Leo Cirino

1933 - 2025

Leo Cirino
August 29, 1933 - March 3, 2024
Leo Cirino, aged 91, passed away peacefully on Monday, March 3rd from natural causes. He was born in New York City in 1933 to Gaetano and Fidalma, before they moved out to Mount Vernon, NY, where he graduated from AB Davis High School at age 16. His father's electrical engineering background and the war influenced his return to the City to attend Columbia College, graduating with degrees in liberal arts and electrical engineering, after wrestling varsity and playing clarinet in the marching band.
In the wake of the Korean War, he joined the Army as a rocket engineer in what became the Army Ballistic Missile Agency at Redstone Arsenal, a precursor of NASA, where he helped launch the first US satellite, Explorer 1, during the rise of Soviet space power. Due to the infancy and urgency of the program, he lost most of his hearing in the loud succession of rocket launches, a challenge he never let stop him from being an avid communicator and receptive listener through the rest of his life.
After his service, he moved to Westport, where he began to work for Norden Systems in United Technologies for the next 33 years, where he met his wife of 54 years, Jane. He applied his engineering and project management skills in building airborne and seaborne radar systems, until finally retiring with the fall of the Soviet Union.
As a Westporter, Leo became increasingly active in the community. As a past commander and navigator for the Power Squadron, a regular member of the Westport Shellfish Commission, and a Thimble Islander, he channeled his love of the sea. After following the alternate route to certification, he shared his knowledge as a part time physics and biology teacher at Staples for several years before heeding the state's request to teach full time in Bridgeport and Norwalk. He taught kids to reach for the stars during summers in space camp, raised funds for charity and student education as a Rotarian and in the United Way, and tutored everyone who needed help. An avid stamp collector and Ye Olde King's Highway Stamp Club regular, he later wrote a book about philatelic artists from Westport and exhibited their works. At the Westport Historical Society he led the Wheeler Barn restoration, and in his later years, he founded the Westport Electric Car Club and worked with towns to promote the dream of a sustainable future.
He is survived by his wife Jane, his daughters Dana and Jennifer, his son Guy, and his grandchildren Jack, Max, Chloe, Emmett, Logan, and Leo Elias. Calling hours will be at Harding Funeral Home on Monday, March 10th between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. An honor service will be conducted Tuesday March 11th at Christ & Holy Trinity church in Westport at 10 a.m., followed by a reception at the VFW between 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. In place of flowers, please feel free to make a donation to either the Wounded Warriors Project or the Westport Sunrise Rotary Club.