Darien Obituaries June 2016

Carmella Piacentini, 78, Pianist, Donations Executive at Olin Corp.

Josephine Ostreicher, 92, Former Longtime Darien Resident

Micheal Hannigan, 87, Former Darien Schools Physical Education & Athletics Director

Jack Smith, 84, Former Darien Resident, Architect, Father, Volunteer

Martha Meeker, 94, WWII Cryptographer, Inventor, Writer, Mother of Four

Anthony Waters, 48, Avid Skier, Golfer and Bowler

Triestina Sniffen, 92, Longtime Darien Resident, Parishioner at St. John Church

Walter Ericsson, 97, Active in Darien Little League & Lutheran Church, Memorial Day Grand Marshal

The Rev. Canon JoAnn Munro, Became Episcopal Priest After Being Active in St. Paul’s Church in Darien

Eunice Thomas, 90, Nurse-Teacher at Middlesex, Helped Found Labor Union Chapter

William Dobbs, 88, Formed Kudlow & Dobbs with Larry Kudlow, Avid Golfer

Bennett Dondlinger, 96, of Darien, Husband, Father of Three

Edward Clarke, 94, Active in Person-to-Person, former Noroton Yacht Club Commodore

Marion Lehmann, 87, Darien Resident and Mother of Two, Married 60 Years

Andrew Meshberg, 50, Artist, Darien High School Class of ’84

Obituaries

By David Gurliacci | June 19, 2016

Obituaries

By David Gurliacci | June 17, 2016

Obituaries

By David Gurliacci | June 17, 2016

Obituaries

By David Gurliacci | June 15, 2016

Obituaries

By David Gurliacci | June 14, 2016

Obituaries

By David Gurliacci | June 13, 2016

Obituaries

By David Gurliacci | June 11, 2016

Obituaries

By David Gurliacci | June 11, 2016

Obituaries

By David Gurliacci | June 8, 2016

Obituaries

By David Gurliacci | June 8, 2016

Obituaries

By David Gurliacci | June 8, 2016

Obituaries

By David Gurliacci | June 7, 2016

Obituaries

By David Gurliacci | June 7, 2016

Obituaries

By David Gurliacci | June 7, 2016

Obituaries

By David Gurliacci | June 7, 2016

Carmella (“Carm”) Virginia Piacentini, 78, a lifelong resident of Darien, passed away on Friday, June 17. Born on July 13, 1937 in Stamford, the daughter of the late Fortuna and Caroline (Guarino) Piacentini. Carmella’s father owned and operated Fortune Metalcraft in Darien. She is survived by her aunt and uncle, Yolanda (Guarino) and Anthony Perugini; her cousin and caregiver, Judy (Perugini) Coppola and her husband Ted; her cousins, Lorraine DeNicola of Charleston, S.C.; Frank Blefari of Pawling, N.Y.; Louis Cannella (wife Barbara) of Shelton; Frank Cannella (wife Pam) of Darien and Angelina Fabricatore of Stamford. Carmella was a graduate of Darien High School and received a bachelors degree from the University of Connecticut.

Josephine Theresa Ostreicher, wife of John Karl Ostreicher, died on June 11 in Westport. She was 92. The daughter of John Teplica and Mary (Mozley) Teplica, she was born Aug. 19, 1923 and was raised and spent most of her life in Darien. She graduated from Darien High School and later completed course work at Katherine Gibbs in Norwalk before working as a secretary.

Michael V. Hannigan Jr. 87, passed away peacefully at home, on Flag Day, June 14, surrounded by his four daughters. He was born in Greenwich and attended Greenwich public schools. He received his bachelor’s degree from Arnold College in 1950, and his Masters Degrees in Physical education and educational guidance in 1954 and 1958, from New York University. He also proudly served as a member of the US Marine Corps. Michael taught and coached in Greenwich from 1954 through 1967 at Greenwich Public schools, after which he worked as director of physical education, health and safety in Fairfield.

Jack Wells Smith, 84, of Dunwoody, Ga., a former Darien resident, passed away peacefully on June 13. Jack was born in Omaha, Neb. on Aug. 31, 1931 to Herbert and Sue Wells Smith and grew up in in Dallas, Tex., Memphis, Tenn. and Canton, Miss.

A proud, patriotic woman of boundless energy, perpetual curiosity, and trailblazing accomplishment was lost to us when Martha Josephine “Marta” Cantwell Meeker passed away peacefully on June 4, 2016 at Stamford Hospital, after a heart attack at age 94. Marta had relocated from Indianapolis, IN, last year to be with her sister Ann Penrose, long time resident of Darien, and near her son Brett Meeker (Margo) of Rowayton. Since then Marta had joined the Darien Historical Society, the Darien Library, and the Darien Community Association, and looked forward to becoming a member of the local Goodwives Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Marta was born Oct. 3, 1921, in Indianapolis, to James Frank Cantwell and Ruby Dodge Stone.

