John Riska

Riska, John J.
John Julius Riska, 71, a long-time Danbury resident, entered into eternal rest on Wednesday, July 29, 2014, surrounded by family and friends. He was the husband of Madeleine (Lettau) Riska.
John was born on February 11, 1943, in Greenwich, son of the late Julius and Julia (Slink) Riska. He was an honorable veteran of the US Navy, where he served as an electronic technician and was in the front line of the Cuban Missile Crisis. John was a graduate of Wright Technical School. He relocated to the Danbury area in January 1968, where he opened his own garage. John was very mechanical and passionate about electronics, especially building radios, stereos and computers. He worked loyally as Bruce Bennett Nissan's master auto technician and transmission specialist for 33 years until retiring in 2009. He enjoyed collecting wrist watches, clocks, Lionel trains, building model war-planes, boats, short wave and tube radios. He was a stereo buff and a fan of the New York Mets. John loved photography and shared this interest with his wife.
Along with his loving wife of 47 years, Madeleine; he will be sadly missed by his daughter Debra Pereira of Danbury; daughter-in-law, Bernhild Riska of Albama; sister, Pat Riska of Brookfield; his six treasured grandchildren Jason, Sharon, Sheila, and Brian Pereira, Tania Thompson and John Riska, II; and six great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by a son, Daniel Riska.
A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, August 9th at 2:30pm at Cornell Memorial Home, 247 White St., Danbury. The family will receive friends on Saturday at the funeral home between the hours of 1 - 3pm.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in John's name to: American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 11454, Alexandria, VA 22312.
To light a candle of hope and remembrance please visit our website at www.CornellMemorial.com.