Richard M. Muffoletto

*** UPDATED SERVICE SCHEDULE ***

Please note that the Visitation / Calling Hours have been changed to FRIDAY, October 20, 2023 from 4:00 pm to 6:00 PM.

Richard M. Muffoletto of Jaffrey, NH and formerly of Long Island, NY, aged 83, passed away on October 10, 2023 from complications of Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia.

Dick was born in Manhattan’s Lower East Side to Dorothy and Dominick Muffoletto. He credited the Henry Street Settlement House with giving him a lifelong love of reading. They moved to Astoria, Queens, and Dick traveled to Brooklyn to attend the magnet school, Brooklyn Technical High School. He attended Webb Institute of Naval Architecture and completed his Bachelor’s of Mechanical Engineering at City College of New York, Magna Cum Laude.

As a young man, he worked for Bell Telephone Laboratories and went on to form his own electrical contracting company, Mansfield Contracting (and other related companies) which specialized in large public projects in New York City including renovations at Rikers Island, the Bronx Zoo, the Statue of Liberty and Yankee Stadium. Later he expanded his businesses into the life-safety sector with Westover Technology and was a major contractor for the landmark “Building 63”, on the island of Yeouido in Seoul, Korea, which at the time was the tallest building outside north America.

Dick worked with the FBI in the 1970s and 1980s assisting in uncovering corruption in construction. To facilitate one of these investigations, he opened Olympic Construction in Washington, DC, and was a major contractor for government projects. Through this assignment, Dick supported the FBI’s ABSCAM investigation which led to the convictions of seven members of Congress.

Dick formed Montgomery Associates, Inc. which provided construction management and business expertise to expanding companies, or companies in distress, and continued to do general contracting work on large projects. He founded Lock & Leave to provide modular mini-storage on US military installations.

Dick eventually moved to consulting as a construction manager. His main clients were churches on Long Island and in New York City, overseeing renovations and new construction at historic buildings. Through the course of his career, all three of his daughters worked with him in his different endeavors.

Dick met Doris Thompson, his wife of 63 years, through mutual friends while he was a student at Webb and knew immediately that he was going to marry her, which he did in 1960. Through the course of their marriage, they lived in various towns including a stately home in Glen Cove, NY which they renovated completely. Doris shared her love of music with Dick and he developed an eclectic taste in music ranging from Gilbert and Sullivan to Bob Dylan to Dixieland to Handel and Bach. They traveled frequently, attended concerts and many special museum exhibits. 13 years ago, he and Doris retired to Jaffrey, NH, where he was a charter member of the Jaffrey-Rindge Lions Club.

Dick had many interests including baseball, gardening, cooking for his family, storytelling, dogs, going to the movies and woodworking. When his daughters were young, he would take them on special long weekend trips, to give Doris some respite and have time with his girls. Dick had a wonderful sense of humor and a great big smile. He loved to entertain his daughters, their friends and later his grandchildren with amazing stories filled with entire casts of recurring characters and his stories even included commercials. He took every grandchild back to school shopping each year, making sure each one picked out a special “doo-dad” to start off the year.  Ice cream sundae supplies were always in the house and a trip to the candy store was vital. Nothing made him happier than making a child laugh.

Dick is survived by Doris Muffoletto, of Jaffrey and his daughters, Alison Gasparello (Daniel, deceased) of Glen Cove, NY; Leslie McLean (David) of Jaffrey, NH; and Meredith Priest (Michael) of Greenwich, CT; and his brother Michael Muffoletto (Georgia) of Stamford, CT. He has six grandchildren who were precious to him; Lauren Scorzelli, Emily McLean, Meagan Priest, Thomas Priest, Rachel Gasparello and Matthew Gasparello.

The family thanks Scott-Farrar in Peterborough for providing loving care in Dick’s final years.

Calling hours will be held on FRIDAY, October 20, 2023, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm at Cournoyer Funeral Home, 33 River St., Jaffrey, NH.

A celebration of Dick’s life will be scheduled at a later date. You may honor Dick’s life with a donation to Doctors Without Borders by visiting https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/ or to the American Bullmastiff Association Rescue Service by visiting https://bullmastiff.us/rescue/.