Emanuel N. "Manny" Psarakis

12/27/1932 - 12/29/2022

Hartford - Prominent Hartford attorney, Emanuel N Psarakis, died in New London, Dec. 29, 2022, two days after reaching his goal of living to the age of ninety.

He is survived by his three children, Helen Psarakis of West Hartford, Susan Garvey and her husband Patrick of Ooltewah, Tenn., and Peter Psarakis of Montgomery, Ala.; and his sister and brother-in-law Irene and Manny Makiaris of Niantic. He has seven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Manny received his undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut, his JD degree from Boston University Law School where he was senior editor of the Law Review, and his LL.M. in labor law from Columbia University Law School. He served as a lieutenant in the United States Airforce from 1955 to 1957.

His first job in law was as an attorney with the National Labor Relations Board in Washington D.C. practicing civil rights law. He moved to Connecticut, to join Ribicoff, Ribicoff and Kotkin as an associate. Then left to join Rome & Case as an associate. He later joined Sorikin, Sorikin, Hurwitz, Wetstone, and Psarakis as a partner. Manny joined Robinson+Cole in 1978. He became partner and head of the labor group, representing clients in civil rights, employment, labor relations and business and construction law. He retired from the firm in 2002. Manny was a member of the Labor and Employment Section of the American Bar Association, the Connecticut Bar Association ADR Committee, the ACLU and the editor of The Developing Labor Law (BNA Publications). He gained certification as a neutral arbitrator and mediator in commercial, employment and labor matters and disputes for American Arbitration Association, American Dispute Resolution Center, ADR panel, Cornell Alliance for Dispute Resolution and the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution. He was listed in all editions of the Best Lawyers in America.

Formerly, he served as an administrative hearing judge for the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and as a parajudicial officer and special settlement master in the U.S. Federal District Court. He worked as an arbitrator and mediator through his final year.

Manny especially enjoyed people, never reticent to offer sage legal advice. He once told a nephew, with a smile on his face, that "essentially the role of a lawyer is to create confusion." Manny inherited the family genes of never slowing down. He continued to practice law for 20 years after his "retirement." He taught law at the Quinnipiac University School of Law. His family would like to thank the law students at Quinnipiac for getting him to wear his hearing aids.

Manny was born in New Haven, Dece. 27, 1932, to Nicholas and Chresanthe Psarakis. The family moved back to their native Greece, on the island of Crete. They returned to New Haven, after receiving a letter from the U.S. Department of State advising all U.S. citizens to return to America in anticipation of the outbreak of World War II. He grew up helping in his father's restaurant along with his siblings. He became a master at loading a dishwasher and retained that skill for the remainder of his life. According to his wife, he did forget how to cook.

All the Psarakis children were "encouraged" to play musical instruments. Manny chose the piano. He played Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 2" with the Hamden High School Orchestra. His sister Becky was the concert mistress. He secretly applied to The Juilliard School in New York City using the Rachmaninoff Concerto as his audition piece. He was accepted for study in piano. His father gave him two college choices, Yale or UConn. Manny went to UConn. because he wasn't accepted at Yale. One of his few failures in life.

Along with his bachelor's degree, Manny met his wife Peg at the University of Connecticut. They married Sept. 7, 1957. Peg supported them on her nursing salary of less than $4,000 per year. She also paid for his law school tuition. They remained lifelong UConn fans, especially of the women's basketball team as well as season ticket holders of the Hartford Whalers. Manny fancied himself an amateur travel agent. He enjoyed planning many trips with his family and friends. He loved sailing and photography but wasn't particularly good at either one. Just ask his family about sailing backwards, capsizing and running aground in Long Island Sound requiring Coast Guard rescue. He especially relished spending time with his family and friends at their home on Martha's Vineyard. His volunteer work included domestic and international Habitat for Humanity builds. He was a founder of A Better Chance Minority Education Programs in Simsbury. He served as a director for the Simsbury Free Library. He and his wife Peg, along with their friends, John and Johanna Murphy, sponsored an I Have a Dream class at South Arsenal Neighborhood Development School Hartford. Ninety percent of their Dreamers graduated from high school. He was active in his church and a man of faith.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, at the First Church of Christ, 689 Hopmeadow Street in Simsbury. The family requests donations be made to Habitat for Humanity in lieu of flowers. The Vincent Funeral Home of Simsbury is caring for the arrangements. Please visit Manny's Book of Memories at www.vincentfuneralhome.com for online tributes.