Obituary of James Joseph Piro

James Joseph Piro, Jr., 79, of Columbia, beloved husband of Mary-Alice (Flanagan) Piro passed away Friday, September 4, 2020 at his home surrounded by his family.  Born in Hartford, he was the son of the late James J. Piro, Sr. and Concetta (Calvi) Piro. Jim married the love of his life, high school sweetheart Mary-Alice Flanagan Piro 56 years ago.  He leaves his wife and two sons, James Piro III and his husband Christopher Piro, and Steven Piro and his wife Karen Piro, and his sister Florence Bombardier.  He was predeceased by his loving sister Jeanne Heim.Jim and Sis enjoyed travelling across the United States and into parts of Canada.  They loved camping.
Jim served time in the Army and was stationed in Germany during the Berlin Crisis after which he was honorably discharged. 
He was devoted to his three grandsons, Jackson, Joshua and Jayson.
His joy in life was helping others and it was more joyful when he did these things with his best-friend Phil Hence. 
When Jim moved to Andover, he started the Cub Scouts and Little League.  He also taught Catechism at St. Columba Church teaching grades 1, 8 and 9.  He was a 4^th degree member of the Knights of Columbus from St. Francis of Assisi Church in Lebanon.  He was a volunteer at the Soup Kitchen in Willimantic. 
He retired from Newington Children’s Hospital as Director of Engineering.  A Mass of Christian  Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, September 8^th, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Columba Church in Columbia, CT.  Because of the Covid Virus, we’re asking that family only attend.  We’ll have a celebration of Life for family and friends at a later date.  The John F. Tierney Funeral Home, Manchester has care of the arrangements.  For online condolences please visit www.tierneyfuneralhome.com.
We want to thank the following for all their loving care; Dr. Sporn, Dr. Zeiden, Dr. Prebay, all the nurses and staff at St. Francis Hospital and Yale New Haven Hospital, Masonicare, nurse Debbie Tedford and all who helped us through a very difficult time.  We thank the Tierney Funeral Home for making a hard time somewhat easier and for the respect and courtesy they showed to our family.