1, around the yard in a plastic golf cart and teach them how to putt, where he found his greatest joy.
"His children were the world to him," said his wife, Yvette Fresolo, 30. "He was so proud of them. And they will miss him so, so much."
On the softball diamond or watching sports with the boys, Fresolo carried himself with a rugged confidence. But his wife knew him as a "real softie," who loved his family without restraint.
"Hanging around with his friends, he was the tough guy," she said. "But he was very sensitive, very caring, very loving. He was the kind of Dad who would get right down on the floor to play with his kids."
She and Fresolo, who had been married four years, dreamed of raising their family in Millbury, where they both grew up. Mr. Fresolo was a small-town sort at heart, she said, who stayed close with old friends and extended family.
A union carpenter who once ran his own roofing business, Fresolo was salt-of-the-earth, a man who believed in the dignity of hard work, said Joseph Fresolo . He was a content man who lived "day to day," Joseph said.
Fresolo loved country music and 1980s heavy metal, and had been to The Station several times to see rock bands.
Fresolo and his brother used to play in a softball league together, but in recent years had taken up golf to avoid the aches and pains.
"As we got older, the injuries didn't heal as fast," Joseph said. "So we took up golf. We had a lot of good times. The best times."
PETER SCHWORM
