Darryl Fanelli

1946 - 2025

Darryl Fanelli
02/23/1946 - 01/09/2025
Darryl Louis Joseph Fanelli passed away on January 9, 2025, in Houston, Texas.
Darryl was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., on February 23, 1946, to Joseph Cannon Fanelli and Ruby Kussero. From a young age- following his father's untimely demise in the line of service in the Philippines-Darryl and his elder sister, Joan Marguerite, were raised in Riverdale, the Bronx, New York City by their loving aunt, Maybelle "Mitzi" O'Flaherty, née Fanelli, and her husband, John O'Flaherty, a "tough Irishman," in Darryl's words, who worked hard running his own ad agency at Rockefeller Plaza for almost 50 years, while Mitzi owned and operated a liquor store across from the Hotel Roosevelt on 46th for a quarter of a century.
A Greenwich Village bartender in his younger days, Darryl was a one-of-a-kind storyteller and master of the English language, with a sharp wit and a playfully mischievous sense of humor rarely rivaled. Never lacking in wanderlust or a quest for knowledge, Darryl loved to travel overseas, learning German, and traveling with his young daughter, Sarah, to the Bavarian Alps of Germany and Austria, where he enjoyed mountain climbing.
Darryl attended Xavier High School in Greenwich Village, where he received rigorous military training and a Jesuit education in the classics and Latin. He briefly attended Knox College in Illinois, where he was named outstanding cadet and received a ROTC Superior Cadet Decoration Award from the Department of the Army; earned the Lawrence Prize for Latin; made dean's list; and won his letter for cross-country track and high jump. Darryl transferred to Brown University, where he earned his undergraduate degree with the Class of 1968. Afterward, he worked for a Manhattan based law firm with an extraordinary list of famous clients. With the exposure to high-profile litigation piquing Darryl's interest, he enrolled in the University of Houston's Bates College of Law, earning his Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1976.
Despite his New York roots and stomping grounds in New England (especially Nantucket), Darryl found his heart's true home in Texas. He loved Rockport and Galveston, where he spent many happy years.
In Houston, he worked independently and as managing partner of a law firm with Raymond M. Hill. His expertise was in real estate, trust and probate, financial contracts, and oil and gas rights and leases. He later worked at fledgling T-Mobile building out its southeastern network, collecting funny, folksy stories in rural parts of Texas and Louisiana. In retirement, Darryl and his wife, Lu, traveled extensively throughout Europe, living in Sicily and spending time in Vienna and Malta, three more of their favorite haunts.
A romantic who loved all things old, Darryl restored historic homes and had a great love of literature and poetry (from Dos Passos and T.S. Eliot to Lampedusa and Ferlinghetti), history and his family genealogy. Old country music would bring a smile to his face instantly, especially Kitty Wells, Don Walser, Ray Price, and Helene Boudreaux.
He is survived by his wife, Ludmila Fanelli née Saposhkov of Hollywood, Fla.; daughter, Sarah Therese Fanelli of Houston, Texas, from his previous marriage to Grace Minyard, of San Miguelde Allende, Mexico; stepson, Jagger Hardy; and step-grandchildren, Olivia and Isabella Hardy of Orlando, Fla. He was preceded in death by his sister, Joan; aunt, Mitzi; and uncle, John; and his parents.
Contributions may be made in memory to the American Legion and Houston SPCA.