Arthur Henry Thayer, age 84, passed away peacefully on Saturday morning, April 2, 2022. Art was born on November 12, 1937 in Hartford, Connecticut, the first of Arthur and Pauline Thayer’s seven children. He graduated from Manchester High School in 1955, and Hartford Technical College two years later. On October 19, 1957, he married Barbara Tyrrell and the two lived first in Utica, New York, then Manchester, Connecticut, before settling in Ansonia, where they lived happily together for forty-four years until Barbara passed from cancer in 2003.
Art worked for GE in Utica before moving to Ansonia, where he worked for IBM until his retirement. Art, quiet and endlessly patient, first became a tutor and then a library and media assistant in both Derby and Ansonia High Schools in the years after he left IBM. Though devoted to tutoring, Art also enjoyed traveling with his wife to Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Essex, New York, but they especially enjoyed traveling the world on cruise ships. Art was a devoted UConn women’s basketball fan and a talented craftsman, once building an entire playground in his backyard for his grandchildren, complete with slide and balance beam.
He is survived by his children, Katherine (Frank Pergola), Arthur (Karen Thayer), Richard (Cheryl Thayer), Jeffrey (Marsha Thayer), Nancy, Christopher, and Robert. He was the proud grandfather to Amie Reilly (Matthew Reilly), Jessica Souza (Jay Mangini), Eric Souza (Elizabeth Souza), Theresa Kennen, Arthur Thayer (Lindsey Thayer), Jennifer Pannoni (Michael Pannoni), Bridgette Stevens (Brian Stevens), Sarah DeSautelle (Justin DeSautelle), Stacy Thayer, Adam Thayer (Brianna Quinn), Jeffrey Thayer, James Michael Thayer, and Joseph Thayer. He was known as Papa-Fix it by his great-children Patience Souza, Sullivan Reilly, Oliver Gallian, Julia Souza, Anthony Wheeler, AJ Thayer, Brian Stevens Jr, Aria DeSautelle, Tripp Nihill, and Hadley Nihill.
His brothers Tom, Larry, and Paul, and his sisters Janet and Lois and their families will miss him dearly. In addition to his wife, Art is predeceased by his parents, his brother Phil, his dog Trina, and his grandson Ricky. There was never a more generous man than Art; the world feels a little darker without him in it.
Friends and relatives are invited to greet the family and pay their respects on Wednesday April 6, 2022, from 10:30 am until 12:30 pm in the chapel of the SPINELLI-RICCIUTI/BEDNAR-OSIECKI FUNERAL HOME, 62 Beaver Street in Ansonia. His funeral procession will leave for a Mass of Christian Burial at 1:00 pm at Holy Rosary Church in Ansonia. Burial will immediately follow in Mt. St. Peter Cemetery in Derby. Contributions in Arthur’s name can be made to Holy Rosary Church, 10 Father Salemi Drive, Ansonia, CT 06401. To sign Arthur’s guestbook or share a memory, please visit www.spinelliricciutifh.com.
