James Bellantoni Obituary
James (Jim) Noel Bellantoni Sr, 87, passed away on the evening of January 15, 2025, in Phoenix, Arizona. Jim was born on June 28, 1937, in Norwalk, to the late Mary Dolores O'Connor Bellantoni and James Vincent Bellantoni. His wife of 60 years, Pauline Doria Bellantoni, predeceased him. He is survived by his four children, Linda Bellantoni, Barbara Sumner, James Jr, and Debra Lynch; sons-in-law Patricio Bellantoni and Andrew Dickerson; seven grandchildren: Jenna Bellantoni, Ethan, Adam, and Owen Sumner, Matthew, Stephanie, and Jason Lynch; grandson-in-law Michael Fernandez; granddaughters-in-law Allison Meyer Sumner and Amber Kitay Sumner; and one great-grandchild, Nolan Fernandez.
Jim graduated from Norwalk High School and went on to Fairfield University to earn a Bachelor's in mathematics, a Master's in education, and a post-retirement Master's in mathematics (just for fun!). Jim spent most of his career at Stamford High School, first as a math teacher and later as Chair of the Math Department. He was famously known for his end-of-year homemade pizza parties for the Senior Calculus class and his students were rumored to bribe him with Devil Dogs to postpone a quiz.
In his early life, Jim was active in many sports, -- playing, coaching and umpiring. After getting a hole-in-one at Oak Hills Park Golf Course, he gave up the game with nothing left to prove. He taught generations of his family everything from how to survive high school math to how to start a fire with a magnifying glass. But mostly he taught how to love unconditionally and to accept people as they are without judgment. Family was everything to him and he was a loving and devoted patriarch.
Over the course of his life, he made thousands of pizzas, watched thousands of ballgames and Gunsmoke episodes, solved thousands of sudoku puzzles, and made us all feel like a million bucks.
A wake will be held on Thursday, January 30, from 4 to 8pm at Magner Funeral Home, 12 Mott Avenue, Norwalk. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, January 31 at 10am at St. Matthew Church, 216 Scribner Avenue, Norwalk, followed by internment at St. John Cemetery, 223 Richards Avenue, Norwalk. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Wounded Warrior Project (https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org.) or Saint Jude's Children's Research Hospital. (https://www.stjude.org).
