Andrew Braccidiferro

Andrew Braccidiferro, 89, a man who personified the adage that family always comes first, died Wednesday, February 10, 2016 at Windham Hospital. A city kid from the close-knit Italian Wooster Square neighborhood of New Haven, Andy grew into an adult who found his true home was in the country. He reveled in outdoor sports such as fishing and hunting and found great satisfaction in meticulously caring for the family home in Willington, a house he built himself and lived in for some 60 years. Always devoted to his family, his unfailing love was Doris, his wife of 66 years, who survives him. He was consistently cheerful and uncomplaining, loved joking and teasing and was a great role model and inspiration for his children and grandchildren. Born in New Haven November 1, 1926, Andy loved to joke about his birthday falling on All Saints Day. His mother Olimpia emigrated from Amalfi, Italy and settled in New Haven along with many of her fellow countrymen. She raised her family primarily as a single mother and while Andy knew material deprivation as a child, he also experienced the warmth and support of a loving family and community. He was always proud of his Italian heritage and never stopped preferring home-cooked Italian meals because of his mother’s prowess in the kitchen. He also was especially proud of his brother Ralph’s military service during World War II, a time when Andy remained stateside to help support his mother and siblings. Andy was a talented duckpin bowler in his younger days and he met and fell in love with Doris Zemina in a New Haven bowling alley, where he was working as a pin boy. The two married June 18, 1949 and remained devoted to each other from that time forward. When the couple moved to Stafford Springs after marrying, Andy began working for the Connecticut Department of Transportation. He began the job at a time when much road maintenance work was done manually and he recalled times when he and co-workers rode in the open beds of trucks and hand-shoveled sand and salt on the roads in winter. When he retired from state employment more than 30 years later, he was a payloader operator working primarily from the DOT facility on Route 32, Willington. In later years, Andy and Doris enjoyed traveling as a couple and with children and grandchildren, including trips to numerous U.S. national parks, Florida’s Disney World and Amalfi, Italy, where they went for their 50th wedding anniversary. They also enjoyed trying their luck at Foxwoods Resort Casino. Besides his wife, Andy is survived by three daughters and sons in law: Diane and David Evans of Peacham, Vermont; Victoria and Richard Littell of Canterbury and Gail and Bruce MacDonald of Pawcatuck. He also is survived by his sister Ann Braccidiferro of Hamden, six grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his mother and brother Ralph. Friends and family are invited to celebrate Andy’s life at calling hours from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Wednesday, February 17, 2016 at Introvigne Funeral Home, Inc., 51 East Main St., Stafford Springs, which will be followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 12 P.M. at St. Philip the Apostle Church, Pompey Hollow Rd., Ashford. Burial will follow in Willington Hill Cemetery, Willington. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to be made to St. Philip the Apostle Church, 64 Pompey Hollow Rd., Ashford, CT 06278 or the American Cancer Society for the Southern New England Region, 825 Brook St., Rocky Hill, CT 06067. For online condolences or directions, please visit: www.introvignefuneralhome.com