Henry Diamond
Henry Norman Diamond passed peacefully on June 3, 2020 at the age of 97 in Bridgeport, CT.
Born in Wellesley, MA to firstgeneration Russian immigrants, Henry was a jack of many trades, a strong patriarch, a stoic World War II veteran, and a stalwart in his communities.
Henry met his soon- to- be wife, Laura Schachter, in Bridgeport, CT before being deployed in the 86th Infantry “Blackhawk” Division of the US Army during World War II. Henry and his company arrived in France in March 1945 where they moved through Germany and Austria taking defensive positions, capturing POWs, and liberating parts of Nazi Europe. All told, the division spent 34 days in combat before returning to the United States. They were later re- deployed to the Philippines in August 1945 and remained there until after the Japanese officially surrendered. Though Henry rarely spoke of his experience in the Army, or what he endured during this time, it undoubtedly shaped the man he became.
After the war, Laura and Henry married in August 1946 and settled in Bridgeport, where Henry began a career as a lumber distributor for large projects. Henry was an active member of Rodeph Sholom Synagogue where he was honored with the Shem Tov Award. He and Laura kept themselves agile with dance lessons and active with golf as longtime members of Mill River Country Club. After his retirement from lumber, Henry was heavily involved in volunteering including reading to Bridgeport elementary school children and working with Habitat for Humanity. He stayed engaged with the community by taking art classes, participating in book clubs, exploring the arts and theater, and attending lectures at Fairfield University. Henry also was an active supporter of his grand- and great- grandchildren by attending countless youth and college sporting events and sharing his love of Cribbage ( he’d always steal your points, no matter how old you were).
Henry never knew a stranger, and would make a point to ask everyone how they were doing and check in about that one fact you told him that one time. A tangential loss of the COVID- 19 pandemic, Henry’s passing reminds us to hold our loved ones a little closer, and pick up the phone if just to say, “Hi, I was thinking about you, and I love you.”
Henry was preceded in death by his wife, Laura Diamond, in 2004, and survived by two children, four grandchildren, four great- grandchildren, and his companion of 15 years, Syma Gruss. He was laid to rest in Bridgeport on June 5th, 2020. May his memory be a blessing.
In lieu of sitting Shiva, the family is asking that donations be made in Henry’s name to Speak About It ( speakaboutitonline. com/ donate) or by planting a tree in Israel ( usa. jnf. org for the Jewish National Fund).