When in 1986 the Moffa family moved to Granby, young Fred Moffa took the Welcome to Granby sign seriously. While college and graduate school would claim him temporarily, Granby would remain his home, and he has clearly made his mark here.
“I spent my first 17 years in East Hartford, and then my family built a house in West Granby when I was halfway through high school,” Moffa says. “I met my wife [Jennifer Yanosy], a Granby native who is now a pharmacist, at Granby Memorial High School, and I had a feeling that Granby would always be my home.”
After three years at the University of Hartford, Moffa moved on to the New England College of Optometry in Boston.
“From age 17, I wanted to be an optometrist,” Moffa says. “The one I had in East Hartford was a really nice guy, someone who truly listened and cared about people, and I thought it was a good way for me to help others.”
In 2000, Moffa opened an office at 10 Hartford Ave. Seven years later, opportunity knocked, and Moffa answered. “A physical therapy office at 355 Salmon Brook St. with 1-1/2 acres went on the market, and I knew it was the right home for my business,” he says. The purchase firmly rooted Moffa and his family in the town where his three children were getting a quality education and where Jennifer’s parents lived.
“I like owning my own practice, being my own boss, not having anyone tell me to wear a tie,” he says. “I enjoy people telling me about what’s happening in their lives.”
Moffa has served in town politics for 19 years, 16 of them on the board of finance, and more recently as a selectman.
What steered him in that direction? “We had a state representative from East Granby who kept running unopposed, and I was thinking of running against him, but the Granby Democratic Party said I’d never beat that guy,” Moffa says. “Instead, they nominated me for the board of finance. I moved over to the board of selectmen a little over three years ago.
“During the Pandemic, in 2020 I ran for state senate against John Kissel and lost,” Moffa says. “In 2021, I won the selectman seat and I’m coming to the end of my second term. I’ll be on the ballot in May for a third term. On our select board, politics gets thrown aside, and we all do what we agree is best for our town.”
In his characteristic style, Moffa applauds the work of others. “Granby has so many volunteers who excel in what they do, and I’m grateful for each and every one of them, working to make Granby a community of which we can all be proud,” he says.
In addition to being a husband, father of three, operating a busy optometry practice and serving as a selectman, Moffa enjoys hikes with Jennifer and their beagle puppy Sharlet. He and Jennifer play tennis at least once a week, and he engages in occasional early morning basketball games with friends. “Dr. Rick [Kirschbaum] has stitched us up more times than I can count,” he laughs. Moffa also enjoys tinkering.
“I converted an old Volkswagen into an electric vehicle, and I put a solar hot water system on our house to save on oil heat,” he says. “I like examining a problem and figuring out the best way to address it.”
An avid reader of history, Moffa recently finished a biography of Winston Churchill, and the Crimean War is next on his reading list. “I’m interested in the stories behind what I learned in high school,” he says.
The Moffas are empty nesters. Their oldest child Jamie, 29, is a doctoral candidate at Washington University in St. Louis. Freddie, 27, who married last August, is a physical education teacher finishing his master’s degree. Kelly-Anne, 25, holds a master’s degree in environmental economics.
Lately, Moffa’s attention has turned to Kelly-Anne’s upcoming wedding. In May, he will present his daughter’s hand in marriage to the man she loves. Then Moffa will turn his attention to his run for a third term as selectman.