He was born on May 23, 1927 in Castel Campagnano (CE) Italy, the son of the late Raffaele and Maria (Marocco) Donato. After finishing the mandatory school of the time with distinction, he took on the apprenticeship of cabinet making.
In Turin he mastered the art of wood carving and veneers. Upon returning to his home town at a very young age, he started his own company DULIM (Donato Ubaldo Lavorazione Infissi Mobili). It didn’t take long before he earned the title of Mast’ Ubaldo, the master woodworker or “ebanista.” The range of his workmanship is countless: from household goods, kitchens, dining room sets, bed room sets, billiards and even coffins. Many of his masterpieces are still in use. He also managed vineyards and olive groves in the highest hills of the town. In the early 1960s he was invited to Germany to decorate a night club and eventually moved to the USA in March, 1973. In 1973, while working at Ideal Forge in Southington he engineered a method to recycle and use maple columns for forging presses multiple times, hence saving the environment and production cost. He retired from the architectural firm, Four Season.
He was an avid fisherman, had a deep passion for fine arts and literature, and loved his family dearly. If “Mast’Ubaldo” would have had a middle name, honesty or modesty would have been the one.
He is survived by his wife Anna (Misso) Donato, two sons Orazio Donato and Raffaele and wife Angela (Perugini) Donato, all of Southington, and four grandchildren, Massimo Ubaldo, Karina, Giovanni and Aurora and many nieces and nephews in Italy and USA.
He was predeceased by his first wonderful wife of 50 yrs, Giovannina (Marcuccio) Donato; brothers Orazio, Tommaso and Florindo Donato; and sisters Italia Barbieri, Gemma LaPorta, Cristina Salvione and Angela Donato.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday at 9:15 am from the DellaVecchia Funeral Home, 211 N. Main St. to St. Dominic Church, 1050 Flanders Rd., Southington for a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 am. Burial will be at St. Thomas Cemetery. Calling hours will be on Wednesday from 5-7 pm.
For online condolences and directions please visit www.dellavecchiasouthington.com
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