Following is the obituary for DONALD SIEGELAUB, submitted for his family by the Abraham L. Green and Son Funeral Home in Fairfield.

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We are so sorry to say that our Dad, Donald Siegelaub, also known as the Big Guy, Big Don and, at times, the Great Siegelaub died (albeit peacefully) on Dec. 26, 2024. His children, Susan Katz and Steven Siegelaub, were with him. He was 99 years old. 

Born at home in Brooklyn in 1925, Don was the fifth child and first son of Eastern European immigrant parents, Jenny and Joseph, and his four much older sisters adored him. Aunt Ann, the eldest sister, repeatedly said, “When he was born, the luck of the family changed!” 

His mother Jenny fed him onion sandwiches with schmaltz and she made the best apple cake ever. Always trying to fatten up this giant skinny boy. 

His father Joseph was president of the carpenters’ union in Brooklyn from the 1920s through the 1950s. 

After graduating from Midwood High School in 1943, with World War II raging around him, Don enlisted in the U.S. Army on his 18th birthday. Completing basic training as a combat infantryman, he traveled to England on a troop ship in spring 1944. 

Early on the morning of June 6, 1944, D-Day, this 6-foot, 7-inch skinny kid from Brooklyn participated in the assault on Utah Beach in Normandy as part of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division invasion. He then participated in heavy combat in the hedgerows of Normandy as part of the effort to expel the German army from Normandy. In late July of 1944, Don was seriously wounded in action and evacuated to England and ultimately the United States for medical treatment and recovery. He was awarded the Purple Heart. 

Following the war’s end, Don was discharged and briefly attended Texas Christian University on a basketball scholarship, but missing his family and friends, soon relocated back home to Brooklyn, enrolling in Brooklyn College when he was 21. There, Don was the star center on Brooklyn’s famed basketball team and met 16-year-old Marcia Jaffe. Though offered a basketball contract with the Chicago Bulls, Don moved on from basketball after graduation, but stuck with and married his soulmate Marcia in 1950. The couple were inseparable for 62 years until Marcia’s death in 2012.

During the 1950s, along with two partners, Don began a successful construction business in New York City. Recognizing an opportunity with the post-war housing boom in the Connecticut suburbs, Don relocated to Westport where he and Marcia put down roots and raised their young family. Throughout the 1960s, Don and his partners built hundreds of homes in Westport and the surrounding communities in southern Connecticut, before Don went out on his own in the early 1970s. Don expanded his business to commercial construction and then built high-end single-family homes in Westport and Weston.

Don and Marcia enjoyed their large circle of friends and were known for their amazing parties. They were early members of Rolling Hills Country Club and founding members of Temple Israel in Westport. Huge supporters of ADL, the Anti Defamation League, Don and Marcia opened their home each summer for major fundraising events. 

Don remained himself right up until the end, remarkably so. While his body didn’t work very well, his keen mind, positive spirit and wry personality literally never changed. Family and friends visiting him, or talking and texting by phone with him, relished these opportunities to be regaled with Don’s hilarious stories — most of which were true. 

Don will be remembered for his devotion to country, family, friends and community, as well as a life of honor, integrity and generosity. 

Don made a lasting impact on the lives of those around him and will be monumentally missed.

He is survived by his children Susan Katz (Michael Ian) and Steven Siegelaub, grandchildren Adam Katz (Natasha), Sophie Katz (Brandon Williams), Jonathan Siegelaub (Kathy) and Tracy Siegelaub, and great-grandchildren Sila, River, Jacob and Estella.