John Joseph Connell, Huntington Station funeral director, dies at 87

John Joseph Connell was “technically retired” but still came into the M.A. Connell Funeral Home in Huntington Station daily, “until he was not physically able” — so devoted was Connell to the business that bears his family's name, a legacy established by his father just over 100 years ago. He was also devoted to his family, “the core of his existence,” they said.

Connell, a man who loved to make people laugh and loved to travel, died of natural causes at his Huntington home April 26, surrounded by family, said his son-in-law, Nicholas Berghela Sr., one of three family members who are funeral directors. Connell was 87.

“He was here everyday checking on things up until he was not physically able,” Berghela said of Connell's habit of coming to the funeral home to help out. He would pick up death certificates from Town Hall, or help out in the crematory, help get the chapel ready.

“He served people for 50 years as a funeral director,” Berghela said of his father-in-law. “He was a great man.”

Connell was a lifelong Huntington resident, his family said, born to Michael and Florence Connell. He attended St. Hugh of Lincoln Elementary School and Huntington High School, where he “met the love of his life,” Elizabeth “Betty Ann” Class, according to a family-written obituary. The couple continued dating while Betty Ann attended Cortland State University and Connell worked in his father's funeral home and served in the U.S. Navy Reserves. Connell's wife died in 2020.

The couple married in 1960 and had two children, Michael and Debbie. Connell's Navy service was activated during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, his family said. He was honorably discharged later that year. 

Connell ran the funeral home with his brother Peter, now deceased, for decades. He eventually worked alongside his son Michael and Berghela. In 2018, a grandson, Nicholas Berghela Jr. joined the funeral home, continuing its legacy into the fourth generation. 

While Connell was committed to his work, his family wrote, “it is without question that family was at the core of his existence.” He was lovingly called “Pop Pop” by his four grandchildren. “Becoming a grandfather, and eventually a great-grandfather, was one of John's greatest joys in life and something in which he took immense pride,” the family wrote.

He brought a sharp wit and “cunning sense of humor” to conversations, they said. He liked “to keep the party going” lifting spirits and soothing troubled hearts.

“John could be counted on to make everyone laugh, no matter how serious the situation — whether that was by busting out some dance moves, offering one of his signature one-liners that were sure to stop you in your tracks … or by making a … joke.”

Connell loved to travel around the country and the world with his wife and other family members, making “lifelong friends” along the way. They spent some summers in Montauk. They also split their time between their homes in Huntington and in Florida. There were also excursions across the globe: Ireland, Switzerland, Germany and Bermuda. 

In addition to his son, daughter and son-in-law, all of Huntington, Connell is survived by his daughter-in-law Anne Connell; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

A funeral Mass was celebrated May 2 at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Centerport, with burial at St. Patrick's Cemetery in Huntington.

Correction: Michael Connell took the picture of John Joseph Connell. An earlier version of this story had an incorrect photo credit.

By Olivia Winslow

olivia.winslow@newsday.com@newsollie