Michael DelVecchio

Michael DelVecchio passed away peacefully on Christmas Eve in South Carolina at the age of 87. Michael was born in February, 1938, the son of Dr. Leonard F. DelVecchio, Chief Anesthesiologist at St. Vincents’s Hospital from 1938 to 1978. and Elena DeDominicis DelVecchio, who was an Assistant Principal in the Meriden, Connecticut Public School System. He graduated from Harding High School in 1955 and from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, in 1959, with a B.A. handed to him by the late Rev. Father Theodore Hesburgh, university president, who became a good friend of Michael’s. He also completed the required study for an M.B.A. at the University of Bridgeport, with the exception of the accounting curriculum, which he elected not to enroll in. He completed the curriculum required for entry into the elite 399th Civil Affairs Group, U.S. Army Reserve, Danbury Connecticut, at the Yale University School of Foreign Affairs. He received an Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Army Reserve in 1968. He worked at the Bridgeport, Connecticut Civil Service Office from 1963 to 1978, and was given “free rein” in hiring and placement. He worked under Personnel Directors John Linley and his successor, Raymond Gallagher. During his 15-year tenure, Michael hired over five thousand individuals to work for the City of Bridgeport, reportedly far more than any other individual to hold that position in the city’s history. He was also elected by the newly-formed City of Bridgeport Supervisor’s Association as its first Vice President and Chief Negotiator. Many of the benefits that City Supervisors and Professionals enjoy to this day are the result of his efforts in negotiating their first labor contract. When he became eligible for the city’s retirement package in 1978, he retired at age 40. Soon after that, he re-located to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina and was employed by Atlantic Homes, the resort island’s largest real estate developer. He returned to Connecticut in 1996, and became General Manager of a privately owned corporation in Westport, Connecticut until 2009, after which he returned to his beloved Hilton Head Island. Now twice-retired, he decided to go back to his old college summer job playing piano. He became one of the most popular pianists in the area, and performed at country clubs, and the South Carolina Yacht Club, along with many other engagements under his adopted stage name, Michael Dayle. In his seventies, he discovered he had a knack for songwriting, and wrote dozens of songs, as well as an original musical show titled “Back in 1929”. Michael was a devout Roman Catholic and faithful attendee at St. Francis Church on Hilton Head Island. He was very apostolic, and whenever the opportunity arose, he tried to convert others to the Catholic Faith.

He is survived by his brother, Leonard DelVecchio of Stratford, CT, his niece Melissa DelVecchio and her husband David Whiteman of Southport, CT, his nephew Rick DelVecchio and his wife Fran DelVecchio of Canaan, NH, and many cousins and friends in Connecticut and South Carolina.