Jeffrey Keyes Hopkins
Jeffrey Keyes Hopkins aged 56, died peacefully April 24th, 2020 after a courageous, dignified battle with cancer.
Born 1963, in Stamford Connecticut, the third son of the late Richard Appleton Hopkins and Heather (Steele) Hopkins, Jeff grew up in Rowayton, Connecticut.
An avid horseback rider, Jeff’s love of horses led him to finishing his high school days at Vershire School, Vermont.
He obtained his degree in hospitality at Southern New Hampshire College and went on to become the youngest GM with Uno Restaurants. It was at the San Diego location he met his soon to be wife Julie, an RN from England. The couple relocated immediately following their honeymoon in 1990 to
Missouri, where Jeff opened new restaurants for Unos.
A year later they were blessed with their daughter Erin and returned to Connecticut to be near family where they settled at the beach community in Fairfield. Dylan entered the picture not too long after and Fairfield became home for the next twenty four years.
Jeff owned and operated Mackenzies, a landmark restaurant in Old Greenwich for over 2 decades, before deciding it was time for a fresh start and began volunteering for Pegasus, a therapeutic riding program in Brewster, NY.
Jumping headfirst at this opportunity to give back, Jeff found an unbridled passion and a special gift working with the special needs community and the horses with which he facilitated connections. With his enthusiastic devotion, caring, hard work, and never ending sense of humor, Jeff quickly obtained his certification to become the head male therapeutic riding instructor at Pegasus
Jeff is survived by his wife Julie (Plummeridge), children Erin and Dylan, mother Heather, sister Debbie (Tommy) McNamara, brothers Chip (Sonja) and Jay Hopkins, nieces Carrie (Shane) Cassady, Laurie (TJ) Lichaj, Chelsea (Kenny) Pinkerton, Elshia and Tre Hopkins, great-nieces, many in-laws, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, cousins worldwide and his extended families of Mackenzies and Pegasus.
He was predeceased by his father Richard Appleton Hopkins and brother Dave St.Clair Hopkins.
Jeff will be remembered for his infectious boy-like smile, caring, patience, kindness and never ending sense of humor. He lived by his father’s mantra, “If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life,” and by the Grateful Dead’s line, “Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile.”
A memorial will be held later in the year as current events allow.
Gifts in his memory may be made to Pegasus at http://www. pegasustr.org/donate/ or by phone, at (845)669-8235 x110.
Philip Vincent Patalano entered into eternal life at 98 years old on April 30, 2020 where he is likely sharing raisin meatballs and spaghetti with his wife Sudia “Winny” and watching the Mets on TV.
Born to Maria Rosa (Pisano) and Gaspare Patalano on March 19, 1922 in New York City, Phil was raised in Westport, CT. He served in the Army during WWII from 1943 to 1946. During that time, friends introduced him to the love of his life “Winny” and they married on July 31, 1944. He was unwaveringly loyal to her through better, worse, sickness and health. They lived briefly in the Carolinas, New Jersey, New York and then were longtime residents of Westport before moving to Norwalk in 1976. Baseball was his sport and on his return to Westport he followed his passion playing ball and then coaching Babe Ruth League and Westport PAL for 15 years. A devout Mets fan, Phil always looked forward to the annual pilgrimage with his friends and nephew Joe Lagana to Port St. Lucie for spring training. He loved the Mets so much that he would give his young grandchildren money to bet against him on their games. Regardless of the winner he would then treat them to vanilla ice cream giving him another chance to convert them from Yankees to Mets fans.
Admired for his strong work ethic, Phil often worked multiple jobs at a time. After a failed attempt at retirement from his career at the US Postal Service he put himself back to work at Morton’s in Saugatuck.
Phil was known for his charming smile which showed most through the roguish spark in his eyes while delivering a joke. His sense of humor was developed from a young age while teasing his sisters who outnumbered him. His smile and his humor never left him.