Raymond Laracuenta

Raymond Laracuenta, age 85, husband of the late Sarah “Sadie” Laracuenta, of Fairfield, passed peacefully Saturday, February 11, 2023. Ray was a devoted husband and father to his two children.

While Ray was most known for his work at Sealed Air, and prior to that, Perkin Elmer, his true passion and calling was for music. Unbeknownst to his many coworkers and acquaintances, Ray was an accomplished guitarist. After high school, Ray played guitar in a jazz band. He performed regularly around New York City and across the tri-state area as a professional musician. He and his band were featured on television in the 1960’s.

Ray settled down to start his family later in the 60’s and changed his roles from “professional musician” and “performer” to “family man” and “teacher.” He found himself being the happiest he had ever been in these roles. He spent the next 15 years raising his family and teaching guitar to thousands of folks, both young and old. Until the late 70’s, Ray taught guitar both privately and at Zera’s Music Studio. During this time, he also founded several large performance groups, which would play together to give the gift of music to schools and nursing homes.  Ray also taught music through adult education programs at local community colleges. From the late 70’s until his retirement, Ray shifted his focus from music to his career as a Quality Control Supervisor, but continued to take on a few private guitar students.

Ray continued to play the guitar until the end of his life. In fact, his passion for music was reignited with his discovery of Youtube. With this discovery, he suddenly had the ability to listen and provide feedback to musicians around the world. He received dozens of emails back from performers as far away as Spain thanking him for his technical critiquing.

Ray leaves behind a legacy of his two children, Raymond and Kimberly, and four grandchildren, Emma, Connor, Nicholas, and Kristen. Ray is also survived by his two sisters, Isabel and Maria, as well as the likely thousands of people who still play guitar to this day thanks to him.

Friends and family are invited to pay their respects Thursday, February 16, 2023 from 4:00pm-5:00pm at the Spear-Miller Funeral Home, 39 South Benson Road, Fairfield. A service will be held in the funeral home beginning at 5:00pm. Interment will be held privately.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Raymond's memory to either the American Heart Association ( https://www.heart.org/en/get-involved/ways-to-give ) or to the American Diabetes Association ( https://diabetes.org/ways-to-give )