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Ruth Anne Brown Coxe, widow of Samuel Hanson Coxe, died Wednesday March 11, 2015 of natural causes.  She was 85 and lived at the family’s homestead of an 18th century home, The Captain Thomas Sill House in Old Lyme, Conn.

An early pioneer of ‘Farm to Table,’ Ruth Coxe was an advocate for healthy, local natural foods free of commercially convenient chemistry with unknown health consequences.

Ruth Brown grew up in a prominent family in Mansfield, Conn.  Her father Frank Ignatius Brown ran the Spring Brook Ice Manufacturing, supplying all of Eastern Connecticut.  As a young girl she loved to romp on her own in nature and enjoyed fishing.  She attended Briarcliff Junior College and continued her education to Washington DC and enrolled in the May Boult Interior Design School.

Considering an operatic career, she headed to New York City and studied voice, recording on record for a short time while working at ABC Studio. Advice from a family priest discouraged theatre as it was a risky and risqué business, and she left New York City.

An adventurer at heart, Ruth pointed her car west to San Francisco, Calif., and found employment in a real estate firm.  There she met her future husband, Samuel Coxe, Yale Class of 1943 and WWII Pacific Theatre Marine Air Corps. Pilot, then studying Law at the University of San Francisco.

They married in 1959 and began a family.  She opened the Grinnell Grinder sandwich shop in the financial district and she became active in the La Leche League of San Francisco.  However, pulled back by New England roots, they returned to Old Lyme and Samuel Coxe began his practice in Constitutional Law.

Always a pioneering spirit and active in the La Leche League, Ruth pursued her curiosity around the Major Fred Hargesheimer survival in Papua New Guinea, interviewing the Major and learning more about his experience and survival aided by the people of the Island who nursed him back to health with mothers’ milk.

Prompted to investigate further, in 1970 she headed to Papua New Guinea, New Britain Island with her 7-year-old son Sam to study the habits and diet of the indigenous tribes.  She was later joined by her husband, mother-in-law and second son Stanislaus, and her husband began a newspaper on the Island and they remained for a year.

A return to Old Lyme Sill House was followed by her next adventure with the boys to visit Japan, and in 1976 with the children she travels to Dominica Island to study once again the indigenous people and diet.  Her sojourn continues to Mexico, Central America, and Peru, schooling her children while on the odyssey.

Tragedy strikes in 1981 when her husband Samuel Coxe dies unexpectedly and she is threatened to lose her home on Sill Lane.  Confronted by loss and the auction of her land on the horizon, she reaches out to California friend,  Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, for help.  His actions aid her to legally keep her home and remain in the family homestead with her children.

An advocate for the organic movement, Ruth created a recipe for gluten-free, unleavened bread by sprouting wheat and rye berries.  The bread called Sill House Bakery Essene Bread sold in New York City and Cambridgem Mass., at the first Whole Foods Markets, delivered by van from her Old Lyme kitchen. Her entrepreneurial skills and instinct put to use in her own kitchen helped her survive widowhood.  Always referring to her husband in the most loving and devoted way.

A special memory for Margaret “Peggy” (Carty) Schodowski was meeting BB King.

Schodowski, Margaret “Peggy”; age 49; of Rochester Hills, Mich.; May 12, 2015. Loving mother of Eddie and Hannah; dear daughter of John and Peg Carty; beloved sister of Jeanne (William) Davison and James Carty. Aunt of Austin, Brenna, and James. Special friend of Pat Lubiaz.

Peggy took great pride in giving back to her community. She was instrumental in saving the home of a local Troy family as well as the historical Stiles School in Rochester Hills. She was known for granting yearly Christmas wishes for a daycare center in Detroit and helping people find lost valuables and missing money. She was a proud member of the Rochester Historical Study Committee.

Funeral Mass Friday, May 15, 2015, 11 a.m. with an instate time of 10 a.m. at St. Mary of the Hills, 2675 John R. Road, Rochester Hills. The family will receive friends Thursday 4-8 p.m. at the Potere-Modetz Funeral Home, 339 Walnut Blvd., Rochester.

