John Paul McCauley, Sr.

John Paul McCauley, age 85, passed away peacefully on November 19.  Mr. McCauley was born in the Bronx, NY on April 12, 1936.  He was the oldest of 6 children and was predeceased by his parents, Vincent and Henrietta (Deichel) McCauley.  John proudly served he country as a member of the National Guard.  In 1962, he married the love of his life, Rosemary.  They moved to Fairfield in 1971 to raise their family.  John was not much for retirement.  After a long career in sales, he took up part-time work as a crossing guard, a private driver, and a courier.  In retirement, John enjoyed trips to North Carolina and Florida to visit family and friends and taking cruises with his wife.  John also loved taking care of his house and yard; always looking for things that needed a new coat of paint, landscape projects, or duct tape and Gorilla glue to shore things up.  An avid fisherman, John spent hours on the jetty at Fairfield Beach casting his lines.  Most of all John loved spending time with his family.  He loved watching and coaching his kids in sports as they grew up and playing pickup basketball, wiffleball, and touch football with the large group of kids in the neighborhood.  He had a reputation for being the life of the party.  A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, John cheered for his teams week in and week out.

John enjoyed his last 28 years as a grandfather.  He enjoyed his grandchildren immensely from the time they were babies.  He celebrated every baptism, communion, confirmation, and graduation.  He cheered for them at countless soccer, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, and football games as well as swimming and cross county meets and dance recitals. 

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Rosemary (Rielly) McCauley; his son John McCauley Jr. of New Rochelle, NY; his son, Thomas McCauley, and his wife, Suzanne of Easton, CT; his daughter, Jacqueline Ford, and her husband, Scott, of Cohasset, MA; 9 grandchildren, Thomas Jr., Caroline, Kenneth, Matthew, Jane and Andrew McCauley and Riley, Carter, and Colin Ford; and many nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his sisters, Maureen Realmuto and Joan Coats, and his brothers, Vincent and Richard McCauley.  He was predeceased by his brother, Peter McCauley and a daughter-in-law, Hope Bader.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Tuesday, November 23, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1719 Post Road, Fairfield.  Interment will be private.  Friends may call Monday from 3-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. in the Spear-Miller Funeral Home, 39 South Benson Road, Fairfield. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Unit, One Church Street, 8th Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.  For information please visit www.SpearFuneralHome.com

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