Michael Anthony Ciarcia, 56, of Berlin passed from this life peacefully on Monday (August 10) at home surrounded by his family following a courageous 18 month battle with cancer. He was loved much and will be missed greatly by his wife Peggy (Margaret Calandra of Freehold New Jersey) of 32 years, his daughter Caitlin, his son Matthew, his granddaughter Makayla, his parents Joseph and Gloria (Savo) Ciarcia (of Newington Connecticut), his brother Frank and wife Suzanne and their sons Nick and Paul (of Berlin Connecticut), his brother Joseph Jr. and his longtime companion George Gustafson (of Tuscan Arizona), and his many cousins and close friends. He was also loved and will be missed by Peggy’s parents John and Marge Calandra, her sisters Nancy and Theresa and brother Paul and their spouses, and all of his nieces and nephews in Texas. 

Mike was born in Hartford Connecticut and lived in Newington until 1977 when he moved to Berlin.  He graduated from Newington High School in 1971, received his B.A. degree in 1975 in Psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Rutherford New Jersey (where he met Peggy), and his M.S. degree in Special Education in 1979 from Central Connecticut State University.  He taught at the Newington Children’s Hospital School from 1979 to 1983 when he started CRC Chrome Corporation with his father and brother Frank.  He was very active in youth sports in the town of Berlin when his children were young, coaching soccer, Little League baseball, and Pop-Warner football for many years. He was also co-leader of his son’s Boy Scout troop for several years and as a member of St. Paul Church in Kensington he served as a confirmation mentor for his daughter’s confirmation class. In recent years he had been a Literacy Volunteer, assisting immigrants in learning to read, write, and speak English.  He was an avid outdoorsman, and loved birding, hiking, camping, kayaking, and swimming.  He loved the state of Maine and from the age of 16 had spent some time each summer on Frye Island in Sebago Lake.  For the past 8 years Mike and Peg had a summer home on Frye Island so they spent considerable time there vacationing with various family members and close friends and they had come to know the Englewood Florida area and loved spending time there in the fall and winter.  He felt he had led a happy, blessed, and full life and had no regrets.  He was an unpretentious and reserved man who had a gift for talking with people.  Strangers found him approachable and always engaged him in conversation. He was thought of as a good person and a fine man by all who knew him and he will be sorely missed by many.

Family and friends may gather to say goodbye to Mike and celebrate his life at Berlin Memorial Funeral Home, 96 Main Street Kensington Connecticut, on Friday August 14 from 9:00 -11:00 am.  A Memorial Mass will be held that same day at St. Paul Church, Alling Street Kensington Connecticut at 11:30 am.  Burial will be private and at the convenience of the family. Memorial donations may be made in honor of Michael Anthony Ciarcia to the American Brain Tumor Association at www.abta.org; 800-886-2282; American Brain Tumor Association, 2720 River Road, Des Plaines, IL 60018.