Harold (Hal) Fass, 68, of Norwalk, Connecticut passed away at home in the early hours of Saturday, November 15, 2025 from a rare form of multiple myeloma.

Born in Brooklyn, Hal grew up in Franklin Square, Long Island, and attended Valley Stream North High School. (In a simple twist of fate, Hal passed away the same day as his 50^th reunion, which he had planned to attend). He then went to Harpur College, at the State University of New York in Binghamton where he earned a degree in Political Science. 

It was during these college years that the main drivers of Hal’s life—his creative mind, his writing talent, his love of music and travel came to the surface. He had a weekly show on WHRW, the school’s radio station, playing punk and new wave. He bought himself a used Rickenbacker electric bass guitar, taught himself to play, and soon formed his first band, The Killer Tomatoes. He spent a semester abroad in Denmark, and traveled around Europe, seeing Bob Marley perform live in a bullring in Ibiza in June, 1978. He joined the staff of Pipedream, the college newspaper, writing music reviews. And in another twist of fate, he met Carole Erger, Pipedream’s staff photographer, when they were both assigned to cover a Talking Heads show at The Other Place, a tiny off campus bar. Always a joker, he often referred to Carole as his first wife, even though they remained happily married for over 40 years.

After college, Hal and Carole lived on Prince Street in downtown Manhattan, had a son, Gregory Dylan, and moved to Westport. Their daughter, Madeline Harper, was born shortly after. They lived in Westport for nearly 25 years, before moving to their dream home by the water, in Harbor View, South Norwalk.

Professionally, after earning an MBA at Baruch College, Hal worked in account management at Grey Advertising, eventually rising to EVP, Managing Partner. After stints at other agencies, he landed as Senior Consultant and General Manager at Consumer Dynamics, a marketing consulting firm in New York City, where he stayed until he was diagnosed with the disease that would eventually take his life. Even though he was commuting to the city five days a week, and travelling the globe for business (China, Russia, Japan, Australia, South Africa, among other places), Hal’s love for life propelled him and his family to Ludlow, Vermont every weekend in the winter, where he taught snowboarding at Okemo Mountain for almost 20 years. 

During the five years he lived with cancer, Hal made the most of every moment and never let the disease define him. He cherished his time with his family, traveling to Mexico for Greg’s wedding to Emily Oster in 2022, and to Crete in 2024 to celebrate his and Carole’s 40^th wedding anniversary. He made it to Los Angeles this past August for the birth of his first grandchild, Lou Riley. He rode his 1968 Vespa Rally just for the thrill, and his Triumph Bonneville with his daughter Maddy riding pillion to raise money for men’s health in the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride. He cultivated friendships new and old. He wrote a screenplay. And he picked up his Rickenbacker again, formed a new band called The Clams, and played with them until the end.