Service and burial arrangements in Boston, Mass., are as follows:
Monday, May 18
Viewing for all at Dolan’s Funeral Home 460 Granite St., Milton MA.
http://www.dolanfuneral.com/
Viewing is 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Graveside burial service at Milton Cemetery 1:30 p.m.
Reception for attendees at Alba Restaurant 2 -5 p.m.
1486 Hancock St, Quincy, MA 02169
www.albaquincy.com

Suggested memorials to theherofoundation.net or www.cancerfamilyrelieffund.org Online guestbook www.modetzfuneralhomes.com

The following obituary was published in The Patriot Ledger today at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/southofboston-ledger/obituary.aspx?n=margaret-schodowski&pid=174864050&fhid=4989

Margaret “Peggy” Schodowski, nee Carty, was born April 12, 1966, to Margaret and John Carty in Quincy, Mass., and passed away on May 12, 2015, in peace with her mother by her side. Peggy was a warrior during her 3-year battle with the aggressive colon cancer that eventually took her life.

Her friends and family will remember her courageous spirit and fight to survive. Even on the worst of days, Peggy remained true to her spunky and determined character, never letting a day go by without a laugh. Being near her children, Eddie and Hannah, kept Peggy going during this trying time and she chose to stay close to them even creating bucket list adventures they could all participate in towards the end of her life.

Before Peggy embarked on the fight against cancer, she had a prolific career and public persona. Peggy graduated from SUNY Utica College of Technology with a BS in Computer Science. After years of working at Air Wisconsin/United Express, A C Nielsen, Kmart, Computer Consulting, and Shelving store, she returned to school at Oakland University to pursue paralegal studies. Most recently, she was a legal assistant for Bruce J. Thornburn, Esq. of Troy and also founded her own forensic investigation and research business.

Peggy also took pride in giving back to her community. She was known for granting yearly Christmas wishes for a daycare center in Detroit and helping people find lost valuables and missing money even after all options were seemingly exhausted. Peggy was instrumental in saving the home of a local Troy family as well as the historical Stiles school in Rochester Hills. Peggy was also a proud member of the Rochester Hills Historic Study Committee.

Although Peggy always lived life to the fullest, she gained a renewed appreciation on value of “living” every day to the fullest through her cancer diagnosis. Peggy could not have gotten through the past few years without the love and support of her countless friends at St. Pauls Cancer Group in Rochester.

Peggy is survived by her two children, Eddie and Hannah Schodowski of Rochester Hills, Mich.; her parents, John and Margaret Carty of Park City, Utah; her brother, James Carty and his son James of Norwood, Mass.; her sister, Jeanne (William) Davison and their children Austin and Brenna Davison of Park City, Utah; and her special friend, Pat Lubiaz of Waterford, Mich.

A viewing was held May 14, 2015, at the Potere Modetz Funeral Home, 339 Walnut Blvd., in Rochester, Mich. A funeral Mass of Christian burial was held at St. Mary of the Hills Catholic Church in Rochester Hills.

Peggy will be buried in her hometown of Milton, Mass., in the Milton Cemetery, Monday, May 18, 2015. The family will receive friends Monday from 11 a.m. until the 1 p.m. service at Dolan Funeral Home, 460 Granite Ave., East Milton.

It was Peggy’s request that any assistance be directed to those affected by cancer and their families. Therefore, in lieu of flowers, please find a family/person with cancer and offer assistance of any kind or donate to theherofoundation.net/ or www.cancerfamilyrelieffund. org/. For information and directions, www.dolanfuneral.com.

Caldecott Medal winning book by Judith St. George, “So You Want to Be President”

Long-time Old Lyme resident Judith St. George, 84, died on June 10, 2015 in Bloomfield, Conn.  She was the author of more than 40 books, including several young adult mysteries as well as award-winning nonfiction books for younger readers.

Among her many accolades, “So You Want to Be President?” won the Caldecott Medal, “The Mount Rushmore Story” won the Christopher Award, “The Brooklyn Bridge: They Said It Couldn?t Be Done” won the New York Academy of Sciences Award, and “The Panama Canal: Gateway to the World” won the Golden Kite Award.

Her obituary was published June 14 in The New York Times at this link.

