Obituary: Michael Pistey Jr., 104, Of Stratford

STRATFORD, CT — (From Pistey Funeral Home): Michael Pistey Jr., 104, of Stratford, departed this life on Saturday, April 15, 2023. He was born in his family home on Boston Avenue on September 13, 1918.

He lived his entire life in Stratford and graduated from Stratford high school in 1936. All of his working career was spent in the printing business. He served in the Army Air Corp from 1943 to 1945.

Michael was an airplane and engine mechanic and worked on the B-24 Liberator heavy bombers. He was stationed at Hethel airbase in England during World War II.

After the war, Michael and his friends spent their Saturday nights dancing at the Ritz Ballroom in Bridgeport. It was there, in 1946, that he met the love of his life, Verna Lynch. Years later, when asked when he knew that he wanted to marry Verna, he said, “I knew as soon as I saw her.”

Michael and Verna were married on June 12, 1948 and spent 74 years together, always dancing. Verna survives at home.

Michael loved sweets (especially Hershey’s special dark chocolate), magic tricks, and the Yankees. He hated the squirrels that relentlessly tried to destroy his yard, drinking water, and wearing his hearing aids. He was exceptionally handy, inventive, funny, and gentle. His smile was always brightest when he was with his great-grandchildren.

Michael was predeceased by his parents, Michael Sr. and Mary (Varga) Pistey, his siblings, Edward Pistey, Stephen Rohal, and Wilma Dolyak, and his beloved son, Ronald “Ronnie” Pistey.

Michael was fortunate to be loved deeply by his family, near and far. In addition to multigenerational nieces and nephews, he is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Robert Pistey and Nancy Molzon, his granddaughters and their spouses, Kate and Matthew Cruz and Laurel Pistey and Matt Wallen, and three cherished great-grandchildren, Amelia, Natalie, and Leo Cruz. They adored their “Pop Pop.”

For more information and to leave online condolences, visit Pistey Funeral Home here.