Henry A. Neff

Longtime Roxbury resident Henry Neff, a devoted husband and father and indefatigable storyteller, died peacefully on April 27 at age 98. Through his final night he lived in his home of more than 60 years, where he and his beloved late wife, Jean, had raised two sons, forged generations of family memories and shared the simplest yet richest of lives. He could find joy just by sitting on the back porch with Jean, enraptured by the birds and other wonders of nature. He appreciated the little things, from his comfy old work boots to a good chocolate-chip cookie to spending time with his dear grandchildren and great grandchildren.

A lifelong Nutmegger and a child of the Depression, Henry was born in Rockville and grew up in Tolland, Bristol and West Hartford, where he met Jean in a geometry class at Hall High. As a teen he delivered 150 daily and 300 Sunday copies of the Hartford Courant and worked summers at a soda-bottling plant and doing odd jobs—even the particularly odd task of delivering false teeth for a dental practice. He had a thousand humorous stories about his adventures. He also found time to learn piano, and at an early age was performing with bands at dances. In later years he played the piano after dinner each night and sometimes sat in (manning any of several instruments he’d taught himself) with Neff’s Old Sawmill Gang, a popular square-dance group started by his grandfather in Tolland.

After a stint in the Coast Guard, Henry attended Wentworth Institute in Boston on the GI Bill and learned tool-and-die making, drafting and other mechanical skills. He spent most of his career fashioning precision glass and metal parts for Woodbury Glass, Naugatuck Glass and Holo-Krome. At home he loved using his meticulous eye and inventive mind to fix stuff, from cars to plumbing. The harder the challenge the better.

He and Jean were married for nearly 75 years until her death in 2024. They were fun-loving and inseparable. Together they played piano duets, gardened, raked, anchored the church choir, hosted the Thanksgiving feast, reveled in quick casino trips, wowed all with their slick dancing and provided a wonderful small-town upbringing for their sons, Brian and Craig. Henry volunteered as a youth-baseball coach and Boy Scout leader. He instilled in both boys a strong work ethic and common-sense wisdom, from the importance of doing the right thing to living life fully and with a spirit of good humor and fun.

Henry leaves behind his son Brian, an engineer, and Brian’s wife, Heidi, of Roxbury; son Craig, a former writer and editor at Sports Illustrated, and his partner, Jane Friedmann, of Shoreview, Minn.; grandson Todd, his wife, Silvia, and daughter, Julia, currently living in Qatar; granddaughter Jenny Miller, her husband, Mike, and daughter Harper; and two half-sisters, Carol Neff (and her family) of Upstate New York and Barbara Neff Clymer (and her family) of Michigan. A memorial service for Henry and Jean will be scheduled for later this year. Donations can be made to the Roxbury Congregational Church (24 Church St., Roxbury, CT 06783) or the Roxbury Ambulance Association (P.O. Box 94, Roxbury, CT 06783).

To leave an online condolence, please visit www.munsonloveterefuneralhome.com