Granby Obituary: Christian Dahmke, Jr., 61

Christian Richard Dahmke, Jr., 61, of North Granby, beloved husband for 28 years of Karen (Hotzelt) Dahmke, passed away peacefully on Sunday, December 18, 2016, surrounded by his family at St. Francis Hospital.

Born in Yonkers, NY on March 15, 1955, son of the late Christian Richard and Eleanor (Dooley) Dahmke, he was raised in Yonkers, NY and had lived in PA, NJ and Hamden before moving to Granby over 25 years ago. After graduating from Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, NY, Christian continued his education at Westchester Community College in NY and then Ramapo College in Mahwah, NJ.

He started his career at Revlon in New York City, and spent most of his career as a sales executive and entrepreneur in the consumer goods market. He worked for well-known brands such as Tom's of Maine and Oral-B and also worked with smaller companies building their brands and with his business associates helped to turn them around and sell them to larger manufacturers.

Christian played sports throughout his life and was an All-American football player in college. He was even drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While living in Granby, he coached youth baseball and basketball. Most of all, he loved participating in his children's activities and he loved spending time at home with his wife and his three sons.

Besides his wife, he leaves three sons, Christian Richard Dahmke, III and his wife Liza of Raleigh, NC, Michael John Dahmke, of Manchester, NH and Mark William Dahmke of North Granby; two sisters, Barbara McCarthy and her husband Jack of St. Augustine, FL and Ellie Hojnacki and her husband Ed of Montrose, NY; a nephew and niece, Ryan and Madison Hojnacki both of Montrose, NY; his mother-in-law, Emilie Hotzelt of Myrtle Beach, SC; his brother-in-law, Chris Hotzelt and his wife Leslie of Myrtle Beach, SC and their children, Nicholas Hotzelt of Charlotte, SC, Jessica Hotzelt of San Antonio, TX, and Stephanie and Kimberly Hotzelt both of Myrtle Beach, SC.

His family will receive friends on Saturday, January 7, 12:00-3:00 p.m., followed by a memorial service at 3 p.m., at the Hayes-Huling & Carmon Funeral Home, 364 Salmon Brook St., Granby. Burial will be private.

Christian's family has requested that memorial contributions be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.