TeacherVision.com published a biography of the Judith St. George at this link.

Former State Senator Eileen Daily, whose death was announced today. CTNewsJunkie.com file photo.

Former state Sen. Eileen Daily, 72, of Westbrook, died Wednesday. She was known as a tenacious lawmaker and served as co-chair of the powerful Finance Committee for five terms.

Daily, who had battled cancer toward the end of her legislative career, decided not to seek re-election in 2012 and to spend more time with her family,

Read the full article by Christine Stuart and published July 30 on one of our Independent Media Network partners, CTNewsJunkie.com at this link.

Daily represented the 33rd District, which included the Town of Lyme as well as well as the Towns of Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Old Saybrook, Portland, and Westbrook in the State Senate from 1993 to 2013.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy and Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman released the following statements regarding Daily’s passing:

Malloy said, “For decades, she was a tenacious fighter for her constituents and a committee chair who wielded enormous respect among colleagues—and she did it with a smile on her face. Eileen was one of the toughest elected officials in the state, yet her jovial disposition always made those around her feel at ease. She represented the best of public service and politics. She was tough, loyal, hardworking, knew the issues, and her word was always her bond. This is a loss for all of us—Eileen will indeed be missed. Our hearts go out to her family and loved ones.”

Wyman said, “Today is truly a sad day. Within the walls of the State Capitol, Eileen was more than just a public servant, she was a genuine leader. To me, Eileen was more than colleague, she was a friend. We served together for years. And while we worked closely together on so many different issues, we knew each other well. She was a wonderful person with whom I was close, and I received the news this morning with an extraordinarily heavy heart. My prayers are with her entire family at this difficult time.”

Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano (R-North Haven), Senate Minority Leader Pro Tempore Kevin Witkos (R-Canton), and Senator Art Linares (R-Westbrook) released the following statement regarding the passing of former state senator Eileen Daily.

“For six years, I sat next to Eileen Daily in the Senate Circle,” said Sen. Fasano. “I got to know her well and deeply admire the way she served our state. She was a tremendous leader who had the ability to command respect with few words. When she did speak, she was decisive, logical and people followed. She balanced that with a great sense of humor. This is a great loss for Connecticut.”

“Eileen Daily was always a strong willed person,” said Sen. Witkos. “She had a tough exterior, but also a gentle collegial approach. I remember she always had a better handle on the state budget than most and it was clear that she put in the time and the energy to serve our state proudly. My deepest sympathy and condolences go to her family and loved ones.”

“Sen. Daily was a true champion for small towns and for the people of the 33rd Senate District,” said Sen. Linares. “She worked tirelessly on behalf of her constituents, and her environmental advocacy will be a lasting legacy for our region and throughout Connecticut. She was personable and she knew the issues inside and out. Sen. Daily was respected by everyone at the State Capitol. Today, we honor Sen. Daily for her service and we remember her many accomplishments. Her passing is a tremendous loss for Westbrook and for Connecticut. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sen. Daily’s family and friends.”

State Representative Devin Carney (R-23rd) posted on Facebook that he is, “Very sad to hear about the passing of former State Senator Eileen Daily. She was a dedicated public servant and longtime Westbrook resident who served the town as First Selectman for 6 years and as the Senator from the 33rd (which includes Westbrook, Old Saybrook, and Lyme) for 20. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and many friends. She will truly be missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing her.”

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Philip Scheffler

Philip Scheffler, CBS News’ first television street reporter, a documentary producer and the executive editor at 60 Minutes for many years, died April 7, 2016, in New York Presbyterian – Cornell Weill Medical Center. He was 85 and lived in Manhattan. Until recently he also spent much of his time in Essex, Conn., where he had a home for 40 years.

Scheffler retired from 60 Minutes in June of 2003 and had served as a consultant to CBS News up until a few years ago. He was a friend and mentor to Jeff Fager, executive producer of 60 Minutes. “Phil was a guiding force behind the success of 60 Minutes for more than two decades,” said Fager. “Don Hewitt often said he couldn’t have done it without him. He was a first-class journalist, an admirable human being, and a great friend to many of us. We will miss him very much.”

