Mark Gaetano Calabrese

Mark Gaetano Calabrese, 57, of Greenwich, Manhattan, and Los Angeles, beloved son of Theodore and Bertha Calabrese of West Hartford, entered into eternal rest on March 7, 2016. Born in Hartford, the eldest of three sons, Mark was a loving father, brother, partner, and uncle; a businessman, athlete, mentor, and friend, he lived a full and rewarding life. Mark had a deep and abiding faith, instilled in him by his parents and the Ursuline nuns at St. Thomas the Apostle Church and School in West Hartford. At Conard High School in West Hartford, he was the star quarterback for the Chieftains football team and Captain and all-state catcher for successive CCIL baseball championship teams, playing both sports under the legendary Conard coach Bob McKee. Mark went on to play baseball for Seton Hall University and The University of Connecticut. After his successful college career, Mark was an assistant coach at Elizabeth High School for more than twenty years under Coach Ray Korn, for one of the most successful high school baseball programs in the State of New Jersey. Mark was a supporter and confidant of his former coach George Greer during Greer’s tenure as coach of multiple ACC championship baseball teams at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Mark was also a mentor to many of the athletes he coached, both on and off the field, and especially to his four nephews. He was the proud father of his daughter, Brittany, 28, of Monmouth County, New Jersey. He loved to spend time with her, from Jersey Shore beach days, to concerts and events and showing her around his second home of Los Angeles, California. Mark was President and Founder of Calabrese Associates, an executive search firm, which he led for more than thirty years. The firm's focus on communications technologies and media had led him to many entrepreneurial successes’ for both himself and his clients. Mark loved travelling, both within the United States and around the world. The events and places he enjoyed are too numerous to list: Red Sox and Chicago Bears games with his brothers and father; Super Bowls, Final Fours, World Cup and World Series games; concerts, events, weddings, and sightseeing. In 2007 he took his parents to Ireland so his mother could see the town her grandfather came from; in 2009 he took his father and daughter to Reggio Calabria so she could meet her cousins. This past summer, Mark, crisscrossed the country following the Grateful Dead’s reunion tour, attending their first show in San Francisco and their last in Chicago. Mark will be greatly missed by his longtime love of 20 years, Elizabeth Parella of New York City, daughter Brittany and her husband Brian Campion of Monmouth County, N.J.; parents Theodore and Bertha Calabrese of West Hartford; brother TJ Calabrese, his wife Annette and their two children, Vincent and Nick, of Southington, Ct.: brother Michael Calabrese and his children Ian and Oliver, of Tariffville, Ct.“Cal” touched so many lives with his larger-than-life personality, energetic spirit, loyalty and generosity. His memory will live on in all the relationships he fostered. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, March 21st at 11:00 a.m. at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 872 Farmington Ave., West Hartford. Burial will follow in Fairview Cemetery, West Hartford. Calling hours will be Sunday from 3-8 p.m. at the Molloy Funeral Home, 906 Farmington Ave., West Hartford. Donations in his memory may be made to Conard Football, c/o Coach Matthew Cersosimo, Conard High School Athletics, 110 Beechwood Road, West Hartford, CT 06107, where his family is establishing a quarterbacks’ fund in his honor.