Anthony “Unk” DaRos

Anthony “Unk” DaRos is often described as a Renaissance man, and no wonder. His accomplishments include: inventor, stone mason, firefighter, Eagle Scout, U.S. Navy veteran, elected official, devoted family man and community leader.

Unk’s Branford roots run deep. His great-grandfather came here in the 1890s to work in the granite quarries. The DaRos family has lived in the Stony Creek section of Branford ever since. Unk and his wife of 40 years, Kathleen White, have two children, Andrew and Maureen, and three grandchildren.

Unk graduated from Branford High School in 1960. He served in the U.S. Navy for four years on a seagoing tug and ammunition ship as an electrician, traveling to many of the Caribbean Islands and the Mediterranean Sea. He was stationed at Guantanamo Bay during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Unk started his own company after he got out of the Navy. The DaRos Company specializes in the construction of sea walls and docks, and the installation of submarine utilities. The DaRos Company built the Branford Monument at Branford Point and the handsome stone portal at St. Therese’s Parish Center.

Unk has been involved in scouting since he was a boy. He became an Eagle Scout in 1957. More recently, he assisted in the construction of the DaRos Lodge at Deer Lake in Killingworth. The Lodge is named in honor of Unk’s father, Peter DaRos, who was a Scoutmaster from 1949 to 1983.

Unk has demonstrated community leadership in a wide variety of roles. He served as Branford’s First Selectman from 1997 to 2003. He has been a member of Rescue Co. #5 since 1965 and served as an officer of the Company from 1970-1975. He was a member of the Branford Board of Fire Commissioners and served as the Board’s chairman. He was a driving force behind Branford’s acquisition of its first fire boat. He also designed and helped construct “SCIFFS” – Stony Creek Island Fire Fighting Service – and was instrumental in providing the service that protects the Thimble Islands today.

Unk served on the Executive Board of the Stony Creek Association for 14 years and as President for eight years. He co-chaired the committee that developed the Long-Range Plan for Stony Creek and worked with Senator Chris Dodd to keep the Stony Creek Post Office from closing.

Unk holds memberships in the American Legion Post in Branford and the Stella Maris Council of the Knights of Columbus. He is on the Parish Council for St. Therese’s and serves on the Board of Directors of Hospice.