Scheffler was a reporter and producer for CBS News for the first half of his five-decade career. He became the senior producer at 60 Minutes in 1980, handling the day-to-day responsibilities – essentially the right hand of the broadcast’s executive producer Don Hewitt. Hewitt named him executive editor later. In this capacity, Scheffler had a direct hand in producing every 60 Minutes report broadcast from 1980 to 2003 – a period during which 60 Minutes was the number-one program in America five times.

Scheffler oversaw the reporting from the field and handled most of the producers’ journalistic issues, enabling Hewitt to focus almost exclusively on shaping the newsmagazine’s stories. When tempers flared in the screening room between Hewitt and one of his correspondents, such as Mike Wallace or Morley Safer, it was the professorial Scheffler, sporting a bow tie and close-cropped beard, who played referee.

Before his senior positions, Scheffler produced 60 Minutes stories over nine seasons for Wallace, Safer, Harry Reasoner and Dan Rather. His first story with Safer was “After Attica,” a look inside a maximum security prison in Colorado broadcast after the horrible riots in the New York prison in 1971.

Hewitt hired him in March of 1951 as a copy boy for “Douglas Edwards with the News,” which Hewitt directed and produced. Debuting in May 1948, that broadcast was the first network television news program, and in 1951, Scheffler became its first street reporter.

His first field assignment was to ask people whether they thought Gen. Dwight Eisenhower should enter politics and run for the Republican presidential nomination. But reporting was only one of the hats worn by early television news people like Scheffler. Out of necessity, he also invented a makeshift news teleprompter.

Hewitt wanted his anchor, Edwards, to look at the camera instead of his script when reading the news, so he had Scheffler make cue cards. “My first job at CBS Television News,” recalls Scheffler, “was to hand print Douglas Edwards’ copy on two-by-three-foot cue cards. Then, when we were on the air, I would hold them up next to the camera lens and move them up a line at a time for Doug to read. My arms were always tired and sore, so I asked Don if the camera could move in closer. He put on a wide-angle lens and moved the camera to within 10 feet of Doug, and I started typing the copy using wide adding-machine paper and a huge-type typewriter. It was the first crude teleprompter, but I didn’t have the wit to develop it!” said Scheffler in 2001.

In 1953, Scheffler was drafted into the Army and served his two years. During this period, he convinced his superior officer that he could put the Army on television — as long as he could get a few weekends off to film the piece! The result was a feature series in weekly installments he helped produce and write for CBS in which a Korean War recruit was followed through basic training at New Jersey’s Fort Dix. Scheffler returned to CBS and continued working as writer, reporter and producer for the nightly network news and other regularly scheduled CBS News programs through the 1950s.

The news program, “Eyewitness,” was Scheffler’s next stop, where he served as associate producer and on-air reporter for the half-hour weekly from 1960 to 1963. He briefly served as an associate producer on “The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite,” where he covered the Kennedy assassination, before joining the documentary unit in 1964. There, Scheffler became a producer of documentary and special news broadcasts, including “CBS Special Reports” and “CBS Reports.” He produced more than 100 of them, including: “After 10 Years: The Court and the Schools” (1964), on school integration; “CBS REPORTS: Robert F. Kennedy” (1967), on Sen. Kennedy and his political ambitions; and “The Cities” (1968), about the nation’s urban crisis.

Scheffler’s assignments took him to 47 states and to 50 foreign countries, including Vietnam. He traveled there for six assignments during the war; his output included three two-hour specials on American policy in Southeast Asia, “Where We Stand in Vietnam” (1967), “Where We Stand in Indochina” (1970), and “The Changing War in Indochina” (1971).

CBS News broadcasts that Scheffler worked on, especially 60 Minutes, have received the industry’s highest recognition, including the Peabody, DuPont and Emmy awards. In 1981, he received the Alumni Award for distinguished contributions to journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, from which he received a master’s degree. As an adjunct professor, he once taught classes there as well.

Scheffler was born Sept. 16, 1930 in New York City and was graduated from the City College of New York. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Linda Weingarten Scheffler, a clinical psychologist, author and retired professor at Hunter College in New York City; his daughter, Ramsay Klaff, of Massachusetts; and a son, Adam, of Chicago.

