Hamden Death Notices: July 24 Through Aug. 4, 2026

HAMDEN, CT — Below are recent death notices from Hamden.

Mary D’Amato Ercolano, 97, died July 24, 2026. After raising her four children, she began a 30-year career as a Mortgage Service Administrator at New Haven Savings Bank, and in retirement enjoyed cooking, bus trips, and playing pinochle while volunteering with the Hamden Woman’s Club and Blessed Sacrament 55 Club, serving as president of the Albertus Magnus College Mothers’ Club and working as a kindergarten teacher’s aide at Dunbar Hill School.

Margaret Marie Osora, 64, died July 25, 2026. She had a successful career in human resources that included 14 years as HR Manager at Bayer Pharmaceuticals, service as HR Director at Covidien (now Medtronic) and New Reach, and her final role as Vice President of HR at Boys and Girls Village, after earning a degree from Fairfield University in 1984 and an MBA from the University of Connecticut, where she met her husband.

Irene Sherman Fiss, 88, died July 28, 2026. She worked as a teacher and school principal and played a key role in expanding a small neighborhood cooperative nursery school into the progressive K-8 Cold Spring School, while also serving as a political activist, community volunteer and volunteer for the Hamden library.

Joseph K. Smolenski, 97, died Aug. 1, 2026. He worked as a machinist for United Nuclear and later Sikorsky Aircraft until his retirement after serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and enjoyed gardening, woodworking, indoor and outdoor crafts, and membership in the Knights of Columbus and Hamden Fish and Game Club.

Theodore Skopic, 74, died Aug. 4, 2026. He served in the U.S. Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy and later in the reserves, and enjoyed classical music, attending New Haven Symphony concerts, baseball and photography while participating in Connecticut veterans activities and maintaining longtime membership in Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church.