Della Traficonda
Waterford — Della Jean Traficonda, 82, of Waterford, entered eternal life on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018, at Hartford Hospital surrounded by her loving family after a short battle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
She was born on Aug. 29, 1936, to the late Charles G. and Ruby (Mathis) Way, in Newport, Ark. where she attended local schools. Each year she would miss the first six weeks of the school year so she could work out in the fields with her father and brother as her family were share croppers. She enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1954. While in the service, she met and married Peter Traficonda on Jan. 15, 1955. They only dated four weeks before they were married and that marriage lasted for 61 years before Peter’s death in 2015.
She worked in communications during her time in the Air Force. After their discharge she moved to Waterford to start a family with her husband. Once her children were grown, she worked at Eugene O’Neill Theater for 15 years and Terry Transportation for 10 years. She was a member and co- treasurer of St. Gerardi Mothers Circle for more than 20 years. She always had a smile on her face, loved meeting new people and could strike up a conversation with anyone. She was a passionate gardener and her yard was always abloom with flowers from spring to fall. To know her was to love her.
She is survived by four children, Cheryl Traficonda, Phillip Traficonda, Melissa Burdick Goldman and her husband, Scott Goldman as well as Mary and her husband, Chris Bachant; nine grandchildren, Jessica, Jayde, Meloddi, Tiffany, Meghan, Alexandra, Kyle, Olivia and Tyler; nine great-grandchildren with a 10th on the way. She is also survived by a special brother, Paul Way of Waterford, whom she helped raise from the time he was seven years old due to the loss of their mother; as well as a very special cousin, Margaret Ray of Newport, Ark. Her father remarried after the death of her mother and she is also survived by those five siblings, Charles Way, Linda Street, Brenda Toddy, Della Drummond and Elizabeth Aitkens.
She was also predeceased by a grandson, Billy Adams; and a sister, Wanda Treadway.
Her family will receive relatives and friends from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. today, at the Impellitteri-Malia Funeral Home, 84 Montauk Ave. New London. The funeral will assemble at 8:30 a.m. Monday and proceed to a Mass of Christian Burial at 9:30 a.m. in St. Paul Church, 170 Rope Ferry Road, Waterford. Interment with military honors to follow in St. Mary Cemetery.
Donations in her memory may be made to the Center for Hospice Care, 229 Duham Street, Norwich, CT 06360 or the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, P.O. Box 98017, Washington, DC 20090-8017.