Eleanor Emery Harper

Eleanor Emery Harper, born on July 11, 1919, passed away peacefully on July 19, 2016 with her loving family around her. She and her late husband were long time residents of Lyme.

Raised in Denver with her four siblings, Eleanor graduated from the Kent School For Girls where she developed a strong interest in the arts, specifically drama, singing and literature. She went on to Bryn Mawr College and earned a BA in English. Following graduation, she studied drama at The New School in New York City, supporting herself with odd jobs. She worked in the product placement department at an advertising agency, at MGM Studios as a story analyst, and as an assistant at a reducing salon. At night, she pursued her other great love, singing, performing in nightclubs. In 1947 she married Paul C. Harper, Jr., with whom she had six children, including two sets of twins. They remained devoted partners until his passing in 2013.

The obligatory summary of Eleanor’s life doesn’t nearly capture the warmth, humor, iron will, intelligence and devotion that her family and friends had the privilege to experience. A loving mother and wife, she dedicated herself to the task of raising her children and creating a home built on love and connection. She encouraged creativity, sensitivity, achievement and was her family’s most ardent cheerleader. And through the ups and downs of domestic life, she sang. She sang when laboring over yet another meal for eight. She sang when changing myriad diapers. She sang in church. She sang when she tucked the children in at night. And she sang, most joyously, with her beloved daughters, all of whom inherited her angelic voice.

When her children left home, Eleanor turned her extraordinary energies to writing, producing three memoirs. “Love Around Us” chronicled her early life in Denver, still very much a frontier town. In “Love Between Us” she told of a budding romance with a young advertising executive and Yale graduate who became her husband of 67 years. “Love Among Us” recalled early motherhood, a perilous but rewarding journey of budget stretching and cramped Chicago apartments.

To her three sons and three daughters, to her fourteen grandchildren, to her five great grandchildren, she gave the gifts of empathy, humanity, humor, grace and, most of all, love. She wrote, “When the children were little, I had thought love was a kind of gentle mist that floated around us, drifted between us, that could be summoned and focused by a hug, a cookie or a song. But now that they were older I felt love more as a force that drove through our differences and difficulties until they were settled and we could see how to move ahead. Not just a mist, but a powerful force, and I meant to keep it among us. Whatever my faults and failures, I meant it to last.”

Eleanor Emery Harper’s love remains the song in all of our hearts.

Andrew Pfeiffer of Old Lyme, Conn., died at home on November 19th with his family at his side.

He was born in 1917 in Port Jefferson, N.Y.  At a young age he excelled in music, and was sent to study piano under Leopold Stokowski at the New York School of Music.  He then attended the Ethical Culture School and Fieldston during his teens and graduated from Wells High School in Maine at the age of 16, where he developed his life-long affinity for coastal living in the family cottage in Ogunquit.

After graduation, Andrew came to Old Lyme and worked as a camp counselor at McCulloch’s “Camp Aladdin”, on Whippoorwill Road.  His first career job was as a wood carver and touring puppeteer for America’s Puppet Master – Tony Sarg.  He later took his carving and woodworking skills to local furniture maker, Stanley Davis, whose factory was on Mill Lane in Old Lyme.   

He always had a keen and inventive mind.  He possessed the rare characteristic of genius, coupled with tremendous dexterity — a mix of science and ingenuity that allowed him not only to determine the issue, but also to design and build tools to implement the solutions. His accomplishments were achieved with only a high school education.

During the early stages of WWII, Andrew worked in the aero-technology industry for Sikorsky helping in the production of Connecticut’s fighter plane the “Corsair” and later aided in the development of helicopters.  He then took his skill to the Manhattan Project with Westinghouse in Bloomfield, New Jersey.  There, he worked directly with a new metal known as Uranium, or as the machinists called it, “Tubealloy”.  It had strange properties that made it difficult with which to work.  It caught fire, galled during machining, and required special techniques to handle during the manufacturing process.   In the lab, Andrew worked on many of those difficulties, as well as several experimental projects associated with x-ray and electrolysis.  At the end of the war, while offered a research lab opportunity, Andrew chose instead to settle back in Old Lyme, build his home, and raise a family. 

