Munere "Mooney" Haddad

Munere “Mooney” Haddad, 88, passed away at home on February 20, 2021 with family by his side. Born in Willimantic, the city he called home his whole life, Mooney was one of 15 siblings in the family of Zinelder and Najim Haddad.  He was the devoted husband to his wife, extraordinary father of five children and loving grandfather to his five grandchildren.

After graduating from Windham High School, Mooney enlisted in the Air Force. During his four years of service, he was stationed with his brother Bill in the Philippines and South Carolina and briefly in Okinawa and Panama. Upon his return, he attended Windham Technical School to learn his trade as an electrician.

Mooney met his wife Karen at a church bowling league, and they were married for over 57 years until his passing. Together they raised four boys. He was proud of the men they grew into and he welcomed their spouses into the family with open arms. He was blessed to be the grandfather of five great kids, and it gave him immense joy to faithfully attend their soccer, baseball and basketball games, school concerts, dance recitals, cross-country, track and gymnastic meets. He wholeheartedly and completely loved his entire family.

An electrician, he first worked for Salan Electric and was later affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local #35. Mooney worked hard, physically laborious jobs for nearly 40 years before retiring in 1995. He’d often point out the buildings and homes he helped build across the state. When construction work dried up in the late 70’s, he took a job in New Hampshire to provide for his family. On Sunday evenings, he would drive north for the week to work, staying in the family camper or in a motel when the nights got too cold, and return home in time for a late dinner on Friday. When school let out in 1977, the rest of his family and their dog joined him and lived in the one-room pop-up camper for one magical but crazy summer.

Mooney was very active in his community.  He served as a Church Trustee at the First United Methodist Church of Mansfield. He was a life member of the Willimantic Elks Lodge where he bowled every Monday for decades and organized the Setback league.

His true vocation was as a youth baseball coach.  Beginning in 1959, Mooney volunteered to coach Little League for 42 years.  Through parts of 6 decades, Mooney coached his players to work hard, try to improve, play with honor and win or lose with grace, though at times he had difficulty containing his passion himself and would argue with umpires as if he were coaching his beloved Detroit Tigers in the World Series. Among his most-cherished possessions were 42 baseballs, one from each year, with the autographs of his 10-, 11- and 12-year-old players.

Dedicated to making an even larger difference, Mooney co-founded Windham BIGG PLAY, a non-profit that he helped lead for 25 years. Together with his friends, Mooney raised funds and led teams of local young ballplayers abroad to Poland, China, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, and Italy.

His contributions to Willimantic youth baseball were recognized many times through the years. Willimantic Little League honored Mooney by naming a baseball field after him. The Connecticut Sportwriters presented him with their Good Sport Award in 1997 and Mooney was selected to be the Romantic Willimantic Cupid in 2014.

In addition to his wife Karen, he is survived by his sons, Matthew and his wife Gabriella, Gregory and his wife Donna, Douglas and his wife Fabiana, and Timothy.  He is also survived by his grandchildren, Jake, Lauren, Victoria, Abigail, and Natalie. He was predeceased by his infant daughter, Jennifer Leigh. In his final hours, he said he and Jennifer would be patiently waiting for Karen to join them but that she should take her time.

He is also survived by his brother Bill and his wife Mary Lou, his life-long friend and brother-in-law Joe Rasicot and a large extended family of nieces, nephews and in-laws. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his siblings George, Edmund (Hub), Mitchell, Alfred, Louis, Catherine Burski, Asper (Yippie), Alexander, Mildred Coulter, Edna Horan, Isabelle Haddad, Rose Rasicot and Edward.

He was grateful for the kind and compassionate care he received from his homecare nurses, especially Julie and Barbara.

A graveside service will be held on April 3, 2021 at 10:00am at the New Willimantic Cemetery.  In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to First United Methodist Church of Mansfield, Willimantic Little League, or a charity of your choice.  For an online memorial guestbook please visit www.potterfuneralhome.com.

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