Dominick A. Festa

Dominick Anthony Festa died peacefully on August 2, 2023 at St. Joseph’s Center in Trumbull.  He was preceded in death by his wife of 64 years Eleanor Festa.

He was born to Nathan and Rose Festa on March 23, 1931 in Tarrytown, NY. The family moved to Elmsford, NY where Dom attended Alexander Hamilton High School. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from John Carroll University in Cleveland, OH, where he played college football on a full scholarship. In addition, Dom received several Master degrees from Teachers College at Columbia University and a PhD in Education from Walden University.

After college, Dom was commissioned as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and was stationed in West Germany. He returned home to Elmsford and started teaching at his alma mater, Alexander Hamilton High School. Dom taught high school Social Studies for 32 years. He also served as Department Chairman for Social Studies and President of the Elmsford Teachers Association for 10 years.

Dom was probably best known for coaching basketball at Alexander Hamilton for 17 years, where he and his teams won many awards and accolades. In 1966 he was named Coach of the Year for playing all 18 games on the road as the school’s gym was being rebuilt. In 1970 and 1972 he received the All-Star High School Basketball Coach Award by the New York Daily News and in 1972 the team was named the No. 1 team of small high schools in New York State with 12 out of 12 winning seasons. In 1972 Hamilton jumped from Class D to Double A to take on Mt. Vernon, one of the greatest teams in Westchester County history. The “Dream Game,” which Mt. Vernon won, was played before the largest crowd ever at County Center in White Plains, NY.  In 1999 The Journal News named Dom one of the Coaches of the Century. He was inducted into the Westchester County Sports Hall of Fame in 2002. His most cherished accolade was his induction into the Alexander Hamilton Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020, the first year it was established.

In 1978 he and Ellie moved to Pleasantville, NY where Dom was the President of Foxwood Homeowners Association for four years. After retiring from teaching in 1988, Dom and Ellie moved to Naples, FL, where they enjoyed 30 years of golf, beaches and laughter. They developed many close friendships at Countryside Condominiums. Dom and Ellie gave countless hours to serving the Countryside community. Their efforts were recognized when the fountain in front of the clubhouse was named The Festa Fountain. They moved to Fairfield, CT in 2018.

He is survived by his two beloved daughters, Susan Fiske (Ronald) of Fairfield, and Stephanie Festa of West Palm Beach, FL, four grandchildren, Harry and Caroline Fiske and Ella and Joseph Godwin, and four nephews and nieces, Bob Schuttrumpf (Cindy), Roseann Wynter, James Mazzone (Danielle) and Michelle Green (Ned).

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Our Lady of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church, 545 Stratfield Road, Fairfield, on Friday, August 18 at 11:00a.m. Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research | Parkinson's Disease (michaeljfox.org).