Ferdinand (Fred) Randazzo

Ferdinand "Fred" Randazzo, 81, of Danbury, husband of the late Eleanor (Ellis) Randazzo, died on Wednesday, November 1, 2023.  The Rite of Burial will take place on Monday, November 6, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. in St. Ann Melkite Catholic Church, 181 Clapboard Ridge Rd. (Route 39 N) Danbury.  Interment will take place in Oak Grove Cemetery, Medford, MA.  The family will receive friends at St. Ann Church following the Rite of Burial.                                                                 

Ferdinand “Fred” Randazzo, 81, of Danbury, husband of the late Eleanor (Ellis) Randazzo, died on Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at Danbury Hospital after a short illness, with beloved family at his side.  The proud son of the late Frank and Josephine (Golisano) Randazzo, Fred hailed from Medford, Massachusetts, and still maintained some of his Boston accent even after having lived in Danbury for over 50 years.  Mr. Randazzo graduated as a member of Bentley College’s (Waltham, MA) first class after accreditation as a 4 year college, in 1964.  Post-college, he worked for General Tire, which is where he met his future wife.    

An accountant by profession, Fred had many other pursuits that were his true joys:  race car driver as a young man, and then sport fisherman, craftsman and woodworker, gardener, and chef.  He discovered a love of travel in more recent years, particularly to his ancestral country of Italy.  A true romantic at heart, Mr. Randazzo dreamed of moving to the Italian countryside and living his later years as an “Italian gentleman.”  But he could never move that far away from his family, and the Danbury home that he lovingly renovated (more than once!) over 50 years.  Indeed, Fred cherished family most of all, and was never happier than when he was surrounded by family and friends, feeding them a meal he had prepared, and entertaining all with his tall tales and “Fred-isms”. 

He is survived by his two daughters, Michele Randazzo and her husband Mark Dailey, of Avon, MA and Nicole Randazzo-Cipriani and her husband, James Cipriani, of Spring Hill, TN; his sisters Lena Gasbarro of Medford, MA and Lucille Catino and her husband Charles (“Chickie”) Catino of Billerica, MA and Boca Raton, FL; his “third daughter” Betty Nero; and his most beloved granddaughter, Erin Dailey.     He is also survived by a bevy of nieces and nephews, and grand-nieces and nephews, who all fondly remember “Uncle Fred.”   In addition to his parents and wife, he was predeceased by several sisters and brothers-in-law (Wanda and David Shaker, Virginia and Joseph Nero, Sr., Juliette and Frank Eno, Dorothy (Dot) and Thomas Ryan, Sr., and Richard Gasbarro), as well as his “son at heart,” Dr. Thomas Nero. 

The Rite of Burial will take place on Monday, November 6, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. in St. Ann Melkite Catholic Church, 181 Clapboard Ridge Rd., Danbury.

Interment will take place in Oak Grove Cemetery, Medford, MA.

The family will receive friends at St. Ann Church following the Rite of Burial.

A celebration of Fred’s life will be held at a date and time to be announced.  In the meantime, raise a glass of your favorite beverage in his honor.  He’ll raise his glass from a place on high, with a traditional Italian toast, “salute.”

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