Submitted by Phil Devlin.
(Oct. 13, 2019) — Higganum native Tom Furtado left Connecticut on the afternoon of August 30 to visit his mother in Florida, three days after his 62nd birthday. He flew into Miami where a friend of Mrs. Furtado, Roque (pronounced “Rocky”) Martinez, 75, picked him up in his van and headed north on I-95 toward Port St. Lucie. While they were traveling in the middle lane of the three-lane highway near mile marker 98, a 1999 Lexus driven by Samuel Bell, a 40- year old Floridian, changed lanes abruptly from the right lane, hit the van, pushing it off the right side of the road into a ditch where it overturned. Tom died at the scene. Florida police continue to investigate the incident.
Besides his mom, Lucille (D’Orio) Furtado of Port St. Lucie, Tom leaves behind his beloved wife, Noel (Ege) Furtado and their two daughters, Megan (Jess) and Christina, as well as a recently born granddaughter, Mariel. Tom was pre-deceased by his dad, Thomas Furtado, in 2018 and his younger brother, David, in 2015.
We Will Miss the “Commissioner”
The Furtado family lived next door to my family for nearly fifteen years. Our kids were playmates. Tom and Noel were outstanding neighbors and have been friends of ours for nearly 35 years. Tom and I shared a passion for Boston sports teams, especially for the Red Sox and the Bruins. He and I used to play pond hockey with many other friends from Haddam for over 20 years. Tom and I were mainly responsible for clearing snow off of the ice on the small pond behind Haddam Elementary and, more recently, at the Haddam Meadows. We all had a great time and joked that Tom was the “Commissioner” of the HHL—the “Higganum Hockey League” due to his deep commitment to see that it worked.
This sense of commitment to a local hockey “league” mirrored the commitment that Tom brought to everything that he did in life. A committed member of the Catholic Church, Tom served on the Building and Grounds Committee of St. John’s Church in Middletown and also occasionally helped to feed the homeless in Middletown. It was one of his great joys in life to have seen the Pope when he and Noel travelled to Italy in 2015. A close-up photo of Pope Francis proudly sits on his mantel.
Tom was a highly valued employee for many years of Ultra Electronics Measurement Systems, Inc. (MSI) in Wallingford, CT. I have told many people that if I were ever to own a company, the first person that I would hire would have been Tom Furtado. He was as honest and as hard working a human being as I have ever known; in addition, he was very detail oriented, punctual, giving, thoughtful, and compassionate—just a great guy. His untimely death is a huge loss not only for his family and friends but also for the community that he loved so well.
There will be a memorial service for Tom Furtado at St. John’s Catholic Church in Middletown on Saturday, November 9, 2019 at 11:30 a.m.
