Edmund G. Scarpa, a devoted educator and family man, and a person of humor and deep integrity, died on Jan. 29 after a two-year battle with leukemia.
The longtime Hillhouse High School teacher and administrator was 71.
Calling hours will take place Monday, February 3 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Iovanne Funeral Home, 11 Wooster Place, New Haven. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity Parish at Saint Barnabas Church, located at 44 Washington Avenue, North Haven, at 10 am on Tuesday, February 4.
In lieu of flowers, the family request that donations be made to the SCSU Foundation 501 Crescent Street New Haven, CT 06515. Attention: Advancement Services. Please mark Edmund Scarpa in the memo line.
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Scarpa was born in Derby May 1, 1948, the son of Edmund, a plumbing and heating contractor, and Lillian Severine, a homemaker.
He grew up in Shelton on Maltby Street, a point of pride for him throughout his life. His neighborhood was something out of a Bowery Boys film, full of rambunctious kids getting into all kinds of shenanigans, in which he was a full and happy participant. His days were filled with street football games, basketball on the playground, and Little League baseball, cultivating a lifelong love of sports.
It was during his youth that he grew his life’s most enduring interest — music. He learned the clarinet and saxophone as a child and could plink out most show tunes on the piano. This childhood playing blossomed into a lifelong creative outlet. Scarpa played at least 60 musicals with the Youth Connection Players, Shelton High School, and Sacred Heart Academy, and in his later years he played with the orchestra at Southern Connecticut State University and with the Four Havens Music Society.
He attended Fairfield Prep and Southern Connecticut State University, where he graduated in 1970, majoring in mathematics. He joined the Hillhouse High School faculty in 1970. Shortly after beginning his career at Hillhouse, he met Philomena Basilio at local club in Derby in 1972. He approached her table with his friends and they hit it off over a drink, beginning a lifelong love story.
They were married in 1974 and moved to New Haven, where they focused on careers as educators. Children would soon follow — a son Steven, born in 1976, and a daughter Cristina, born in 1980. His kindness, fairness and love set a profound example for his children.
For Ed, his family was everything. He was the definition of a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. His nights were spent with his beloved Philomena, going out to dinner or listening to outdoor concerts, and good-humoredly trying to convince her to go back to Disneyworld just one more time. Ed was a constant and happy presence in his children’s lives. Whether it be meeting his son for lunch in the Valley every Saturday or a fun day with his daughter and her family, Ed was there.
Because of that presence, Ed was a doting grandfather, listening to his grandchildren and participating in their interests and in their lives. He was always encouraging and supportive and fun for the grandkids to be around. He shared a particularly special bond with Isabel, his oldest grandchild.
For over four decades Scarpa served the students of Hillhouse High School, starting his career as a math teacher and moving up to serve as department head, and then as assistant principal, where he had his most impact. Scarpa was intrinsic in planning curriculum for the school, creating the school’s schedule, administering the school’s testing programs, and creating special programs to encourage students’ interest and success in science and math.
Ed was driven and diligent, focusing all of his considerable passion and intellect on making Hillhouse the best school it could be. For years after his departure, former students would stop Ed wherever he went to comment on his hard work. He could not walk through a Thanksgiving Day game between Cross and Hillhouse without greeting dozens of friends.
Upon his retirement from Hillhouse in 2005, Scarpa went back to the classroom, teaching mathematics at Southern, a position that gave him great joy in his retirement. He enjoyed campus life, becoming known for sparing no effort help students succeed in his courses.
Ed is survived by his wife of 45 years Philomena; his son Steven and his wife Sunnie; his daughter Cristina and her husband Richard Lapin, and three grandchildren, Isabel, Charlie, and Luisa; his brother Gary and his sister-in-law Francesca, and their children Gina and Mia, and his great-nephew Michael; his sister-in-law Yolanda Giordano and husband David, and their children Amelia and David, and his special cousin and friend Richard Scarpa.