David R. Szczesny of East Quogue died July 4, 2017, surrounded by family and friends. He was 71 and the cause of death was heart disease.
Mr. Szczesny was born in Brooklyn on April 19, 1946, to Frank Szczesny and Pauline (Dudzienski) Szczesny. He graduated from Bethpage High School in 1964 and attended Farmingdale College. He was the owner of Riverhead Paints Plus established in 1972; in 1980 he expanded to a second store in Westhampton Beach.
Mr. Szczesny was a member of the Mid-Atlantic Koi Club and had undertaken the building of two koi ponds in his backyard. His ever expanding koi population numbers in the sixties. In his spare time, his hobbies over the years included golf, fishing, snowmobiling, tennis, racquetball, boating, horseback riding and reading. He was a certified scuba diver and enjoyed diving in the Caribbean or simply relaxing at his timeshare in Barbados.
Predeceased by his parents, he is survived by his wife Janice Joy (Nikifor) of East Quogue; two sisters, Pat Lahm of Michigan and Frances Lombardo of Arizona; brothers-in-law, Stephen J. Nikifor and Joseph P. Nikifor; nephews, Robert Lahm, Peter Lahm, Thomas Lahm, Christopher Lahm, James Lombardo, Michael Lombardo, Joseph G. Nikifor and Ryan Nikifor; and a niece, Kristine (Nikifor) Paprocki.
He was predeceased by a brother-in-law, Paul Nikifor.
Memorial donations may be made to the American Heart Association.
The family received visitors on Monday, July 10, at the McLaughlin-Heppner Funeral Home in Riverhead.