Albert L. "Al" Speziali

1933 - 2020

Niantic - Albert L. " Al" Speziali, 86, passed away May 5, 2020 a victim of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19). He was born Sept. 6, 1933, at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London, the second of three sons. His father, Victor Mario Speziali, emigrated from the village of Caiolo in the Italian Alps while his mother, Margaret (Meloni) Speziali, came to America from Dongo, Italy, a commune on the northwestern shore of Lake Como.

Al enjoyed a happy youth growing up in the family home at 132 Vauxhall Street, New London where high-profile neighbors later included Capt. Edward L. Beach, the author of the best-selling book Run Silent, Run Deep and Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at the time of the Japanese government's attack on Pearl Harbor. Al's mother frequently took him to watch newsreels and movies at the downtime theatres. When he was not at the theatres or helping at his father's grocery store in East New London, Al played pick-up basketball as well as sandlot football and baseball, the first manifestation of his lifelong passion for sports.

Al later played Catholic Youth Organization basketball and baseball at St. Mary Star of the Sea Church with highlights occurring on the baseball diamond: first, a base hit against future major league pitcher Joey Jay, and then two hits during an All-Star game at Fenway Park. His mother was not impressed and laid down the law: Al and his younger brother were to become scholars, not athletes.

As a member of the Bulkeley School Class of '51, the small, academically rigorous, all-boys school in New London, Al was among the 75 graduates in the class known by many in the area as the greatest in the school's history after the Tigers won the New England Basketball Championship at Boston Garden in March of 1951.

Having enrolled at the University of Connecticut to begin classes in the fall, Al's plans were derailed by a near-fatal accident that summer when a G. Fox delivery truck ran a stop sign and collided with the pickup truck that he was driving. The force of the impact was so great that Al was thrown to the pavement where one of the still-moving trucks crushed his chest. During his three months in intensive care, many members of the Class of '51 showed up at Lawrence + Memorial to donate blood in the effort to save Al's life. Classmate Bob Fabricant declared that Al had so much Jewish blood coursing through his veins by the time he left the hospital that he had become an Italian Jew.

Beginning his collegiate career one year later than planned, Al excelled as a student and member of the Army ROTC program. He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies and was graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in history.

Four weeks after graduation, Al married Joanne Augusta Tardie of Lawrence, Mass. The couple met at Salisbury Beach, Mass. when families in Lawrence, Mass. and New London put together a summer weekend event and arranged for a carload of New London boys to meet a group of Lawrence, Mass. girls. Al was 16 at the time while Joanne was 15.

Al did his active duty time in the army at Fort Sill in Lawton, Okla. before moving the family to Lawrence, Mass. where he landed a job with AVCO, a NASA contractor working on the Apollo space program. Beginning as a draftsman, he moved up the company's ranks quickly and became the chief of engineering services before leaving to pursue a career as a teacher.

While working for AVCO, and only three years after buying a new home for his family, Al was notified by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that it was exercising eminent domain rights to take the house to make way for Interstate 495. He moved the family ten miles north to Salem, N.H. where he later began his 35-year career as an educator, serving as the head of Salem High School's the English department for many years. "Mr. Spez" retired in 1998.

Al was active in the Salem Little League and Babe Ruth League for several years, coaching the Little League tournament team to a state championship in 1969 and the opportunity to compete in the New England Championship held at Mitchell Woods in New London. He coached the 1972 Babe Ruth team to the state championship finals.

A devoted husband and father, Al was never happier than when he was with his wife and children. Ever the teacher, he built a blackboard and kept it in the basement of the family home where he taught arithmetic to his children (at least one of whom was less than enthusiastic) whenever he felt home lessons were appropriate. Ever the sports enthusiast, he encouraged his children to play competitive sports, and he could be found at nearly all of their games-football, field hockey, basketball, baseball, and softball.

Al was an avid fan of the New York Yankees and the UConn men's and women's basketball teams.

Sadly, Al was predeceased by his wife Joanne, a victim of breast cancer, in 1989; and his two brothers, Andrew (Speziali) Christian of Westport and Victor M. Speziali of Stonington. He is survived by his son, Albert L. J. Speziali and wife Bonnie and their son Albert L. Speziali II of East Lyme; his daughter Ann J. Speziali of Agawam, Mass.; and his daughter Lisa S. Mitjans and husband Lazaro Mitjans, and their children Camille, Lazaro Jr. and Antonio.

No calling hours or services are planned. Al's ashes will be scattered with his wife's in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.