Joseph Coogan Jr., 89

Joseph Daniel Coogan Jr. died peacefully on February 5, 2026, at home in Weston, CT. Joe was born on January 3, 1937, in Queens, New York, the son of Joseph Daniel Coogan Sr. and Ida (Fundaro) Coogan. He grew up in Queens and attended Bayside High School until his senior year, when the family moved to Teaneck, New Jersey.

He graduated from Teaneck High School in 1954. He graduated from Columbia University in 1960 with a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Science, and a Master of Science. While at Columbia, Joe worked at the design firm Raymond Loewy in New York City, a position he returned to a few years later.

Joe served two years in the Navy as a Lieutenant Junior Grade in Key West, Florida from 1960-62 before beginning his career in marketing and product development for the commercial food industry. After the fall of the USSR, he volunteered with the United States Agency for International Development and traveled to Moldova, Georgia, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan to collaborate with people in the food industry seeking new ways to compete in the global economy.

Joe moved to Weston, CT in 1968. When not commuting to New York or traveling for DCA Food Industries, he was building a stone wall on the side of his very long, hilly driveway.

He opened a bakery in Darien in 1979, where he played Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and the soundtrack to the movie The Sting on repeat. Joe was a self-starter and a risk-taker who was always seeing possibilities.

His life was filled with serendipitous moments. Once in his haste to get to class at Columbia, he accidentally knocked over former President Truman. While serving as officer of the day, he got to greet President Kennedy in Key West. And on one of his trips to Russia, he had a 90-minute conversation about a proposed grain terminal with then Deputy Mayor of St. Petersburg, Vladimir Putin.

Joe finished his stone wall in 2025, fifty-seven years after he started it, a monument to his persistence, independence, and creativity.

Joe is survived by his wife Lois (Dagata) Coogan; his son David Coogan and his daughter-in-law Joan (Cosgrove) Coogan of Richmond, VA; his son Christopher Coogan and daughter-in-law Marion (Sherman) Howard of Weston and Westport, CT; his grandchildren Lucy and Leonard Coogan of Richmond, VA, and Maxwell and Kathryn Howard of Westport, CT.

Joe was predeceased by his parents Joseph and Ida Coogan; his aunt Mary Coogan; his sister Janet (Coogan) Brand and his niece Jeannine Brand.

A Celebration of Life will take place at Norfield Congregational Church, 64 Norfield Road, Weston, CT, on June 13, 2026, at 12 pm.