IN MEMORIAM
Connie Klanica
February 21, 1963 - June 1, 2018
Jared Coffin
1988 - 2015
Jared attended Southern CT State University, where he was offered access into their Honors Program and given a tuition-paid Presidential Scholarship. At Southern, he was Editor-in-Chief of Folio, the school’s literary magazine, and served on the editorial board of the prestigious Honors Review Journal. He was also named a Connecticut Student Poet and was published in the Connecticut Review.
He received a Graduate Teaching Fellowship at the University of South Carolina, where he completed his MFA in Poetry. During his time there he was published in Consequence Magazine, Jasper, Menacing Hedge, Hiedra, and other small presses. Posthumously, Jared’s work has been published in the highly-regarded Wallace Stevens Journal and the Denver Quarterly.
Jared’s other love was flying, which led him to a private pilot’s license at the age of 19. When he wasn’t writing poetry or flying, you could find him kayaking, hiking, cross skiing, or visiting the Yale University Art Gallery.
John Holsworth
1992 - 2020
John graduated from Woodland Regional High school where he met his high school sweetheart Amanda (Jones) Holsworth, who later became his wife. John went off to college to Roger Williams University, where he earned his degree in Construction Management and met lifelong friends. He had a successful career with Whiting-Turner as a Superintendent.
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In addition to being with his loving family, John enjoyed being outdoors with his wife Amanda and their two beloved dogs Ricky and Dale. He also loved music, nature, comedy, fishing, dirt biking, snowmobiling, sketching, and hanging out with his cousins. His passion was woodworking and building or fixing anything — a true handyman.
Christine Purpura
October 18, 1973 - August 14, 2010
Christine was a Southington High School graduate, Class of 1991, and had attended Central Connecticut State University. She loved ballet, yoga, painting, and above all cherished her 6-year-old daughter, Sarah Purpura.
S.F.C. Gene Briggs
March 6, 1964 - March 21, 2011
Gene had served in the U.S. Army Special Forces in Kuwait and Iraq. He was proud to serve and had received the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal (2nd Award), Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal with two Bronze Service Star (BSS), Armed Forces Reserve Medal and Mobilization. He had also been employed by ACE Trucking Co.