Frederick John Nunney

Frederick “John” Nunney, 86, husband of Linda (Marie Gonzalez) Dean of Middletown, passed away on January 6, 2021 at the Hartford Hospital.

Born May 5, 1934 in Plymouth, England, John spent much of his life in the UK, Canada and later relocated to the United States.

Like a lot of British kids growing up during WWII and facing extraordinary challenges, once John accepted those as “normal”, he was then able to make the best of things always throughout his lifetime. He attended local UK traditional schools and at 17 joined the UK Army, the Royal Welsh Fusiliers (RWF) completing his service in Jamaica, Bermuda, Germany, and Belize. Following that commitment, John thrived at many things including managing a successful fish and chip shop for years in the UK, overseeing the VonDuprin and Sargent hardware manufacturing plants and developing one of the most lucrative sales territories for Weber Supply Distributors in Canada.

He had a great sense of humor and was very content in his life. He had a reputation as the family storyteller capturing a lot about his WWII childhood, remembering bringing evacuees into his home, memories of bombs dropping and recalling the American soldiers preparing for Normandy stationed nearby who fondly treated him to their ration candies. He cherished his time in the RWFs where he adored swimming and playing water pool. As an outstanding young soldier athlete challenged to swim competitively against the existing Jamaican Olympic athlete, he proudly triumphed cheered on by his buddies. He was also enormously honored to be one of the British guards during the “Big Three” Western Summit in Bermuda (December 1953) where Dwight Eisenhower, Winston Churchill and the French Premier Joseph Laniel convened.

John had great memories from his travel, childhood, life in the British service along with reminiscences of time with friends and family. He loved to read about WWII, enjoyed music and historical documentary films always interested in learning. Having a passion for sweets, candy, ice cream, chocolate, shepherd’s pie and fish and chips, one of John’s favorite delights included preparing fresh strawberries with whipped cream every night as a treat for his wife. Before she retired, he packed his wife’s daily lunch never complete without a precious love note.

He loved to travel to visit friends and family in the US, UK and Canada and enjoyed treasured cruises with his wife to Alaska, Puerto Rico and the islands. John cherished coins as a dealer attending Canadian shows for years, continuing that passion in the US. He maintained his relationships with his RWF colleagues, other long-time friends, and business associates through the years.

Although he has been in extreme pain toward the end of his days with us, he was always a valiant soldier without complaining. A true joy for all who knew him, John was a sweet and treasured man to his family and friends and will be missed terribly.

He is survived by his wife, Linda Dean; son, Richard Nunney (Prince Edward Island, CN); stepson James Donald Dean, Jr., wife Barbie (Weisinger), step granddaughters Abbey and Arin; stepson Joshua Daniel Dean, wife Kristin (Pauzano), step grandsons Ethan and Carter; stepdaughter Amanda (Dean) Parker, husband Kenny, step grandsons Colby and Michael; stepdaughter Lesley and husband Brian Dearnley; step grandsons Christopher Nagge; Adam Nagge, wife Amy and step great granddaughter Shay-Lynn Nagge; step grandson Dylan Dearnley; stepson, Graham Nunney (Ontario, CN); his sister Bett Wheat (Ontario, CN); his nieces Pam and husband Steve Woolven; Margaret and husband Paddy Reilly, Carole Cottee (UK); and Susan Love (CN).

The family would like to offer special thanks and gratitude to the amazing doctors, nurses and staff of the Hartford Hospital Trauma, Palliative and Hospice Care teams who gave such amazing care to John.

A memorial service for Frederick John Nunney is planned for February 6, 2021 at 12 Noon EST.  Given the current situation with COVID, the service will be via Zoom.   For information on memorial service link or send condolences to the family, please visit www.doolittlefuneralservice.com. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, P.O. Box 1000 Dept. 142, Memphis, TN 38101-9908 to honor John’s memory. 

Access information is as follows: 

Memorial Service for Frederick John Nunney 

February 6, 2021 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) 

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Meeting ID: 835 1134 2358 

Passcode: 417485 

All participants will be muted upon joining the service.  Speakers will be asked to unmute. 

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Meeting ID: 835 1134 2358 

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