Salvatore J. Coppola, age 74, a lifelong resident of Derby and Orange, entered into eternal rest on Tuesday, June 30, 2026 in the West Haven VA Medical Center.
He was the beloved husband to the late Linda (Tiano) Coppola. Sal was born in Derby on November 22, 1951, the son of the late Anthony and Josephine (LaRocca) Coppola.
Sal’s life was defined by hard work. He started working at the age of 12 at the Fair Shoppe in downtown Derby. He worked there throughout high school and also worked at Hewitt Nursing Home in Shelton and Ben Haven as part of a work study program at the University of New Haven. After college, he volunteered as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, where he spent one year in Okinawa, Japan.
Upon his honorable discharge from the Marine Corps, Sal married his high school sweetheart, Linda, and they were married for 43 years until her passing in 2020.
Sal worked as a postal expediter at the United States Post Office for 37 years, while also working by day as an IRS agent in Norwalk. Despite the long hours, Sal was always busy on weekends doing yard work and attending his kids’ extracurricular activities. He taught his two boys how to ride their bikes at Ryan Field and regularly played catch and shot basketballs with them.
Before his cancer diagnosis, Sal enjoyed retirement and attended daily mass at Saint Mary’s, where he volunteered at countless church festivals and dinners. He greatly enjoyed walking the track on Chatfield Street, and doing maintenance work on family homes on Atwater Avenue and Chatfield Street. He also spent an inordinate amount of time helping family and friends with tax and legal predicaments, and he still made a point to be active in the lives of his two beloved grandchildren, Anthony and Angela.
Sal loved the arts, particularly opera, and was frequently blaring Puccini’s famous arias throughout the homes on Atwater Avenue and Garden Road. He also enjoyed films, and some of his favorite movies included Cinema Paradiso, Chariots of Fire, and Moonstruck. He was encouraged in college to pursue writing, and he somehow spent 25 years writing a book, The Palace of Sweets, a love story and historical fiction novel that takes place in and around Vonetes in downtown Derby, and famous events that took place in the valley from the 1960s-1980s.
Sal took great joy in life’s simple things. He was very content with a black coffee and newspaper in the morning, or a Roseland pizza in the living room while watching a college football game with his family, then simply laying on the floor and falling asleep with his trademark Red Sox cap over his eyes.
Sal is survived by his sons John Coppola and his fiance Ronnette James, and Adam Coppola and his partner, Julie Condit, grandchildren Anthony and Angela Coppola, and two soon-to-be step-grandchildren, Grayson and Noah James. He is also survived by his siblings Adam Coppola, and his wife Suzanne, and Theresa Janes, and her husband Dick, several nieces and nephews, and his companion Madelyn Burch.
Friends are invited to greet the family on Monday, July 6, from 4 PM to 7 PM in the Edward F. Adzima Funeral Home, 253 Elizabeth St. Derby. On Tuesday his funeral procession will leave the funeral home at 9:30 AM for his Mass of Christian Burial at 10 AM in St. Mary Church, 212 Elizabeth St. Derby. Burial with full Military Honors will follow in Mt. St. Peter Cemetery, Derby. Memorial contributions are requested to St. Mary St. Michael School, 14 Seymour Ave. Derby CT 06418. Online condolences can be offered to the family at www.adzimafh.com.