"Drew" J. Andrew Engelhardt

J. Andrew “Drew” Engelhardt has vacated the planet on January 13, 2020 at 72 years of age having begun his adventures in Middletown, CT on February 6, 1947. Continuing in the words of Drew, after a tumultuous 16 years growing up in Connecticut, Florida and California he left home an angry young man. In his youth he mowed lawns, delivered newspapers and worked the tobacco fields of Mulnite Farms in East Windsor. His early employment was as a counter person for Friendly Ice Cream, a utility kitchen worker at Hartford Hospital and a short stint as a casket upholsterer before enrolling as a cook apprentice for three years and found a career that he loved. He worked at many Connecticut area clubs and restaurants including DePasquales, Manero’s, Stonehaven, Heritage Village Country Club, Farmington Country Club and The Edelweiss. Drew married his bride Vicki in May 1970 and with her gentle heart and patient manner learned to control his anger issues. They enjoyed living on Lake Hayward for 39 years and traveling to Europe, Mexico and the Caribbean. He was a member of the Connecticut Chef’s Association, a Life member of BPOE#117, the Connecticut chapter of the Les Amis d ‘Escoffier and the National Restaurant Association. He opened the Glockenspiel in Higganum in 1975 operating it for 22 years selling it in 1997. During those years he owned and operated Spring Lake Inn, Bedford, VA (3 years), was a partner in Fiasco, Middletown, CT (6 years) and a partner in Coyote Blue also in Middletown, CT for 26 years with his “sisters by choice” Donna D’Amico and Jo-Ann Pytlik. Not having a family of his own he developed lifelong friendships with co-workers and others who touched his life over the years. 

The celebration of Drew’s life at the Gelston House in East Haddam, CT is being postponed to a date to be announced.  

Instead of flowers below are Drew’s favorite charities if you’d like to make a donation in his name: Goodspeed Opera House Foundation Inc., P.O. Box A, East Haddam, CT 06423, Connecticut Public Broadcasting Inc., to be used for WNPR- Connecticut Public Radio, 1049 Asylum Ave. Hartford, CT 06106 or 860-275-7550 or Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation Inc., 103 Vision Way, Bloomfield, CT 06002 or Fidelco.org. To share memories or send condolences to the family, please visit www.doolittlefuneralservice.com.

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