Gordie C. Anziano

1936 - 2014

Chicopee - Gordie C. Anziano, 77, a 10 year resident of Chicopee, passed away peacefully Sunday morning at Baystate Medical Center. Gordie was a fighter until the end, battling 5 years of various health issues, including lung cancer and renal disease. Born to Felix Anziano and Marion (Craft) (Anziano) Watling, he was raised in Springfield by his father and stepmother, Rose (Teece) Anziano. An Army Veteran of the Korean Conflict, Gordie was a fun-loving, lighthearted man, a devoted loving and very giving husband, and a great, loving, respected father. He was a diehard New York Giants fan, and a friend and mentor to many, loved to vacation on Block Island, was an avid golfer, a great softball pitcher, a semi pro soccer player in Germany and was instrumental in bringing youth soccer to the area as past Secretary of the National Soccer Association. Gordie was best known as a sportswriter for the Springfield Union News and Republican in the 1960's and as the Senior Vice-President of the American Hockey League, retiring in 1999 after 31 devoted years. A man with the biggest heart imaginable, Gordie was a member of the West Springfield Lions Club, the Dante Club and was a past board member of the West Springfield Boys and Girls Club. He leaves his devoted, loving wife Cheryl Ann (Lehman) Anziano, with whom he spent 35 wonderful years, three children: Stephen Luce and his wife, Nita, of Roswell, Georgia, Kendra Daigle and her husband, James of Longmeadow, and Kristen Pope and her husband, Charles, of Chicopee. Also left to mourn his passing are his two brothers: Leon Anziano and his wife, Stephanie, of Bethel, Connecticut; and Michael Anziano and his wife, Kathy, of Durango, Colorado, his four granddaughters: Elani and Camilla Daigle and Avani and Vera Luce and his feline children: Sneakers (Sneaky Pete), Abby (Chunky Monkey), Scooter Pie and Precious. He was predeceased by a sister, Molly Plant, of Holyoke. A memorial gathering will be held at Curran-Jones Funeral Home in West Springfield, MA, Friday from 4-7pm. A private service will be held at a later date with burial in Notre Dame Cemetery in South Hadley. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society, P.O. Box 6307, Springfield, MA 01101 or the New England Veterinary Center and Cancer Care, Attn: Oncology Department, 955 Kennedy Rd, Windsor, CT 06095. For more details please visit curranjones.com.

"Gordie, I don't like this, I want to go home"
"Its over now, the Music of the Night....."