Outside of his business and community involvement, Sebastian “Sonny” Sardo was a pianist. Family and friends remember his spontaneous performances. (Photo courtesy of Davin Heckman)

Sebastian “Sonny” Sardo, a La Cañada Flintridge businessman known not just for his “Sardo Interiors” but also for his civic engagement, has died.

Sardo, 74, died on July 25 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Born in Boston, Mass., Sardo made his way to Glendale, where he would ultimately start up and run Sardo Interior Service for 47 years in nearby La Cañada Flintridge.

The company is well known in the area, providing interior design for living rooms, offices and restaurants with services including carpeting and reupholstering. Clients include the Glendale Main Library, Sheraton Hotels, and the late former President Ronald Reagan, according to the company’s website.

Beyond his business, Sardo was known to be deeply connected with his local community, with his history in the military shaping his lifelong devotion to service.

For his time fighting in the Vietnam War, Sardo was awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, and later became a commissioner of L.A. County Military and Veterans Affairs.

Sardo wore many other hats. He served as a leader in the Kiwanis Club of Glendale and was committed to charity work, including for the Glendale Symphony, the Glendale Burbank Republican Assembly and various Catholic schools and churches.

Sardo also ran several times as a candidate for the then 26th Congressional District, including in 2004, 2006 and 2008. As a member of the Republican Party, his campaign focused on curbing illegal immigration and reducing unbridled trade with other countries.

But to many who knew him, Sardo was also known for his music. As a pianist, he would begin spontaneous performances at retirement homes, restaurants, and other public venues. He also performed for the March of Dimes alongside the Sardo Brothers Band.

“He was always up early in the morning, usually he’d start the day waking us up playing his piano,” says Davin Heckman, Sardo’s stepson. “He liked making people happy, a very tough man, but also very, very sweet.”

Heckman said that his father always carried a philosophy of optimism. Even after losing a foot in Vietnam, Sardo’s concern was always for others.

“When I was a kid, I remember asking, ‘You can park anywhere you want, why don’t you get a handicap placard? You only have one foot,’ and he said, ‘Well, that’s for people that are really disabled.’ He never saw himself as such,” Heckman recalled. “He didn’t see challenges as setbacks. He saw opportunities.”

To Heckman and his family, Sardo was a role model who kept his energy despite battling cancer. Heckman says that his father’s legacy is an ideal that he, his family and those who knew him can strive toward.

“There’s so many things that people remember: about the music, they’ll remember his jokes, they’ll remember how happy he made them,” said Heckman. “They’ll remember the business, they’ll remember his service to the country, but I think anybody can look at a man like that and think, ‘I can do better myself.’”

Sardo is survived by his wife Eugenie “Deenie” Sardo; his children Sergio (Mary), Michelle (Gregory), Davin (Carrie), and Hans (Kellie); as well as his 15 grandchildren.

A funeral was held on Aug. 2 at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Pasadena, before a graveside service at San Fernando Mission Cemetery.