Friends of Dale Mooney, the 53-year-old New Hampshire man who died after an altercation Sunday night at the Patriots game at Gillette Stadium, are remembering him as a longtime fan of the team who was deeply devoted to his wife and two children.
A GoFundMe campaign for Mooney’s family described him as a kindhearted father and husband. He owned DM Plastering, a residential remodeling contractor, according to New Hampshire records.
“Dale Mooney was a loving soul who cared so much for those he loved, especially his wife Lisa,” to whom he was married for more than 20 years, the appeal said. “Dale was a proud father to Aaron and Brandon, constantly laughing and creating moments with them throughout their lives.”
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Those words were echoed by Chanel Kerrigan, a woman who was friends with Mooney.
“I lost someone very special to me and my family Sunday at the New England Patriots game,” Kerrigan posted on Facebook Tuesday. “Dale was an amazing happy guy always making you laugh! I haven’t been to a football game without him, it breaks my heart for what has happened. Any donation would be greatly appreciated.”
Mooney, of Newmarket, N.H., was also an avid dart player, according to posts on the Seacoast Dart Association’s Facebook page.
“We should have a moment of silence/raise a toast this Wednesday at darts for Dale Mooney,” member Don Cochrane wrote Tuesday. “His tragic/brutal death at Foxboro on Sunday is such a sad event. He was a good friend and a great competitor on the toe line. Dale my brother, you will be sorely missed and never forgotten.”
Another man, Dan Leduc, recalled that Mooney had introduced him to darts.
“He was one of my first introductions to the dart community,” Leduc wrote Tuesday on the association’s page. “Down at good ol’ legends. His booming voice and laugh will always be remembered.”
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Justin Synder of Farmington, N.H. said via Facebook that Mooney had brought him to his first Patriots game.
“My heart is bleeding for Dale Mooney’s family, he was a friend of mine and took me to my first Patriots game at Gillette Stadium,” Synder wrote Tuesday. “May you rest in peace, gone way too young, to much in life left to do, may your spirit live on through others.”
Another mourner, Jenna Partridge, recalled Mooney’s ability to light up “any room he walked into.”
“Knowing him and having him be apart of my family was such a blessing and I will always remember Dale as the caring and loving person he was, not only to me but every person around him,” Partridge wrote on Facebook Wednesday. “Dale was an amazing father to his sons Aaron and Brandon and an amazing husband to his wife Lisa.”
Mooney collapsed during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game after being punched twice in the head by a Miami Dolphins fan, a witness told the Globe. Joey Kilmartin said he saw Mooney move over one section to confront a man wearing a Dolphins jersey. The two men had been verbally sparring for most of the game, he said.
Kilmartin said Mooney fell backward and did not move when first responders arrived and provided first aid, including the use of a defibrillator. No charges have been filed, according to Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey’s office.
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On Wednesday, Morrissey’s office said that preliminary autopsy results identified a medical issue but “did not suggest traumatic injury” caused Mooney’s death. The precise cause will require further testing by the state medical examiner’s office.
On Tuesday, Dolphins running back Salvon Ahmed urged fans to donate to the GoFundMe campaign set up for Mooney’s family.
“This is the link for the GoFundMe,” Ahmed wrote. “Stuff like this should never happen, especially at a football game that we all love.”
Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report.
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com. John R. Ellement can be reached at john.ellement@globe.com. Follow him @JREbosglobe.