Peter J. Coughlin

Peter J. Coughlin, 85, of Terryville, husband of Shirley (Schmelder) Coughlin, passed away Thursday, July 2, 2026, at Bristol Hospital. He was born August 6, 1940, in Hartford, CT, son of the late John (Jack) and Phyllis (Frank) Coughlin.

Pete grew up in Forestville, CT and graduated from Bristol Central High School.  He was an active member of the Forestville Boys Club and spent his childhood on Buckley Avenue where he spent many a day playing football and baseball in the backyard with his sister Judy and the “Buckley Avenue kids”.  After high school Pete attended basic training at Fort Dix following which he spent time in the Army Reserves.  When he returned, he joined Connecticut Light and Power where he spent 36 years eventually retiring from Yankee Gas as an enormously well liked foreman and co-worker.  He was a member of the Bristol Elks Lodge 1010, and the Terryville Lions Club. After his retirement, he worked at Lee Hardware for nearly 20 years, where he truly enjoyed each day, getting to know everyone and sharing his thoughtfulness and sense of humor.  It was less of a job and more of a social activity for him and he looked forward to every day. Pete loved golf, playing it and watching it.  He routinely played weekly rounds of golf with his friends and brother-in-law. He also enjoyed watching baseball, being with his friends, helping out anyone who needed it, traveling with Shirley in their younger years, playing and winning at cribbage and learning about history and geography. But most of all he truly loved his family, being a grandpa and a great-grandpa and watching the kids grow up. He became adept at the Ipad, never failing to comment on pictures of his great grandkids or sending funny memes and posts to lighten everyone’s day.

Besides his beloved wife, Shirley, of 61 years, he leaves behind his son Thomas Coughlin and his wife Kate of Greenfield, MA; his daughter Kelly Shea and her husband Edward of Newport, RI; his sister Judith Plourde of NV; his grandchildren, Kelsey Greene and her husband Dan, Abby Even and her husband Jack, Brigid McGrath and her husband Jay, Maible Coughlin and her partner, Patrick Gillespie and Oliver Coughlin, his precious great grandchildren, Peter, Tommy, Avery and Olin and many nieces and nephews.

The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, please make memorial donations to St. Judes Children's Research Hospital. 

Family and friends are invited to visit at the Scott Funeral Home, 169 Main St, Terryville on Monday, July 13, 2026, from 11 AM to 1PM, with a service at 1PM. Burial will follow in Peacedale Cemetery Bristol. www.scottfuneralhomeinc.com

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