Andrew married Marianne Goetze, whom he met at the McCulloch farm. They were married for 74 years.  Her family had emigrated from Germany in 1934. Her father was a professor of Babylonian and Near Eastern Studies at Marburg University and assumed a position at Yale on his escape from Nazi Germany.   Andrew and Marianne built their house and family farm on Whippoorwill Road and raised three children.  Andrew built a shop and laboratory attached to the house.  Pfeiffer Research Instruments continued designing specialized equipment for various research laboratories and academic institutions.  Andrew held several patents in diverse fields of medical research and communications.  Several times in his career, Andrew and Marianne took on an artistic and creative sideline, designing and producing various kinds of jewelry.  Pfeiffer Cloisonné and Silver Work reached many corners of the world and has even been owned by some world leaders.   

Working for himself at his home and shop permitted Andrew to spend valuable time with his family.  He and Marianne formed a genuine partnership.  Together they raised two daughters and a son.  Andy and his wife bestowed to them the love of music, art, natural studies, academics, engineering and mechanics, as well as a competitive spirit.   They lived and modeled a life of integrity and honor, emphasizing the importance of community service and making the world a better place. 

During his life in Old Lyme, Andrew served as a high school class tutor in Chemistry and Physics, was on the Board of Education, served in several capacities in Civil Defense, was a member of the American Amateur Radio League, the Archaeological Society of Southeastern Connecticut, and most importantly – a friend to many.

Andrew is survived by his wife Marianne;  son Ned Pfeiffer and wife Marga of Old Lyme; daughter Dianne Merrill of San Rafael, California; and three grandchildren  – Aubris and Dane Pfeiffer of Old Lyme; and Trevor Page of San Francisco, California.  He was predeceased by his daughter Merrily Page of San Francisco, California and beloved brother John E. Pfeiffer of New Hope, Pennsylvania.   Andrew will be missed but not forgotten.

At Andrew’s request, no services will be held. The family extends its grateful thanks to the staff and volunteers of Hospice and Palliative Care at Middlesex Hospital.

Margaret Amy Hoffman

Margaret Amy Hoffman (Peggy), 95, died peacefully on January 31 in Peterborough, NH after a long period of declining health. 

She was born in Spring Lake, New Jersey on August 24, 1921 to Everard C. Stokes and Phyllis M. (Beavis) Stokes, who had emigrated from England in 1919.  Her father published three books of poetry and was vice president of the Church Fire Insurance Corporation based in New York, which provided insurance to Episcopal churches. Margaret grew up in the coastal town of Sea Girt, NJ graduating from Manasquan High School in 1939, where she had played basketball and tennis. Following a preparatory year at St. Mary’s School in Peekskill, NY she entered Radcliffe College as a chemistry major where she met her husband John L Hoffman, an editor of the Harvard Lampoon and midshipman with the USNR. He was the son of artists Harry and Beatrice Hoffman of Old Lyme, CT. Margaret and Jack went on to have five children, settling first in Old Lyme, CT and then Winchester, MA, before retiring to Amherst, NH in 1984.  As children arrived, her chemistry training gravitated towards kitchen cuisine and her interests shifted to child psychology and sociology. She had always been a champion of the underdog and an advocate for the less fortunate. In midlife she completed a BS in psychology at Northeastern University in 1968 followed by a MSW at Simmons College in 1973.  She served as a clinical instructor at the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work, was employed as a medical social worker at the Winchester Hospital in MA and then for the rest of her career at Kennedy Memorial Hospital for Children in Boston. There she provided psychosocial assessments of children with a broad spectrum of problems including neurological, emotional, behavioral and developmental issues. She also provided individual and family therapy and was a group leader for the Rehabilitation Unit.

While living in Old Lyme, CT she had been a regular at the Old Lyme Beach Club during the 1940s and 50s. She and her husband were benefactors of the Florence Griswold Museum and the Old Lyme Land Trust, providing the first main portion of the riparian woodland that was to become the Hoffman-Matthiessen-Degerenday Preserve along Sill Lane.               

