Obituary of Antoinette E. Mingey

Antoinette Fabianski Mingey, Toni, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, to the great sorrow of her family, passed away at Bridgeport Hospital late Christmas Eve due to complications from a long-term heart condition. Her children were in awe of her continued mental, spiritual, and emotional strength and vibrance until the very end of her life. Just days before her death, she entertained her family in her home to celebrate her 83rd birthday.

Toni was spirited and vivacious throughout her life. An exceptional artist, she attended Mundelein College in Chicago, Illinois earning a BA and BFA in Fine Arts and Psychology. Toni created and collected beauty wherever she went. She considered generating art great fun and could spend full days absorbed in a project. She worked on anything from miniatures to murals, pottery to pen and ink, oil paintings to pastels. Born in Chicago, she married and moved to the East Coast, enjoying living in a whaling captain's home in New Bedford, Massachusetts, teaching art at the University of Maryland, making a small art studio in her home in New Jersey, and finally settling in Connecticut. Here she gained skills at varied sales positions while continuing to sketch, draw, and paint.

Friendship and family were as great a calling for Toni as her art. Her kindness extended to all creatures. She loved the family pets, and has left behind a remarkably pampered cat, Buddha, who was given to her by a loving Godson. She adorned her home with plants, and in her gentle and generous way, never killed an insect. She truly embraced the people on her path. Whether with old college friends, workmates, the "Golden Girls" in her condo complex, her friends from Landmark and the Artists' Network, or very recently her home health assistant, she reveled in storytelling, offering advice and perspectives, mentoring, and giggling like a schoolgirl over the odd or eccentric. Her grandchildren affectionately called her "Toni Grandma" and appreciated her unpredictable advice and observations. The whole family will miss losing to her in the game "Scattergories". She was a joy to be around.

Toni is survived by her son, Timothy J. Mingey and his wife, Elizabeth Sweeney Mingey, daughter, Deirdre Mingey and fiancé Makoto Shibata, granddaughters, Erin Elizabeth Mingey and Megan Ray Mingey, Beth's children, Kevin Allen, James Allen, and Katie Allen, Beth's grandchildren, Devitt and River, and beloved sister Gloria Fabianski Cardwell.

A Catholic, Toni believed in saints and angels and that she would be preceded by those who have departed this world. In eternal rest, she joins her father Joseph A. Fabianski, mother Michaeline Krentkowski Fabianski, and beloved sister who passed away in February, Geraldine Fabianiski Kroll and her husband Edward Kroll, and sister Gloria's husband William Cardwell, along with other family members and friends she remembered often.

Relatives and friends may greet the family at a memorial gathering celebrating Antoinette's life on Sunday, January 2, 2022 from 12 – 2- p.m. at the Abriola Parkview Funeral Home, 419 White Plains Rd., Trumbull. A prayer service will take place at 1:30 p.m. in the funeral home. Masks and social distance are recommended.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Mustard Seed School in Hoboken, NJ, a school with a mission to offer access to strong academics with an arts and music focus.