Dennis "Denny" Pitoniak

Dennis (Denny) Pitoniak, 74, of Feeding Hills, passed away peacefully at home on August 18th, surrounded by his loving family. He leaves behind his beloved wife Ann Marie (Cirillo), his son Jason and wife Holly of Westfield, son Justin and wife Amelia of Agawam, and his precious grandchildren, Christopher, Liliana, and Rose to whom he was affectionally known as Papa. He also leaves his sister Susan Stark, his brother Jack, his mother Anna Jean, and was "Uncle Denny" to many nieces and nephews.

Born in Springfield, MA on September 23, 1950, he attended Commerce High School where he played saxophone and oboe, then joined the Army National Guard. He later attended Westfield State College for business and learned COBOL programming. He worked as a computer programmer for the next 20 years, most of those at Western New England University. He then went on to work at Braman Chemical until his official retirement.

In his younger years, Denny played baseball, soccer, basketball, and several other sports, but his biggest joy was golf. He played starting in childhood and continued until he was physically unable. He taught his two sons to play, who both still enjoy the game today. He was an avid fan of professional golf and loved watching televised tournaments. He was also a fan of classic movies, westerns, and watching Boston sports teams. He spent summers building friendships and creating beautiful memories at Odetah in Connecticut while watching his children and grandchildren do the same. He loved to go to Saratoga Race Course to wager on horse racing and enjoyed the occasional lottery scratch ticket.

Dennis tirelessly fought aggressive cancer for over 20 years, and the family would especially like to thank Dr. McCann and his team from Baystate Oncology. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the D'Amour Cancer Center at baystatehealth.org/foundation

Calling hours will be Saturday, August 23rd at Colonial Forastiere Funeral Home, 985 Main St. Agawam from 10AM-12PM followed by a funeral home service 12PM. Burial will be private. For more details and to share condolences please visit www.forastiere.com.