Louis Fiorelli Sr.

Old Saybrook — Louis F. Fiorelli Sr., longtime Old Saybrook resident and former Main Street businessman, died peacefully at home on Oct. 1, 2017. He was 103 years old.

He leaves his children and their spouses, Louis “Skip” Fiorelli Jr. and his partner, Linda Santangelo, of Essex, Patricia Fiorelli and her husband, John Newton, of Newburyport, Mass., and Mary Fiorelli and her husband, Dennis Doherty, of Mystic. He also leaves four grandchildren and their spouses, Greg Fiorelli and his wife, Kim, of Old Saybrook, Michael Fiorelli and his wife, Dawn, of Madison, Laura Ferraguto and her husband, Daniel Carr, of Cambridge, Mass., and Katharine Ferraguto of Astoria, N.Y.; and three great-grandchildren, Jack, Katie, and Erin Fiorelli. Helen, his beloved wife of 68 years, predeceased him in 2013.

Lou, a first generation Italian-American, was born in Ivoryton, then part of Essex, the only child of Joseph and Tessie Fiorelli. After the family moved to Deep River, he attended and graduated from local public schools. He loved to point out to his children that he was president of his Deep River High School class throughout his four years, as well as a star on the baseball field.

Lou was a woodworker and cabinet-maker who was mentored by his gifted father. His early work experience began at the historic Pratt-Read & Co. in Deep River, a producer of tools, ivory combs, buttons and, famously, piano keys. Because the factory shifted its focus as WWII approached, and given his background, Lou found his niche working on wooden glider transport and cargo prototypes for later testing by the Army and Navy. He entered active military service in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943 as a carpenter. During training in Florida, he met and married his Women’s Army Corps (WAC) supervisor, then radar communication technician Helen W. Patterson. He was later shipped to Italy and was honorably discharged in 1945.

After the war, Lou and his dad began designing and crafting high quality furniture out of their Boston Post Road workshop in Old Saybrook. Father and son opened their Main Street store in 1950, by then selling upholstered furniture, as well as living and dining room sets. Lou retired from Fiorelli’s Living Room Showcase in 1984.

Throughout his long life, Lou traveled widely with Helen, was very active in his church, and in town and fraternal organizations, in particular serving on behalf of St. John’s Catholic parish, the Knights of Columbus, and the Lions Club. He also served for 10 years on the board of directors at what was then the Deep River Savings Bank. Once actual retirement became a reality, the two spent winters in Englewood, Fla. and the rest of the year in Old Saybrook. Always a duck hunter, Lou claimed he gave up that sport only when his trigger finger became arthritic. He continued to be an avid boater and sport fisherman on the Connecticut River and along the shoreline aboard his center console “Winona” until he was 92.

His family will receive relatives and friends from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 5, at the Swan Funeral Home, 1224 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook. A Mass will follow at 11 a.m. at St. John’s Roman Catholic Church, 161 Main St., Old Saybrook. Burial with presentation of military honors will follow at the Riverside Cemetery on Sheffield St., Old Saybrook. There will be a reception at the Saybrook Point Inn, also in Old Saybrook.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Lou’s memory may be made to Middlesex Hospice Homecare at Middlesex Hospital, 28 Crescent St., Middletown, CT 06457.