Sean McLaughlin

San Francisco, Calif. — Sean Patrick McLaughlin, 39, formerly of Stonington, passed away unexpectedly the morning of April 25, 2023, in San Francisco, Calif. He was born July 16, 1983, in Norwich to Terrence E. McLaughlin and the late Kären Neilan McLaughlin.

Sean graduated from Stonington High School in 2001 and from the University of Connecticut, with a B.S.E. in computer engineering and a B.S. in physics. Most recently, Sean worked as a senior embedded software engineer for Cruise in San Francisco, testing and developing autonomous car technology. Prior to that, Sean worked as a senior engineer at Mattson Technology in Fremont, Calif., designing semiconductor wafer processing equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits, and as a senior engineer, distributed control and information systems at Zachry Nuclear Engineering in Stonington.

Sean was kind, caring and generous, no matter the person or the circumstance. He will be remembered for his love of family and friends; learning and the outdoors; his curiosity, intelligence and sense of humor, and his ability to teach technology, math and science to his family with the utmost patience; his talent for mastering anything he tried from woodworking and building computers to rock climbing and skydiving; and his gift for living in the moment and experiencing all that life offered.

Sean was a loving son, brother, grandson, nephew, uncle and friend. In addition to his father, Sean is fondly remembered by his stepmother, Mary-Jane McLaughlin; his brother Brendan J. McLaughlin (Sarah); and his sister Katie McLaughlin Franceschelli (Dante); his nephew James Lloyd McLaughlin; and his niece Olivia Kären Franceschelli; as well as numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

In addition to his mother, Sean was preceded in death by his grandparents, Edward and Sue McLaughlin and Hubert and Greta Neilan; his uncle Joseph McGinnis; and his best friend Java.

Family and friends will gather at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 10, for a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Mary Church, 95 Main St., Stonington. Interment will be private. There will be no calling hours.

Funeral arrangements are being managed by Thomas L. Neilan & Sons New London Funeral Home. Online condolences may be shared with the family at www.neilanfuneralhome.com. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Sean’s name to the National Alliance on Mental Illness at donate.nami.org.