Obituary: Richard Desmond Coyle, 88, of Branford

Obituary courtesy of W. S. Clancy Memorial Funeral Home.

Richard Desmond Coyle of Branford died Saturday, December 5, 2020, at his home. He was the husband of the late MaryAnn Iuso Coyle. Richard was born May 14, 1932 in New Haven, son of the late Desmond and Mary Long Coyle.

He graduated from East Haven High School in 1950 and from University of Connecticut in 1954, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma, swam backstroke for the Huskie’s, tooled around in his MGTD, and graduated from the Reserve Officers’ Training Corp. He was commissioned as an officer to serve in the Intelligence Branch in the U. S. Air Force in San Antonio, TX, achieving the rank of Major.

Richard was the owner and operator of his family business J. A. Long Company Florist, Inc., in East Haven. He worked at Long’s for more than six decades, until closing the business because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He was a life-long lover of the arts and avid collector of American fine art, Colonial and Early American furniture and decorative arts, and Native American pottery. He enjoyed travel, and had a great interest in all sports. He combined both by attending the Olympics with family in Montreal, Canada (1976); Lake Placid, NY (1980); Atlanta, GA (1996); Salt Lake City, UT (2002); Athens, Greece (2004); and Bejing, China (2008).

Richard was also a loving and proud father and grandfather. He is survived by his children, Laura Coyle (Doug Robertson) of Bethesda, MD, Dana Coyle (Kenneth Hudnut) of LaCanada-Flintridge, CA, and Michael D. Coyle (Linda Curran) of Lafayette, CO; his grandchildren, Mariana Robertson, Alexa, Olivia and Brock Hudnut, and Samuel and Elizabeth Coyle; and his sister Corrine Lydem of Ansonia.

Donations may be made in his name to your favorite arts organization. Funeral services are private at this time.

A public memorial service will be held at a later date. For online memorial and guestbook, see www.wsclancy.com.

This article originally appeared on the Branford Patch