Anthony M. Waters, a resident of Darien, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, June 8, 2016 at Stamford Hospital surrounded by his wife, his parents and several siblings, after a valiant battle against melanoma cancer which, was first diagnosed in early March. Born on March 10, 1968, he is the son of William and Jane Waters, and is survived by his devoted wife, Meryl L. Waters. He was 48. Tony grew up in Darien and was educated in Darien elementary and middle schools. For high school, he attended Avon Old Farms School in Avon, class of 1986, followed by Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., class of 1990.

Triestina “Tessie” or “NuNu” Marie Bruno Sniffen, a lifelong resident of Darien, passed away on Wednesday, June 8 at Waveny Care Center in New Canaan. Born Sept. 20, 1923 in Darien, she was the daughter of the late James and Rose Conti Bruno. Tessie was a parishioner of St. John Roman Catholic Church in Darien.

Walter E. Ericsson, 97, of Darien, passed away on Tuesday, June 7. Born March 19, 1919 in Stamford, Walter Ericsson married his much loved Bunny (Ellen) Terzian in 1949 and settled in Darien, where they have lived for 67 years. Walt grew up and attended Stamford schools, graduating from Stamford High School in 1935 at the age of 16. He was very active in sports, and in 1939 he was selected to the United States All American baseball team, after tryouts in Cooperstown, N.Y., attended by 128 young men from all over the nation. This team represented our country in the World Games played in Havana.

The Rev. Canon JoAnn Reynolds Munro, of Hancock, N.H., a former member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Darien, died surrounded by family and friends on May 8 at Monadnock Community Hospital. Ms. Munro was born in Walla Walla, Wash. on Oct. 20,1934 the daughter of Harry J. Reynolds Jr. and Sarah (Delaney) Reynolds Fisher.

Eunice Mehan Thomas, a native of Stamford, died on Thursday, May 19 at The Bristal Assisted Living facility in Armonk, N.Y. at the age of 90. She was the only child of Anthony and Jennie Czescik Mehan. Eunice attended the Holy Name School and Stamford High School, graduating in 1942. She attended the University of Connecticut for two years prior to transferring to Cornell University-New York Hospital where she received her B.S. degree in nursing. While at Cornell she was a member of the United States Cadet Nurse Corps.

William D. Dobbs, a longtime Darien resident, passed away at home at the age of 88. Bill was born in Forrest Hills, New York in 1926, the only son of William Henry and Ernestine Hines Dobbs. Bill graduated from Berkshire Academy in 1944 where he was on the varsity swim team. That same year Bill enlisted in the U.S. Army, trained at the U.S. Army School of Finance, and then transferred to the 105th Infantry Regiment during the rebuilding of Japan. While in Japan, Bill was a member of the U.S. Army swim team and travelled throughout Asia.

Bennett K. Dondlinger, a resident of Darien, passed away on Friday, June 3 at Norwalk Hospital. He was 96. Born on July 23, 1919 in Stamford, he was the son of the late Peter Tracy and Alice Mabel Bennett Dondlinger. He is survived by his wife, June Okerlund Dondlinger of Darien; three children, Kenneth Dondlinger of Maine; Kristi Dondlinger of Fairfield, and Peter Dondlinger of Darien; four grandchildren and four great grandchildren. He is also survived by a sister, Alice Luxton of New Jersey.

Edward (Ed) Perry Clarke of Darien died peacefully of natural causes on June 1 at Atria Senior Living in Darien, where he had lived since 2003. He was 94. Mr. Clarke was born in Mount Vernon, N.Y., on May 7, 1922, the son of the late Gilmore David Clarke and Emma Vought Clarke. He grew up in New Rochelle and Pelham, NY, and graduated from Pelham Memorial High School in 1939. His father was a landscape architect, who was instrumental in planning many of the parkways in the New York area and who served as chair of the National Commission of Fine Arts from 1937-1950. A 1943 graduate of Cornell University, Mr. Clarke was a member of the Delta Phi fraternity, the freshman 150-pound crew, and the ski team.

Marion C. Lehmann, 87, of Darien passed away peacefully at home on Wednesday, June 1 surrounded by her loving family. She was born Jan. 25, 1929 in Newark, N.J. to the late Giacomo and Marianna Calello Petracca. Marion married Alwin A. Lehmann on Oct. 18, 1956 and together they moved on to live in North Arlington, N.J., Naperville, Ill., Neshanic Station, N.J. and then Darien.

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Andrew Meshberg, 50, a resident of Stamford who grew up in Darien, passed away on Saturday, June 4 in Stamford. Born on March 25, 1966 in Odessa, Ukraine, he is the son of Asya Meshberg of Darien and the late Lev Meshberg. Andrew graduated from Darien High School in 1984 and from the University of Massachusetts with a bachelor’s degree in math and literature. He also attended the Manhattan School of Music. He was a great artist whose work has been exhibited all over America.