Timmy Spada
Timothy Andrew Spada, “Timmy,” was born May 4, 1986 at New Milford Hospital. Son of Jim and the late Donalyn, brother to Mike, Nate, and Angie and uncle to Connor, Nick, and Nathan.
​
Timmy grew up playing football, baseball, golf, flashlight tag, and capture the flag in the neighborhood. Sledding in the winter and rafting down the West Aspetuck River to waste away a summer day were also favorite pastimes for Timmy and his lifelong friends and siblings.
During his middle and high school years, Timmy embraced life and all that it had to offer, seizing opportunities and making a lot of friends along the way. Timmy had a very likeable personality, was very respectful and helpful with a smile and sense of humor that made everyone feel at ease. Timmy would never show if something was bothering him and always worked to put others first. The pickup games with his buddies turned in to competitive travel teams that would eventually lead to him becoming a standout athlete at New Milford High School. Timmy landed the starting varsity quarterback job as a high school freshman, leading to a storied football career on both sides of the ball. Timmy always put team first and would play whatever position he was asked to help the team win; he was selfless on and off the field. Some will remember Timmy for the “Hail Mary,” the improbable play that nearly allowed the Green Wave to upset one of the state’s top ranked teams. All will remember Timmy as #33.
Following his high school graduation in 2004, Timmy attended Johnson & Wales in Providence, RI, where he studied entrepreneurship. Timmy moved back to New Milford after one semester and commuted to Community College on nights and weekends and worked a variety of jobs in the auto and food industries during the day.
​
In 2011, Timmy packed up all his belongings and moved to the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Croix. It was here that Timmy would fervently pursue the culinary arts, forge solid new friendships, succumb to the whims of island life, and suffer setbacks to his mental health that would ultimately claim his life. The reality is that Timmy would never be able to outrun mental illness. He lived with his brothers in Texas and Massachusetts, with his sister in Connecticut, and his friends in Rhode Island and St. Croix, but the depression and bipolar disorder went everywhere that he did. Tragically, Timmy lost his battle with these afflictions on April 24, 2015.
​
Selflessly, Timmy never wanted to impose his internal struggle on anyone else. He resigned to suffer in silence at the risk of ruining someone else’s day. Toward the end, he was so preoccupied caring about other people that the disease was too far along when he finally started to care enough about himself to get the help that he desperately needed.
​
We get together once every golf season to both celebrate Timmy’s life and to raise awareness for the number of resources available to those plagued by mental illness. This is exactly what Timmy would want: his friends and family sharing laughs, drinks, mulligans, and memories while doing something for someone else. If Timmy were here today, he would ask anyone who is suffering, or knows someone who is suffering, to not wait to reach out for help. One can start on the path to recovery by contacting:
