John Rice

John (Jack) Randolph Rice, aged 74, beloved father, brother, uncle and friend, died on Thursday, January 23, 2025. He passed away peacefully after a long and valiant battle with Parkinson's disease.

He was the son of the late John E. Rice and Phyllis (Castello) Rice, both of Norwalk, CT. Born in Bronx, NY on February 9, 1950, the family moved to Norwalk, CT in 1954. John attended school in Norwalk and graduated from Norwalk High School in 1968.

After graduating from High School, John attended Southern CT State University and Norwalk Community College before transferring to the University of Connecticut, where he graduated in 1973. Upon graduating from UConn John spent several years working in Sales for Georgia Pacific and Patmore Millwork before moving on to become Sales Manager for Executone Communications in Norwalk. While working at Executone, John went back to school and earned a Master of Business Administration from the Univ of Connecticut in 1982. After spending five years at Executone, John took a position with AT&T, as an Account Executive in General Business Systems. John won many awards while at A T & T and was a Digital Dynamite Club Award winner and a member of the Achievers Club. He spent many years working for AT&T and SBC Communications, as an Account Executive for Major Markets and Corporate Development before retiring. Retiring from AT&T, he opened his own consulting firm, JERAS Communications Group, helping companies grow their business through Sales and information systems. During retirement John also worked for many years at WHIS Radio in Durham, CT.

While growing up in Norwalk, John was an active member of the Norwalk United Methodist Church, now Cornerstone Community Church. John remained very active in his faith for his entire life and spent many years actively participating at the First Church of Wethersfield. He was a Church Deacon as well as being involved with the Men's Ministry, Bible Studies and Children's Ministry.

A true Blue UConn Basketball and Football fan, John was a longtime member of the UConn Alumni Association, where he served on the Board of Directors and as Vice President. John was also quite the adventurer, as he enjoyed his many trips to the Caribbean, France, Alaska and his participation in the Outbound Program.

John is survived by his daughter Alexandra (Jonathan Davis) of Simsbury, his brother Keith Rice (Liz) of Milford and sisters Laurel Gray (Mark Bessette) of North Haven and Nancy Rice of Bridgeport; 7 nieces and nephews.

A Memorial Service will be held April 12, 2025 at 10:30, at the North Haven Congregational Church. In lieu of flowers the family requests any contributions be made to the Parkinson's Foundation or The Michael J. Fox Foundation.