Peter Casagrande, Ridgefield native, WWII veteran, worked 40 years at Ridgefield News

Peter P. Casagrande, a native Ridgefielder who for decades helped run the Ridgefield News Store on Main Street, died Thursday, April 15, in Summerfield, Fla., where he’d lived in retirement. He was 87, the husband of Katherine A. Casagrande, and the father of four children.

“We’ve always gotten along with everybody,” Mr. Casagrande said in 1992 interview, when he and his wife were leaving Ridgefield and their decades of work at the store known as Squash’s. “Working a job like we had — you’ve got to get along. We never had any trouble. People  have been great.”

They moved to Florida, retiring to a house by a golf course. “Ridgefield is as nice as any place you’d want to be,” he said at the time. “We’ve traveled across the country, and New England is as pretty as any place in the country. But we’re getting older so we’d rather get away from the cold weather.”

Mr. Casagrande was born Sept. 17, 1916, a son of Aldo and Emily Casagrande. He grew up on in the house that still stands on the corner of Prospect Street and East Ridge, just above the Italian Club. He graduated from Ridgefield High School at age 16. He served in the World War II with the U.S. Army Transportation Corps, stationed on a ship that delivered men and materiel to ports from Casablanca, Morocco, to Glasgow, Scotland. “I made 20 trips across the Atlantic — in the Army,” he said. “I was in the invasion of North Africa, Italy, France.”

He left the service after the war. “I came out a ‘tech’ sergeant. I was offered masters if I stayed, but I wanted to get out,” he said. Waiting for him back in Ridgefield was Katherine Finch, whose father, Harold Finch, was then the owner of the Ridgefield News Store and soon became Peter Casagrande’s employer. They were married Aug. 12, 1946 at St. Mary’s Church on Catoonah Street, and honeymooned in Quebec. The store changed hands but “Pete and Cookie,” as Mr. and Mrs. Casagrande were known, stayed. He worked full time, she worked part time and seasonally, depending on whether their four kids were in or out of school.

For most his 40-odd years at Ridgefield News and Stationery, Mr. Casagrande worked for Aldo Travaglini, the man who gave his nickname to the store that is still call “Squash’s” with some frequency. Mr. Casagrande would rise early and walk at about 4 a.m. from his house on Greenfield Avenue down Catoonah Street to the store, receiving the newspapers from New York and getting everything ready for a 6 a.m. opening. He was assistant manager, Squash’s second in command. “He ran that store for years, with Squash. They switched weekends,” said First Selectman Rudy Marconi, who worked there in his youth. “He was dedicated to the job and knew everyone in the community.” “Just like brothers,” Mr. Travaglini said, describing how he worked with Mr. Casagrande over the years. “Except brothers wouldn’t get along as good.” For many of those years Squash’s had a soda fountain, and was an after-school hangout for the town’s young people. “You didn’t get away with anything, as a kid, because Pete was always watching,” Mr. Marconi said.

In Ridgefield Mr. Casagrande was a member of the Italian American Mutual Aide Society, the Knights of Columbus, the Volunteer Fire Department, the Old Timer’s Club, and a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

He enjoyed golfing, gardening and traveling. On a couple of occasions Mr. Casagrande and his wife would combine their enjoyment of golf and travel, crossing the country on smaller roads and stopping to golf on courses they came across. “We didn’t have a set itinerary,” Mr. Casagrande said. “If we saw a course we thought we’d like, we’d stop and play.”

Besides his wife, Mr. Casagrande is survived by four children: Paul Casagrande and his wife Terry of Summerfield, Fla.; Mark Casagrande and his friend Roger of Tampa, Fla.; Katherine Davis and her husband Mike of Chatham, Mass.; and Nancy Thompson of Gorham, Maine. He also leaves four grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and several nieces and nephews.

The funeral was Wednesday at the Hiers-Baxley Funeral Services in Lady Lake, Fla., with burial at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Fla. Contributions in his memory may be made to the Ridgefield Volunteer Fire Department, the Ridgefield Public Library, the Hospice of Marion County, Fla., or to a charity of choice.

04/21/2004