Donald Joseph Preziosi, 69, a longtime resident of Danbury and husband of Jeannie Preziosi, died October 31 after a brief illness. He was born December 30, 1946, in White Plains, N.Y.

In addition to his wife, his son, Gary Preziosi, and his wife, Teresa, of Newtown; his daughter, Christine Fintel, and her husband, James, of Silver Spring, Md.; his daughter, Laurie Peruccio, and her husband, Michael, of South Windsor; his sisters, Joanne Bayer, and her husband, Stephen, of Redding and Doreen Ayers, and her husband, Bill, of Osprey, Fla.; eight grandchildren, Abby, Jude, Madison, Dominic, Zachary, Nathan, Ayla, and Lucas; and many beloved nieces and nephews survive him. His parents Anne and Joseph Preziosi predeceased him.

He moved to North Tarrytown, N.Y., where he graduated from Sleepy Hollow High School. He later lived in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. He graduated from Westchester Community College and Bridgeport Engineering Institute of Fairfield University, where he earned a degree in electrical engineering.

Mr Preziosi and Jeannie began their married life of 47 years in Fort Worth, Texas, while he worked for the Norden Corporation, based out of Norwalk. He went on to work for Executone, Tie Communications, and Schlumberger Doll Research before joining Microboard Processing Inc of Seymour, where he would spend the next 30 plus years.

During his career at MPI, Mr Preziosi kindly and consistently taught the meaning of true friendship and made lives better, because of the way he chose to live and lead as a gentleman. He was instrumental in building one of the most successful high-tech companies in the world today alongside his dear friend, and MPI founder, Craig Hoekenga.

Customers from near and far came to MPI and remained for decades in no small part due to Mr Preziosi's years of dedicated service. Beginning as a small startup service center in Stratford in the early 1980s, he saw MPI grow to the global reputation it enjoys today; and all through this history, his handwriting is there, in customer relations, as vice president of engineering, vice president of sales, executive vice president, and CTO, all of the many hats he wore in his efficient, and unassuming, way.

Mr Preziosi will be remembered for the right way he chose to live life, in the office, the community, to his family, and to the thousands of people around the world who considered him a true friend. He touched lives along the way, and his influence will continue.

He and Jeannie belonged to St Joseph's Parish of Danbury for more than 40 years. In addition, they were members of the Danbury Yacht Club for nearly 20 years, where they made many cherished friends and wonderful memories.

Family and friends will be received from 5 to 8 pm on Thursday, November 3, at the Green Funeral Home, 57 Main Street, Danbury. A funeral mass will be conducted at 10 am on Friday, November 4, at St Joseph's Church, 8 Robinson Avenue, Danbury. A private burial will follow at a later date.

Mr Preziosi's family would like to express their sincere gratitude to all of his caregivers at Danbury Hospital and the Praxair Cancer Center. The loving care they provided during his illness will always be remembered fondly.

In addition, they would like to thank their dear friends and family for their invaluable support, care, prayers, and love. They ask that contributions in Mr Preziosi's memory be made to St Jude Children's Research Hospital, stjude.org.