Darienite (https://darienite.com/category/obituaries/page/59)
Death notices for Darienites, immediate relatives and others of interest to town residents
Deane George Minahan, 77, died on Aug. 29, 2019, with his family by his side. Deane was born on Jan. 19, 1942 in in Oswego, New York and grew up in Darien. He attended Colby College in Maine and graduate school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaigne.
James E. Strachan III, 70, known as “Jim” and “Ed,” died at his home in Santa Ana, California on Aug. 24, 2019. Jim was born in Stamford on May 7, 1949, grew up in Darien, graduated from Darien High School in 1967, and was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1968, where he served as a decorated medic in the Vietnam War from 1968-1970. Upon returning from Vietnam, he suffered a spinal cord injury from an unfortunate motorcycle accident, which put him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. That did not deter Jim from living life to the fullest and moving to California to pursue a law degree.
Anthony Scasino is an ambassador, not for a foreign country, but for Metro-North. He doesn’t have a consulate or embassy, just the Stamford train station as his headquarters. Scasino is one of six Customer Service Ambassadors (CSA) who work at the railroad’s busiest stations — White Plains, Harlem, 125th Street, Fordham, New Rochelle, Croton-Harmon and Stamford. After a six-month trial, the CSA program is now permanent and may be expanded. Scasino has worked for Metro-North for six and a half years, having previously been a ticket agent at Stamford.
Thomas McCafferty, formerly of Easton, passed away in Boston on Aug. 29 after a short battle with lung cancer. He was 74. He is loved by his bride, Prudence; their little one, Drew Anne; his doting daughter, Rosemary; son-in-law, Andrew and his four grandchildren. Born in Darien from humble beginnings, he was a graduate of Haverford College and Columbia Business School.
Clifford Walton Hankin of Williamsburg, Virginia died peacefully on Aug. 22, 2019 at the age of 95 at Doctor’s Riverside Hospital in Williamsburg. Cliff was born March 1, 1924 in Clinton, New Jersey. Family lore holds that Cliff was actually born on Feb. 29, 1924 and so his age was dependent on whether it was a leap year.
Barbara Ezzolo (Preinsberger), 87, passed away peacefully, with her husband and family members by her side, on Wednesday, Aug. 28, after a brief illness. Barbara was a longtime resident of Darien. She was born on Feb. 4, 1932 and grew up in Greenwich Village, New York City.
It is with great sadness that we share the early and tragic passing last Saturday, Aug. 24 of Richard E. Gray Jr., 23, known to his friends and family as Teddy. Born Nov. 2, 1995, he was the adored son of Sabele Steuert and Joseph Steuert, his step-father. He is survived by his loving father Richard E. Gray Sr. and the rest of his loving family including his sisters: Daphne and Adelia Gray; step-sister, Elizabeth Riva; and step-brothers: Douglas, Raymond and Joseph Steuert and their families.
The Earth is a lesser place now—but the Heavens are much richer. John “Kevin” Hogan has been a blessing in so many of our lives because, simply put, he made caring and compassion for other human beings the centerpiece of his life. He passed away Aug. 22. He was 76.
Robert (Bob) D’Arinzo , 80 of Darien, Connecticut passed away on Tuesday, Aug. 20 at Greenwich Hospital with his family by his side. He was born in Stamford on Oct. 17, 1938 to Mark & Margaret D’Arinzo and was the youngest of six children. He attended J.M. Wright Technical School and served in the U.S. Marines from 1958 thru 1961. He is survived by his loving wife, Josephine (Liscio) D’Arinzo, his three children, Robert D’Arinzo, Ralph D’Arinzo, and Dan D’Arinzo, their spouses/partners Alex (Cascella) D’Arinzo, Brenda Case and Sharon (Friar) D’Arinzo, his 5 grandchildren, Raquel, Rocco, Julia, Danny & Alexa, 1 Brother (Mark), 1 Sister (Angie) as well as several nieces and nephews.
Patricia “Pat” B. Morten, 98, died peacefully, Wednesday, August 14, 2019, at home surrounded by family and her devoted cat, Julius. She lived at Meredith Bay Colony Club, Meredith, NH, after residing in Dover, MA, and Moultonborough, NH. Pat was born on July 26, 1921, in Pittsburgh. She grew up in Needham, Massachusetts and Darien. Pat earned her bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College in 1943, was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and did graduate work in counseling at Boston University and in fine arts at Plymouth State University.
Mary Dana S. Munro (Dana) died with her loving family by her side on Aug. 17, 2019 at The Greens of Cannondale in Wilton from complications of Apnea. She was a longtime resident of Darien. Born on Feb. 9, 1923 in Troy, New York, she was the daughter of the late Gabriel Roberts Solomon from Macon, Georgia and Jeanette Bucknam Solomon from Sioux City, Iowa and Maine.
Ann H. Dana, 80, passed away peacefully on Sunday, June 9, in Highland Park, Illinois, where she had recently moved to be close to family. She was born in Hollywood, California to Ernest and Florence Harper on Nov. 19, 1938. Ann grew up in Darien and married Charles H. Dana on Nov. 25, 1960.
Roy G. Blackfield, Jr. of Vero Beach, Florida, formally of Darien and Fairfield, passed away on Aug. 3 at Indian River Hospital. He was 89. Roy was born Dec, 18, 1929 in Chicago to Roy G. Blackfield, Sr. and Mildred (Larson) Blackfield. Roy grew up in the Chicago area where he began his career in the newspaper advertising business and where he met the love of his life Joyce Beverly Ahlstrand.
Clarence Eugene Anderson, 80, died on June 28, 2019, at his home in Beverly Hills, California. Gene was born in Pampa, Texas on Aug. 31, 1938. He was a global resident of Houston; London; Darien; Theoule-sur-Mer, France; Hauraki, New Zealand and recently, Beverly Hills. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and his MBA from Harvard University, 1963.
William James Bell died peacefully at his home in Naples, Florida, on July 21, 2019. He was born 90 years ago in Montreal to William Graham Bell of Ottawa, Ontario, and Althea Morden of Niagara Falls, Ontario. Jim’s youth was playing hockey and summers working on construction of the hydroelectric dam at des Joachimes, commonly referred to as the de Swisha dam, on the Ottawa River. He was graduated from McGill University in 1952 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and received his M.B.A. from The Harvard Business School in 1954. His early career was in heavy machinery with Koehring Company, Canada.