Ahlberg and Porto, undated photo, courtesy Gerry Porto.

Submitted by Gerry Porto

ESSEX, CONN. — My friend and companion of the past 30 years, Arne Ahlberg, passed away in Essex, Conn., on June 13, a few weeks shy of his July 2 birthday; he would have been 88.

Born in New Haven in 1937, he was a dealer in antiques his whole life, with shops in Guilford and Essex, Conn. He was also a master when it came to refinishing or repairing any piece of furniture. Maybe refinishing is too strong a word; it was more like touching up a corner of a piece. (I needed to make that clear for Arthur Liverant.)

Arne designed and built a lovely garden shed, which he cantilevered off a hill in my back yard, and he built a large patio and stairs down two levels to my pool.

He bought a condo in Boynton Beach, Fla., and, for 20 years, we went there for two weeks in January, February and March. He insisted on driving straight through each way, which made his friends very nervous.

We did a lot of travelling, having done all the river boat trips that were available, and then we went on our own to Portugal and Sweden where he was held up in the airport for some reason; maybe they just wanted to spend some time with a real honest-to-goodness Swedish person. We also joined a small group to Sicily.

Unfortunately, about seven years ago, Arne had to go on dialysis, so his Florida and European trips ended. He moved into my house where he enjoyed my cats and the pool and lots of good neighbors and friends, and he took very good care of things when I continued to travel.

Unfortunately, I was not able to see him the last six or so weeks of his life. However, there are 30 years of good memories to think back on.