Joseph P. Wakin
June 29, 1936 — March 9, 2006
Joseph P. Wakin, the son of Lebanese immigrants who rose to a top executive position with Dun & Bradstreet Inc., died at his home in Stamford Thursday March 9, 2006. He was 69. Mr. Wakin suffered from Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a rare neurological disease with mysterious origins and no cure.
Born in Bridgeport on June 29, 1936, Mr. Wakin graduated from Fairfield Prep in 1954 and attended the University of Connecticut for several years before joining the Army. He served from 1958 to 1961, mostly in West Germany, at a key time during the Cold War.
Back in the United States, Mr. Wakin, who had acquired an expertise in electronics, worked at several Connecticut firms Barnes Engineering Corp. and Sikorsky Aircraft, where he taught helicopter maintenance.
As the data communications industry gathered steam, Mr. Wakin shifted careers and joined NCSS, a leading firm in the area. Meanwhile, he attended night school at the University of Bridgeport, graduating Cum Laude with a business degree. Mr. and Mrs. Wakin moved from Trumbull to Stamford in 1975.
He is survived by his wife, Louise; a sister, Mary Lou Wakin of Manhattan; and a nephew, Daniel Wakin of Manhattan, his wife Vera Haller and two children, Thomas and Michael. Another sister, Jeanette Ann Wakin, died in 1998. His parents also predeceased him: Said Wakin, his father, emigrated from a village near Beirut several years before the start of World War I, and his mother, Sophie.
Mr. Wakin was a loving mentor to his wifes family, who live mainly in Stamford Louise Wakins sister, Margaret Jean Velanzon; Ms. Velanzons daughter, Jean (Candy) Vaccaro; and Ms. Vaccaros three children: Rebecca, who has a daughter, Priscilla; Michael; and Christopher of Baltimore, Md., who has twin girls, Angelina and Bella, with his wife, Kelly.
Dun & Bradstreet eventually acquired NCSS. Mr. Wakin helped establish the data network Dunsnet, and was named vice president and general manager. An unassuming, modest man, Mr. Wakin rarely mentioned the titles.
Mr. Wakin had a wide range of activities outside of work. In his late 30s, he took up oil painting, specializing in landscapes and the still life. A passionate fisherman, he once spent most of an afternoon battling a huge tuna, which weighed in at 485 pounds a tale verified by newspaper photographs that showed the behemoth towering over Mr. Wakin, a big man himself. For a time while living in Trumbull, he kept a 26-foot cabin cruiser, �"The Merry Louise.
Mr. Wakin retired in 1992, and exercised other passions. One was gardening. Nurturing seedlings under sunlamps in the basement, he produced a large and lush vegetable garden. He also became an enthusiastic bicyclist, joining Sound Cyclists and going on 25- 35- and 100-mile trips in biker parlance, �"centuries -- every week. He was known as a strong cyclist and loyal friend to members of the club. He biked the roads of Southern Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, Long Island and the Loire Valley in France, where long ribbons of quiet highways took him past orderly vineyards, rustic churches and imposing chateaux.
A Funeral Procession will be leaving the Nicholas F. Cognetta Funeral Home & Crematory, 104 Myrtle Avenue, Stamford, at 10:20 AM on Monday March 13, 2006, and will proceed to St. Cecilia RC Church, 1154 Newfield Avenue, Stamford, where a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 AM. Interment will be private. Friends may call at the funeral home on Sunday March 12, 2006 from 3:00 6:00 PM.
In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to: Save the Children of Westport, Conn., 54 Wilton Road, P.O. Box 940, Westport, Ct., 06881, or the Society for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Executive Plaza III, Suite 906, 11350 McCormick Road, Hunt Valley, MD., 21031.
Born in Bridgeport on June 29, 1936, Mr. Wakin graduated from Fairfield Prep in 1954 and attended the University of Connecticut for several years before joining the Army. He served from 1958 to 1961, mostly in West Germany, at a key time during the Cold War.
Back in the United States, Mr. Wakin, who had acquired an expertise in electronics, worked at several Connecticut firms Barnes Engineering Corp. and Sikorsky Aircraft, where he taught helicopter maintenance.
As the data communications industry gathered steam, Mr. Wakin shifted careers and joined NCSS, a leading firm in the area. Meanwhile, he attended night school at the University of Bridgeport, graduating Cum Laude with a business degree. Mr. and Mrs. Wakin moved from Trumbull to Stamford in 1975.
He is survived by his wife, Louise; a sister, Mary Lou Wakin of Manhattan; and a nephew, Daniel Wakin of Manhattan, his wife Vera Haller and two children, Thomas and Michael. Another sister, Jeanette Ann Wakin, died in 1998. His parents also predeceased him: Said Wakin, his father, emigrated from a village near Beirut several years before the start of World War I, and his mother, Sophie.
Mr. Wakin was a loving mentor to his wifes family, who live mainly in Stamford Louise Wakins sister, Margaret Jean Velanzon; Ms. Velanzons daughter, Jean (Candy) Vaccaro; and Ms. Vaccaros three children: Rebecca, who has a daughter, Priscilla; Michael; and Christopher of Baltimore, Md., who has twin girls, Angelina and Bella, with his wife, Kelly.
Dun & Bradstreet eventually acquired NCSS. Mr. Wakin helped establish the data network Dunsnet, and was named vice president and general manager. An unassuming, modest man, Mr. Wakin rarely mentioned the titles.
Mr. Wakin had a wide range of activities outside of work. In his late 30s, he took up oil painting, specializing in landscapes and the still life. A passionate fisherman, he once spent most of an afternoon battling a huge tuna, which weighed in at 485 pounds a tale verified by newspaper photographs that showed the behemoth towering over Mr. Wakin, a big man himself. For a time while living in Trumbull, he kept a 26-foot cabin cruiser, �"The Merry Louise.
Mr. Wakin retired in 1992, and exercised other passions. One was gardening. Nurturing seedlings under sunlamps in the basement, he produced a large and lush vegetable garden. He also became an enthusiastic bicyclist, joining Sound Cyclists and going on 25- 35- and 100-mile trips in biker parlance, �"centuries -- every week. He was known as a strong cyclist and loyal friend to members of the club. He biked the roads of Southern Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, Long Island and the Loire Valley in France, where long ribbons of quiet highways took him past orderly vineyards, rustic churches and imposing chateaux.
A Funeral Procession will be leaving the Nicholas F. Cognetta Funeral Home & Crematory, 104 Myrtle Avenue, Stamford, at 10:20 AM on Monday March 13, 2006, and will proceed to St. Cecilia RC Church, 1154 Newfield Avenue, Stamford, where a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 AM. Interment will be private. Friends may call at the funeral home on Sunday March 12, 2006 from 3:00 6:00 PM.
In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to: Save the Children of Westport, Conn., 54 Wilton Road, P.O. Box 940, Westport, Ct., 06881, or the Society for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Executive Plaza III, Suite 906, 11350 McCormick Road, Hunt Valley, MD., 21031.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Joseph P. Wakin, please visit our flower store.