Tony Berry, regularly seen around town driving his ladder-packed Ford pickup with his dog, Ginger, by his side, died January 20 at Danbury Hospital. He was 91 years old.

Born Philip Anthony Berry on November 11, 1934, to William (a furnace technician) and Margaret (a nurse), Tony was raised in the Belltown neighborhood of Stamford. He was the oldest of six children, including Bobby, Pete, Bill, Peggy and Jimmy.

Tony moved to Newtown in 1963, settling into a ranch on Key Rock Road with his wife Mary Lou and the first two of his four children. He quickly developed strong working relationships with local homebuilders and made his mark on Newtown by outfitting hundreds of homes with rain gutters and drain spouts. As Tony got older his work focused more on the cleaning and maintenance of gutters. While he relaxed his work load and efforts, he continued climbing ladders and scaling roofs into his 70s, remarking “when I was younger I’d do two jobs in one day … now I do one job in two days.”

Tony graduated from Stamford High School in 1952 and after a year’s work with The Philip Morris Company, he joined the Navy in December1953. It was in the Navy that Tony would go on to learn the Sheet Metal trade while serving on ships in Texas and California. His final voyage took him from California to his 1957 discharge in Boston, traveling through the Panama Canal. Not long after returning to Stamford, Tony met Mary Lou and two were married October 11, 1958, and eventually had four children.

Tony was a member of the Sheet Metal Workers Union Local 38, joining in 1958 and working his entire 35-year career with the D’Orso Company, retiring in 1992. Tony prided himself on showing up for work every day, but he did find time for regular family vacations when his children were young. There were the annual trips to the Kipphut cousins’ Vermont farm (which served as a launching point for day trips to various places as Lake George, The Baseball Hall of Fame, Fort Ticonderoga), and the two trips when Tony packed up the family station wagon and headed off to Disney World and Virginia Beach. The Virginia Beach trip reignited Tony’s interest in naval ships and led to vacations in San Diego and Hawaii with Mary Lou. Tony later started traveling with his brother Jimmy, becoming regulars at the Pousada Suites in Hollywood, FL, and taking regular, epic trips to see family in San Francisco, Reno and Lake Tahoe.

Tony kept himself busy throughout his life in Newtown. His ability to carry on a conversation with just about anybody helped him develop a seemingly uncountable number of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. He coached Little League baseball for years and kept up his regular Saturday-night dinners-out with Mary Lou for years, where they were longtime regulars at the Old Sorrento in Danbury.

But it was his grandchildren that brought Tony unending joy for the last 30-plus years. As the number of grandchildren grew, so did his enthusiasm to spend time with each of them. Tony loved the challenge of building days where he would see/speak with all of his grandkids on the same day, visiting homes regularly enough that he was jokingly considered part of the furniture. Even with his out-of-state grandkids, Tony was a regular presence, showing up for sporting events, dance recitals, birthdays, and holidays.

When a 2020 seizure took away Tony’s ability to drive, it didn’t diminish his desire to keep up with his grandchildren. The phone replaced his regular visits (he never took to texting – bristling at the notion), but soon enough, the kids became the visitors, dropping in often at their Aunt Colleen’s house, where Tony had moved. Tony slowed down a bit during his last years, but his energy for his grandkids never waned. He wanted to know everyone’s business (sometimes to a fault) and reveled in hearing about milestones reached, new jobs or colleagues, and especially new relationships. He saw three grandchildren marry and begin their own families. Having great-grandchildren was Tony’s most unexpected, and favorite, a result of his well-lived long life.

Tony was predeceased by Mary Lou (1997) and his son Kenny (2021), as well as by his parents and three of his brothers. He is survived by sons Chris (Megan) and Phil (Trish), and his daughter Colleen (Pete), 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother Jimmy, sister Peggy, and sister-in-law Marcie as well as dozens of nieces and nephews.

There will be a future cemetery ceremony for the burial of ashes and a summertime Celebration of Life to remember and appreciate Tony.

Honan Funeral Home, 58 Main Street in Newtown, is serving Tony’s family. To leave an online condolence visit honanfh.com.