Randy A. Vaszauskas

Randy A. Vaszauskas, 53, of Crook Horn Road, Southbury, died of a heart attack April 7 at his old pumpkin patch in Southbury.

Mr Vaszauskas was born September 27, 1947, in Waterbury, son of the late Joseph and Veronica Vaszauskas. Raised at the home farm on Middlebury Road, he attended Middlebury schools and graduated from the former Woodbury High School, where he took part in the Ellis Clark Vocational-Agricultural program.

Since 1980, he had owned and operated the Berry Farm in Southbury, where he maintained a large greenhouse, a popular farm stand, and a pick-your-own strawberry patch.

He was well known for his greenhouse tomatoes, which were sold all over Western Connecticut and Westchester County, N.Y.

He also operated the Pumpkin Patch for many years, selling pumpkins and farm produce and offering hayrides to children from a leased plot of land on Main Street South.

Prior to starting the Berry Farm, he worked with his brother John at the home farm, producing vegetables, sweet corn, and poultry. In the 1960s and 70s, the brothers did custom farm work, planting and harvesting crops for farms all over the Connecticut Valley and Southwestern New York.

Operating under the name Vaszauskas Brothers, the two sold farm equipment, seed, and fertilizer, and maintained a large snowplowing business in the winter. Mr Vaszauskas also had a thriving hay business. He helped organize farmers’ markets throughout Western Connecticut, often acting as market master. At the time of his death, he was working on plans for a farmers’ market at the Brass City Mall in Waterbury.

He was a member of the Connecticut Farm Bureau Association.

It was his wish that the Southbury farmland would not be developed, but saved for farming, and passive and active recreational uses by the residents of the town of Southbury that supported him all the years that he was there. His family is glad that his wish was achieved and he will be remembered for his love of farming and the preservation of the land.

He leaves his brother, John Vaszauskas of Middlebury; his half-brother, Joseph Vaszauskas of LaMesa, Tex.; two stepchildren, Justin Lynch, attending the University of Pittsburgh, and Jessica Lynch of New York City; two nephews; a niece; and many, many friends.

He was predeceased by a brother, Robert Vaszauskas.

A memorial service took place April 11 by the monument at the Berry Farm on Crook Horn Road, with the Rev Walter Pitman, pastor of United Church of Christ of Southbury, officiating. Following cremation, his ashes will be spread on the fields of his beloved farm.

Arrangements were by the Southbury Funeral Home of Munson-Lovetere, 235 Main Street North, Route 6.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Southbury Ambulance Association, PO Box 1002, Southbury, CT 06488; the Connecticut Farm Bureau, 510 Pigeon Hill Road, Windsor, CT 06095; or the American Heart Association, 5 Brookside Drive, Wallingford, CT 06492.

The Newtown Bee         April 13, 2001