Obituary of Anthony Mario Gurliacci

Anthony Mario Gurliacci, 88, passed away Wednesday, May 13, with his wife Shirley (nee Brown), holding his hand. Born on May, 4, 1927 in Bridgeport to Luigi and Concetta (nee D'Urso) Gurliacci, he was raised on the West Side in Stamford and lived most of his life in Darien. After graduating from Stamford High School in 1945, Tony enlisted as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army 11th Airborne Division (surviving a glider crash during training). He was traveling with his unit when Japan surrendered, and he went there as part of the occupation. After the war he trained at the American Radio Institute in New York City. He soon began work as an electrical engineer at Perkin-Elmer Corp., where he was employed for 40 years, mostly servicing scientific instruments -- some used in military airplanes, by NASA, in coroners' labs and by colleges and businesses. He traveled throughout the United States and the world, servicing instruments in Japan, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy and Tunisia. Tony later supervised a manufacturing team for Perkin-Elmer in Norwalk. In the 1990s he went to work for Buck Scientific in Norwalk, where he was a salesman until his retirement in 2012. In the early 1960s he was on a business trip to Japan with Perkin-Elmer officials when their hosts surprised him with a gift of an airplane flight to the city where he had served in the occupation. Tony's supervisor told him he couldn't accept the gift, even after the flight tickets were bought. Days later, the host who had offered the gift was crestfallen -- he informed Tony that the plane had crashed, killing all aboard. In 1958, he married the love of his life, Shirley Jean (nee Brown). Settling in Darien in 1963, then relocating to Medfield, MA in 1967, and back to Darien in 1977 where they lived until 2013. He attended daily Mass for more than three decades until fading health prevented him from driving. In addition to his wife of 57 years, he leaves his son, David Gurliacci, his daughter Lisa Gurliacci Rubinstein and her husband Yoav of Tel Aviv, Israel, his son Mark Gurliacci and his wife Ingrid of Wilton, and John P. Gurliacci, a cousin who lived with the family. He is also survived by his two grandchildren Michael T. and Allison B. Gurliacci of Wilton, whom he loved deeply. He is survived by a sister, Ida Taliercio of Groton as well as many nieces and nephews. He is predeceased by his twin brother, Frank, and a sister, Pauline, both of whom died in childhood; and by brothers Domenick and Armando; and by his sister, Olga Harris-Sage. Friends may call from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday, May 17 at the Edward Lawrence Funeral Home, 2119 Post Rd., Darien, CT. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m., Monday, May 18, at St. John Church, 1986 Post Road, Darien. Burial will follow at Spring Grove Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to: the National Parkinson Foundation, Gift Processing Center, P.O. Box 5081, Hagerstown, MD 21741 or to St. John Church. Funeral Home: Edward Lawrence Funeral Home 2119 Post Road Darien, CT USA 06820