Thomas Joseph Straite

Thomas Joseph Straite of West Suffield passed away peacefully in Hospice care on September 20, 2024, age 82. He was predeceased by his late wife of 36 years, Marian B. Straite. Tom is survived by his sister, Marlene Straite Devine, of Brockton, Massachusetts; six children (Lynn Turner of Lakeland, Georgia; Dr. Kimberly Straite Calcasola of Suffield, Connecticut; David Straite of Accord, New York; Michael Straite of Spring Hill, Florida, Robert Gross III of West Hartford, Connecticut; and Petersen Gross of Kaneohe, Hawaii) and their spouses; eight grandchildren (Timothy, Mark, Benjamin, Christopher, Oliver, Lucy, Wyatt and Callie); six great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Tom was born during World War II in Hartford, Connecticut to the late Margaret McCabe Straite and Hartford Deputy Fire Chief Anthony "Tony" Straite. In 1944, at the age of two, he survived the Hartford Circus Fire when his father (attending with Tom on his day off) passed him over a fence to a neighbor.
Tom graduated from Hartford Public High School (1960), Central Connecticut State University (B.S., Biology, 1965), Southern Connecticut State University (M.S., 1970), and the University of Hartford (Sixth Year, Educational Leadership, 1983). He married his first wife, the late Barbara Kaminski Straite Goldberg, in 1965 and lived in Vernon and later West Suffield, Connecticut. In 1988, he married Marian whom he loved and adored every day for the rest of his life.
Tom dedicated his life to public service, teaching at Weaver High School in Hartford and later at Hall High School and King Phillip Middle School in West Hartford. He was a co-founder of the Suffield Volunteer Ambulance Association (1976) and a volunteer EMT for several years thereafter; served on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Region of the American Red Cross in the 1980s; and volunteered for the US Army's "Family Readiness Group" or "FRG" (now known as the Soldier and Family Readiness Group, or SFRG) during his retirement.
Tom's identity was inseparable from the family's lake house in West Suffield, which was the center of family life for 50 years. Boating, waterskiing, fishing, swimming and canoeing in summer; snowmobiles and ice skating in winter; and barbequing all year round – Tom created a lakeside retreat where all felt welcome.
The family would like to thank the staff at River Ridge at Avon for their amazing care of our father. They are truly angels.
A wake will be held at the Nicholson & Carmon Funeral Home, 443 East St. N. (Rt. 159), Suffield on Friday, September 27, 2024 from 4:00pm to 7:00pm. Funeral services will be held at Nicholson & Carmon Funeral Home on Saturday, September 28, 2024 at 10:00am, with internment of ashes in Over the Mountain Cemetery, West Suffield immediately following. The family will then host a luncheon from 11:30am to 1:30pm.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Suffield Volunteer Ambulance Association: https://suffieldems.org/donate