Don "Nick" Nichparenko

SOUTHINGTON- Don ?Nick? Nichparenko, 72, died on September 30, 2012 at his home. Born in Abington, PA on April 14, 1940 he was the son of the late John and Pearl Nichparenko. After graduating high school he joined the U.S. Army?s Elite 77th Special Forces Group. Don earned his Jump Wings and took part in extensive clandestine intelligence training characteristic of the airborne operations. Upon his discharge from the U.S. Army, he joined the work force, serving his apprenticeship and mastering the skills to earn his Journeyman degree in the machinist trade and expanding to the tool and die maker trade, then master model maker trade. He used his creativity as a creative prototype developer with General Electric, Milton Bradley, Coleco, Stanley Works and many other consumer product firms, working with metals, plastics, composite materials and other media. While a prototype developer, Don developed the board game version of Battleship, originally a pencil and paper game. The updated version was eventually acquired by Milton Bradley Corporation of Massachusetts. After his retirement, Don has combined his industrial skills with his true passion of photography and cartooning, recently receiving an award in the creative category of a CCCI sponsored photo exhibit. In April of 2012, he was featured as the Artist of the Month at the Southington Library. His works were on exhibit in the Gallery of the Library last April and some of them are still online at don-nichparenko-photograp.smugmug.com.

He is survived by a son Donald T. and his wife Melanie Nichparenko and two grandsons Ryon and Zackery all of Bristol. He was predeceased by two brothers Ted and Richard Nichparenko.

There will be a memorial gathering on Tuesday October 9 at the DellaVecchia Funeral Home 211 N. Main St. in Southington from 5 to 7 PM. Burial will be at the convenience of the family.