Following retirement and the move to Amherst, NH she pursued the creative interests she hadn’t had time for while working and raising a family.  She took a variety of art classes and worked hard at developing her natural talent.  She became a skilled artist, working in watercolor, oils, and pastel, and produced beautiful work, mainly flower studies and portraits.  She also took piano lessons and became an excellent pianist, although she was too shy to play in front of people.            

For several years she volunteered for the Friends of the Amherst Town Library and FISH, a group that provides rides to medical appointments.         

Margaret was an avid reader, library patron, and a gardener who thrived on being out in the sunshine maintaining her lovely flower gardens.  She loved dogs and had a number of them over the years.  Earlier in her life she enjoyed horseback riding.  She was adept with a sewing machine and made most of her own dresses (all the while grumbling about what a waste of time sewing was).  She was a devoted mother who frequently said that her greatest joy in life was her children.          

Her beloved husband Jack, a Harvard social anthropologist, died in 1992 after nearly 50 years of marriage.  In the years following his death, she took several trips abroad, traveling to England, France, Spain, and Russia with her sister Mary or via Elderhostel.  In 2002, while attending the Unitarian church in Wilton, she met John Voss of Hollis, NH.  They spent a happy five years in each other’s company until his death in early 2008.  Margaret then moved with her dog Cedric to the RiverMead retirement community in Peterborough NH, where she lived until the time of her death.      

She was predeceased by a son, John L. Hoffman, Jr. in 1957, by both parents, her sister Mary Horn, and her beloved West Highland white terrier, Cedric.  She is survived by her sister Beatrice Miles, her devoted children, David Hoffman and his wife Suzanne of Bivalve, MD and Old Lyme, CT; Stephen Hoffman of Alexandria, VA; Thomas Hoffman and his wife Alexis of Anchorage, AK; and Elizabeth Hoffman and her partner Anthony Iovino of Putney, VT.  She is also survived by her four grandchildren, Molly and husband Mike, Alex and wife Amanda, Michael and wife Cheryl, and James; three great-grandchildren, Sophie, Oliver, and Madelyn; her sister Beatrice Miles, and seven nieces and nephews.           

Margaret was smart, funny, artistic, empathetic, insightful, and generous.  She will be greatly missed.     

Her family would like to thank the staff at RiverMead for their unfailingly patient and loving care.  

She was buried at the Duck River Cemetery in Old Lyme, CT, with arrangements through the Jellison Funeral Home of Peterborough, NH.  A family memorial service will be held at a later date. Donations in Margaret’s memory may be made to Westie Rescue of New England, 10 South Washington Street, Norton MA 02766 www.westierescuene.com or your local humane society.   

Walter Kaylin 06.28.1921 – 02.15.2017

Walter Kaylin, 95, died peacefully on February 15 at Apple Rehab in Guilford, Ct., after a long period of declining health. His two daughters were by his side.

Walter was born in New York City on June 28, 1921 to Rose and Alexander Kaylin. He grew up on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx and graduated from Dewitt Clinton High School, then the College of William and Mary in Virginia.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942 and served in the Signal Corps during World War II. Walter’s first love was writing: He was anthologized by the Saturday Evening Post and worked for many years at Magazine Management, writing adventure stories for pulp magazines in a stable of writers that included Mario Puzo, Joseph Heller and Alex Austin. He wrote two novels, Another Time, Another Woman and The Power Forward. Walter enjoyed a late-in-life resurgence of his cult popularity with the 2013 publication of two collections featuring his stories: Weasels Ripped My Flesh and He-Men, Bag Men and Nymphos.

Walter was an avid sports fan since his days of visiting Yankee Stadium as a boy, once sending a pep-talk letter to a slumping Lou Gehrig, who sent a note of thanks in return. Years later, he found another hero in Muhammad Ali from the time he was Cassius Clay, not only for his prowess in the boxing ring but for his role in the Civil Rights Movement and his resistance to the Vietnam War. Walter expressed his own staunch opposition to the war in frequent, impassioned, well-informed letters to the editor of the local paper at a time when he was all but a lone voice.

