James Joseph Trocchi

James Joseph Trocchi
James Joseph Trocchi, 82, a lifelong resident of Windsor, died Saturday, November 8, 2025, after a brief battle with brain cancer.
James was born on April 28, 1943, in the Wilson section of Windsor. He spent his childhood there, fishing in the Connecticut River and getting into mischief with friends, including many forays across the catwalk under the Bissell Bridge into South Windsor.
He married Frances Mangene on Sept. 23, 1967, a marriage that lasted 45 years until Fran's death in 2012. They met at a grocery store on Boothbay Street in Hartford, flirting with each other on a regular basis and eventually falling in love.
James worked a total of 57 years for IBM, all of it based out of Windsor and largely from a post at Aetna on Day Hill Road, although his job as a service engineer took him to all corners of Connecticut and included many long nights on machine repairs. He also worked as a substitute teacher in the Windsor schools during his retirement.
After obtaining his associates degree in 1966, James went back to school in the 1980s while working and raising a family and got his bachelor's degree in anthropology from Central Connecticut State University.
He completed 15 marathons, including sub-3-hour finishes at the Boston Marathon, Middletown Marathon and Ocean State Marathon. James traveled to the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Alaska, Greece, Ireland and Scotland. He hiked up Mount Washington several times as well as several other peaks in New Hampshire's White Mountains.
He was an avid cyclist and hiker and belonged to the Meshomasic Hiking Club out of Portland, Conn. With Meshomasic, he completed hundreds of hikes, taking him to spots in Connecticut he had never seen before.
James most proudly was a member of the Windsor Historical Society, of which he was a member and volunteer for more than 30 years. He was a familiar face on Saturdays at the society's location on Palisado Avenue, guiding visitors from around the country and the world. He had a passion for the history of Connecticut's oldest town and is acknowledged as a source in many books about Windsor.
James also was a proud member of the Friends of the Office of the State Archeologist and was an avid archeologist himself, participating in digs across the state. His basement and shed were filled with Indian artifacts.
James enjoyed time in his later years as an adopted member of the Third Beach community at Lake Hayward in East Haddam, where his son owned a home. He cherished the many Sundays he spent swimming and kayaking there in the summer and skating on the ice in the winter.
James leaves behind a son, Mike, of East Haddam, and a daughter, Raeann, with her husband, Johnny, and James' grandson, Mason, of Billerica, Mass.
His family will receive friends on Thursday, November 13, 2025, from 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. at Carmon Funeral Home, 807 Bloomfield Ave., Windsor followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m. at St. Damien of Molokai Parish-St. Gabriel Church, Windsor. Burial will be in St. Joseph Cemetery, Windsor. To leave online condolences, please visit www.carmonfuneralhome.com