Roger
Fingado, IBM retiree, yachtsman
Roger W. Fingado of Ridgefield, a retired IBM employee who was a sailor
and conservationist, died on May 31, 2005, after a brief battle with cancer and
more than 16 years after receiving a donated kidney. He was 77 years old.
The oldest of 10 children (six of whom survive him), Mr. Fingado was
born in Natick, Mass., and grew up in Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J., during the Great Depression.
After graduating from high school, he volunteered to serve in the Navy. He was
a signalman in the Pacific Theatre in Japan, China and San Francisco for three
years and was honorably discharged in 1948.
Mr. Fingado graduated from Antioch College with degrees in economics and
conservation. He then moved to Detroit, Mich., where he worked for Chrysler and
Ford. There he married his first wife, R. Corinne Brown, in 1954.
Mr. Fingado joined IBM in 1959 and moved with his wife to Ridgefield in
1961. He had a distinguished career at IBM in the marketing and planning areas
and received three Outstanding Contribution Awards from the chairman of the
company before retiring in 1989.
After Corinne Fingado’s death, he married Judith H. Sternbach in 1971
and enjoyed what he called the “good years” with her until her death in 1998.
“Roger’s interests were varied and he was passionate about all of them,”
his family said. He raced yachts on Long Island Sound and was a fleet captain
for many years. He served in the Ridgefield Soccer Club and was president of
that association.
Mr. Fingado was active in the Unitarian Church, helping to found one in
Redding before joining The Unitarian Church in Westport. He championed the
dialysis cause through the Danbury Dialysis Fund and served as president of
that organization as well.
As a ranger with the Ridgefield Conservation Commission, he took care of
open space off Florida Hill Road. One time he came upon some motorcyclists in
the preserve. “I just said, ‘Guys, you can’t go back there,’ and they left,” he
recalled in a 2002 interview, adding, “I happened to have a pitchfork in my
hand at the time.”
He enjoyed concerts performed by the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra and
journeys to New York City to enjoy opera. He was an organic gardener and
enjoyed cooking and woodworking.
“A voracious reader, he would occasionally write short biographical essays on the people he loved and on the trips he took with his wife, Judy,” his family said. “Some of the best moments of his life were on the various cruises he took around the world with Judy and on occasion, his entire family.”
Mr. Fingado is survived by five children and their spouses, Janet Ross
of Butler, Pa., Gustav A. Fingado IV and his wife, Pamela S. of Shrewsbury
N.J., Lucinda G. Fingado and her husband, J. Michael McCreary of Woodbury, John
P. Fingado and his wife, Jennifer A. of Parkville, Mo., and Daniel A. Fingado
of Danbury; six grandchildren, Laurie Lynn Gray Ho, Lisa Gorsdorf, Lindsey
Ross, Allison Fingado, Melissa Fingado, Alexey Fingado and Fina McCreary; as
well as six great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will take place Saturday, June 11, at 11a.m. at The
Unitarian Church, 10 Lyons Plains Road, in Westport.
The family requests donations be made to the Judy and Roger Scholarship Fund at the New England Institute of Technology (NEIT) 2500 Post Road, Warwick, RI 02886. The family also thanks all who read this who have designated themselves to be organ donors.