He was a jazz enthusiast and a record collector; at his beachfront home of 52 years in Old Lyme, Ct., he played the piano at least an hour a day before enjoying a cocktail with his wife, Peggy, while gazing out at the waves and invariably remarking, “It doesn’t get any better than this.” He continued to play jazz piano at Apple Rehab, to the delight of his fellow residents, even when his right hand was contorted by arthritis.

Walter was predeceased by Peggy, both parents and his brother, Edward. He is survived by his two daughters, Jennifer Kaylin (Randall Beach), a writer in the communications office of the Yale School of Public Health; Lucy Kaylin (Kimball Higgs), editor of O, The Oprah Magazine; and four grandchildren: Natalie Beach, Charlotte Beach, Sophie Higgs and Owen Higgs.

Walter Kaylin was a charismatic, sharp, devoted, delightful husband, father, grandfather and friend–a man of boundless curiosity, searching intellect and deep social conscience. His family, who will carry him in their hearts forever, are grateful to the staff at Apple Rehab for their compassionate care. A memorial service will be held at a later date. Donations in Walter’s memory may be made to Doctors Without Borders or the ACLU.

In this submitted photo, the late Tillie Colihan is seen tending her flowers.

Avid gardener, conservationist, seeker of solutions to make the world and our local communities better places, Tillie Colihan died peacefully in her Essex Meadows home on May 2, 2017.

Born May 20, 1920 in Mount Vernon, NY to William and Rowena Alston, Tillie attended Madeira School in Greenway, VA, and graduated from Pine Manor College, Chestnut Hill, MA in 1940.  She made lasting friendships with classmates and served as alumnae secretary for both schools.

Not wanting to be left behind after her brothers enlisted in the Armed Services, Tillie joined the Red Cross in December 1943. She was assigned to the 85th Division, stationed in northeastern Italy, and served until the war ended.  She was awarded a Medal of Freedom for “gallantry in the line of duty and devoted service while under enemy fire.” (While immensely proud of her medal, Tillie always insisted, with undue modesty, she was just serving donuts and coffee to the G.I.’s.)

Following the war, she became a receptionist at the Young & Rubicam advertising agency in New York City.  There, she met William J. Colihan, whom she married in May 1948. Tillie and Bill settled in Greenwich, CT, where they raised four children, Alston Colihan of Washington, D.C., Jane Colihan of Brooklyn, NY, William Colihan of New York, NY, and Abby Colihan of Montpelier, VT.  During these years, Tillie took up yoga and developed an interest in natural foods and alternative medicine.

In 1980, Tillie and Bill moved to a house – designed by Bill and her brother, Henry Alston – on the Connecticut River in Essex. Tillie spent springs and summers in her field, surrounded by bluebirds and wildflowers.  She enthusiastically organized the making of trough gardens for May Markets. Wanting to share nature’s beauty, Tillie regularly brought flowers from her garden to the Essex Meadows Medical Center – a practice she kept up for many years. During the winters she and her husband traveled in the U.S. and internationally. Bill died at Essex Meadows Medical Center in July 1994.

In 1998, Tillie moved to an apartment in Essex Meadows.  Hours that she had spent in her garden she now spent feeding birds and keeping up with all things happening in the world.  In recent years she has enjoyed watching her four rarely-disciplined grandchildren, Dan, Jim, Dana, and Molly, turn out fine.

As she wished, there will be a small memorial service later this summer.

Richard LaVecchia. Photo courtesy of Potter Funeral Home, Willimantic.

Richard “Rich” LaVecchia, known affectionately to his students as “Mr. L,” passed away on Saturday, Aug. 12, of brain cancer.  Mr. LaVecchia was an immensely popular sixth grade science teacher at Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School for more than 40 years.  As his obituary states, “He engaged his students with hands-on experiments and interactive lessons that inspired many to go on in the field or, at least, return to say “hi” and share a desk-drawer snack.”

Today, we have heard nothing but fond memories of Mr. LaVecchia and the highest praise for his teaching and interpersonal skills from colleagues, Region 18 parents and former students alike.

Thank you for your outstanding and inspiring service to so many students, Mr. L.  You will be sadly missed.

RIP.