Died April 20

Jasmine Baquet will remember her mother as a giver, someone who cared for family above all else.

“She was the type of person that if you called her, she was there,” Baquet said.

Nita Redmond, 52, was the youngest of 21 siblings born and raised in the Chicago area.

“Her and her siblings were very close,” Baquet said. “They were together every single weekend.”

For many years, Redmond worked as a home day care provider, looking after the kids in her community.

Redmond had three children of her own, including Baquet. The family spent most of their time together playing cards, as Redmond liked to do.

Baquet was visiting her mother at home in Riverdale the day before she died. She noticed her mother was experiencing some difficulty breathing, but the family had no idea Redmond was battling COVID-19.

Redmond had severe asthma but did not want to go into a hospital out of fear of catching the virus. On April 20, a day after Baquet’s visit, her mother was feeling very weak and fell to the ground.

“I believe my mom could have been saved,” Baquet said. “Everything that could have went wrong that day went wrong.”

Baquet’s aunt and younger brother were there to call an ambulance, but Baquet said it took nearly 30 minutes for EMTs to get her mother out of the house.

“I believe my mom had a panic attack,” Baquet said. “She was already breathing bad and just being on that floor all that time, having to go through so many hands trying to get her out into the ambulance, I just don’t feel like she could take it anymore.”

Redmond died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Baquet said that she could not get a straight answer about what happened and that she was only told her mother died of natural causes.

It was not until the Tribune reached out to Baquet that she learned COVID-19 was the cause of death.

As the oldest child, the loss has been especially hard on Baquet. She no longer lives in Illinois but must ensure her siblings, particularly her 14-year-old brother, are looked after.

Baquet was not able to have a funeral service but instead held a cremation card party for the family to honor Redmond by playing her favorite games.

“She was just the best mom,” Banquet said. “She was a helper, a nurturer, she did everything in her power to help people — everything.”

— Sophie Sherry

Died April 5

John Cassano was the “cool uncle.” He was 100% Italian, born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, and, according to his family, he was “messing around all the time.”

“He was just such a funny guy,” said his nephew Rob Cassano.

John was almost like a big brother to Cassano and his sister Maria “Mia” Singer. And although he did not have kids of his own, John loved spending time with his nephews and nieces, to them he was “the great gohn.”

He had nicknames for every member of the family — nicknames that stuck with them.

“Even now, I call (the kids) the nicknames,” Cassano said.

“Us too,” said Singer.

Throughout his life, John Cassano worked as a mechanic and heavy machine operator and was a proud member of the Laborers union.

When Cassano was not working, he loved riding his Harley and was a member of the Chicago Eagles motorcycle club.

The Cassano family still has many relatives in Italy, including family members in the northern region of the country, hit first by the virus. In the winter, Singer says they knew a second cousin and a number of family friends there who had fallen ill.

“It was all around our immediate family,” Singer said.

For the Cassanos, the virus was hitting home long before it even reached the States.

“We said among ourselves, the one person in our family who didn’t deserve to get this thing — it’s gonna be him (John),” Cassano said. “I still can’t believe that it found him.”

The family says John overcame many health issues in the later years of his life but fought through. The assisted living home John was at was quick to go on lockdown after the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S.

John kept calling Singer, asking her to come visit, but she was not allowed.

The family was shocked to learn that despite all of the living center’s precautionary steps, John Cassano still caught the virus.

On April 5, he died at age 70 due to complications from COVID-19.

The family was not able to hold the funeral they wanted. But instead they gathered for a burial, coming together as a family to say goodbye and remember the good times with their cool uncle John.

— Sophie Sherry