Richard George Ganoe

Richard George Ganoe, 74, of Franklin, CT passed away peacefully on Saturday, March 10, 2012 at Windham Hospital with family by his side after a brief illness. He was born in Lewistown, PA on November 29, 1937, son of the late George and Ida (Johnson) Ganoe. He is survived by his wife of 50 years Judith (McGuire) Ganoe. He is also survived by his sons, Richard and wife Deborah, Steven and wife Laurie, James, Ronald and wife Paulette, Kevin and wife Misty Dawn and daughter Deborah and fiancAC. Will. Also, 9 grandchildren, Christopher, Brandon and Matthew Ganoe, Joshua Ganoe, Roger-Paul Snell, Sarah, Alexander and Zen Ganoe and Dayvon Wynn. He is also survived by siblings Janet and her late husband George Jones and his brother Glenn Ganoe and his wife Bonnie all of Pennsylvania. Richard also leaves behind many nieces and nephews. Richard was a 1955 graduate of Lewistown High School. Upon graduation he enlisted in the United States Air Force and served his country for the next 20 years. After retiring from the Air Force he moved his family to Willimantic, CT. He was a former general manager of UConn's Faculty Alumni Center at Storrs. In 1982 he became athletic Equipment Manager at Eastern Connecticut State University, retiring in 1997. After retiring he continued to work several part time jobs including scoreboard keeper at Dodd Stadium He was a member of the Willimantic B.P.O.Elks #1311; he served as their Youth Activities Chairman beginning in 1978 for the next 30 years. He was their Exalted Ruler from 1993 to 1994. He was also very active with the Willimantic Little League, coaching all of his sons as well as Windham BIGG Play, cooking in the kitchen for their fundraisers as well as enjoying a trip to China with them in 2004. In April of 2001 he was honored by the Connecticut Sports Writers' Alliance, receiving the "Good Sport" award which is given to those who volunteer their time to amateur athletics in their community. In 2009 he received the E-Clubs Michael A. Atkind Exceptional Service Award for many years of service to Eastern Athletics. In retirement, Richard continued to enjoy traveling with the E.C.S.U. Baseball team every March as well as his many golf outings. He was an avid Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Eagles fan. He will be greatly missed and remembered always by his entire family and many friends. His family will receive relatives and friends on Tuesday March 13th between 5:00 and 8:00pm at Potter Funeral Home 456 Jackson St. (Rte. 195) Willimantic. His funeral service will be held at the funeral home on Wednesday at 10:00am with interment following in New Willimantic Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, his family suggests memorial donations to Windham BIGG Play, Inc., 75 Turner Street, Willimantic, CT 06226. For an online memorial guestbook and directions to the funeral home, please visit www.potterfuneralhome.com .