Obituary: Thomas Sandretto
February 20, 1947 - February 9, 2022
Thomas Sandretto. Courtesy photo
Thomas Sandretto born February 20, 1947, in Montpelier, Vermont, to Gelsomino and Helen (Lunna) Sandretto, died unexpectedly February 9, 2022, at the age of 74 in Sanford, North Carolina. He was a graduate of Waterbury High School and the University of Vermont.
Thomas had a 42-year career with the State of Vermont serving as a Business Manager, the Director of Administrative Services and the last 17 years as Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Buildings and General Services. He served as a member of the State’s Management Team in the collective bargaining process through five contract periods. He was a presenter in the Certified Public Manager Program. He completed the Strategic Leadership for State Executives program at Duke University. He served as a member of the National Association of State Facilities Administrators Executive Committee from 1996 through 2004 holding positions at large as the Eastern Regional Vice President, Secretary / Treasurer and as President from 2002-2003.
He was involved with youth sports in his home community of Waterbury for many years, coaching and umpiring little league baseball and basketball. He was the Treasurer of the Waterbury-Stowe Fish and Game Club from 1989 through 2015, helping to bring the club back from the brink of insolvency to the financially stable position it enjoys today. His pastimes included hunting, fishing, snow machining, golf and skeet shooting.
Thomas married Karen Joslyn on July 1, 1966, and they celebrated 53 anniversaries prior to her passing in 2020. In their early years they enjoyed golf together and boating with their two sons on the Waterbury Reservoir and at camp on the Missisquoi Bay. They were avid followers of both sons at high school cross country, basketball and track and field events. Once their children were raised Thomas and Karen traveled extensively and vacationed frequently in Florida and Las Vegas.
Thomas is survived by son Vance and his wife Donna of Marana, Arizona, and son Shane and his wife Terri of Sanford, North Carolina. He has three granddaughters: Jessica Sandretto and partner Dan Romeyn of New Britain, Connecticut; Samantha Pegolo and husband Matt of Portland, Connecticut; and Alexandra Sandretto of Sanford, North Carolina. He also has four great-grandchildren: James and Elizabeth Pegolo and Lilian and Joslyn Romeyn. He was predeceased by his loving wife Karen in 2020.
Thomas and Karen will be interred together in the family plot after a graveside service in Hope Cemetery, Waterbury, Vermont, on June 18, 2022. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Waterbury-Stowe Fish and Game Club, PO Box 383, Waterbury, VT 05676.
Arrangements by the Perkins-Parker Funeral home. Condolences may be made online on the funeral home’s website.