Ronald A. Lastella

1953 - 2023

Ledyard - Ronald A. Lastella, 69, of Ledyard, was called home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, following a brief illness. He was the beloved husband to Linda (Boutin) Lastella. In 1971 Ron and Linda met at Youth For Christ Choral, an inter-church youth group. At the end of their annual banquet, Ron escorted Linda home and true to his gentle kindness, gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead to say goodnight. Last Dec. 3rd, they celebrated 46 years of marriage. Through all those years, Ron always carried Linda's senior year picture with him.

Born in New London, he was the son of the late Anthony and Barbara (Wood) Lastella and lived in Ledyard his entire life.

Ron began his career at Electric Boat (EB) as a pipefitter, quickly moving up into the Design Apprenticeship Program where he eventually became a Senior Piping Designer. He was employed with EB for over forty years up until his retirement in 2019.

It was during one of the strikes at EB that he started his own construction business, Cornerstone Building & Remodeling, which he operated for seven years with his wife Linda and lifelong friend and business partner, Steve Shuttleworth.

A devoted husband and father, his children will remember the many fairy tale stories he would tell, mixing up the stories cleverly to make them laugh. He loved computers, teaching himself all about their components, and built both of his children's computers from scratch for when they attended college.

He enjoyed the Christmas holiday each year, taking his time finding the biggest and fullest tree he could. Once he accomplished that, he would spend days shaping the branches, and with eggnog in hand, taking up to a week putting the lights on, carefully hiding all the wires so only the bulbs could be seen. Ron loved playing the piano, enjoying all forms of classical music. He took great care in selecting his stereo system, always selecting analogue, tube driven components, never digital. He also loved jigsaw puzzles, solving crosswords and playing solitaire.

In addition to his wife Linda, he is survived by his two children, Sarah Lastella with her husband Michael Gasda, and Michael Lastella with his wife Heather Klein; three grandchildren, Madeleine, Ava and Samuel; his two siblings, Sharon Newer and Nancy Heard; his aunt and uncle, Carolyn and Donald Wood; and his brothers and sisters-in-law, William and David Boutin, Laura Ray, Lisa Marciniak, Joseph Boutin and Luanne Deer.

A calling hour for Ron will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday, June 23, at the Mystic Funeral Home located on Route 1 in Mystic. A service will immediately follow at 11 a.m. at the funeral home. Following the service, he will be buried at the Elm Grove Cemetery, Route 27, in Mystic.