Obituaries

Robert Perske, 88, Disability Advocate

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Robert Perske Acclaimed disability advocate, author Robert Perske, author and internationally acclaimed advocate for people with developmental disabilities, died on Sunday, Aug. 14, at his home in Darien. He was 88. A recipient of many awards, including The Arc s Lifetime Justice Advocacy Award and the only non-lawyer to ever receive the American Bar Association s Paul Hearne Award for Services to Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, Bob devoted most of his life to serving as the voice for those who have no voice, especially those he believed were wrongly convicted of crimes. He began his career as an ordained Methodist minister, serving as chaplain at Kansas Neurological Institute, a state institution for boys and girls with intellectual disabilities.

Obituaries
Jack Wood obit thumbnail 8-29-16

Jack Wood, 70, Grew up in Darien, Sales Executive, Avid Golfer

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Jack Wood, age 70, of Norwalk, passed away on Friday, August 26. Born in Port Chester, N.Y. on March 20, 1946, he was the son of the late Jack Edward Wood Sr., and the late Lilli Schonning Wood. A resident of Minnesota, Ohio and Maryland at different times of his life, Jack grew up in Darien and graduated from Darien High School in 1964. He then went on to graduate from Taylor University in Upland, Indiana in 1968 and enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve. Jack’s professional career started in 1968 with 3M Corporation in White Plains, N.Y. where he spent the next 17 years in various senior sales capacities across the U.S..

Obituaries
Robert Plunkett obituary 8-28-16

Robert Plunkett, 96, Owned Furnace Business in Darien, Served in WWII Battle of Leyte

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Robert Wayne Plunkett, 96, passed away on Sunday, June 26, 2016 at Waters Edge Assisted Living in Lake Wales, Fl. He was the husband of Ruth A. Ehrenfeld Plunkett who died in 2009. He was born on June 3, 1920 in York, the son of James C. and Marion E. Smith Plunkett. Robert honorably served his country during World War II, having achieved the rank of corporal. He was a member of an anti-aircraft battalion which destroyed or damaged more than 100 Japanese planes during the Battle of Leyte in the Philippines.

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Jack O’Brien, 82, Land Surveyor in Darien & Area, Served as Marine in Korean War

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Jack T. O’Brien, 82 of Madison and the husband of Evelyn LaCroix O’Brien died Thursday, Aug. 25 in Yale New Haven Hospital. Born in Stamford, he was the son of the late John M. and Sarah Dobson O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien was a former Norwalk resident and local land surveyor serving Wilton, Greenwich and Darien. Mr. O’Brien was an avid swimmer and enjoyed bocce and fishing.

Obituaries
Carole Dean obituary 8-27-16

Carole Dean, 86, Operating Room Nurse, Grew Up in Darien

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Carole Anne Dean, age 86, of Cohasset died Aug. 11, 2016 at home surrounded by those she loved. Carole Anne was born July 29, 1931 in Brooklyn, N.Y. and raised in Darien by Charles and Roberta Poole. She graduated from the University of Connecticut and Stamford Hospital Nursing School, where she became an operating room nurse. She was the wife of James S. Dean; loving mother of James H. Dean and Jennifer S. Dean of Cohasset; devoted grandmother of Sinclair Dean Teruzzi and Enrico Teruzzi; and great grandmother of Caspian Maximus Lane.

Obituaries
Dorothy Larson obituary 8-26-16

Dorothy Larson, 93, Avid Tennis Player, Former Darien Resident

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Dorothy Whelan Larson passed away on August 19, 2016, in New Canaan, with her son, Luke, by her side. Dorothy was born in Mt. Vernon, N.Y., in January 1923 to George and Helen Kemble Whelan. Dorothy married Theodore Thomas Larson in 1949. Dody and Tom lived the next years in Holden, Mass; Setauket, Long Island.; Old Saybrook and Darien before moving to Marco Island, Fl.

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William DeLeo, Darien Native, Commercial and Residential Developer

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Dr. William Thomas DeLeo, Sr. passed away peacefully on Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016 in his home surrounded by his family and close friends. Dr. DeLeo, a native of Stamford/Darien, was a graduate of St. Basil Seminary in 1959, and a graduate of Virginia Military Institute in Civil Engineering in 1963. He then served with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Ethiopia and Libya.

Obituaries
William Ziegler obituary 8-23-16

William Ziegler, 92, Attorney, Former Ox Ridge Hunt Club Member, Was a Longtime Darien Resident

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William Alexander Ziegler, 92, of Bozeman, Mont., and formerly of Darien and Wilton, died on the morning of Aug. 17, 2016 at home. Bill was born in New York City on July 15, 1924, to William A. and Sally C. Ziegler and raised there until they moved to Washington, D.C. He attended the Buckley School, Saint Mark’s School, Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He married the former Glenn Crawley Ziegler in 1950, and she predeceased him in 2013. They moved from New York City to Darien in 1957 and then to Wilton in 1994.

Obituaries
Richard Berry obituary thumbnail 8-23-16

Richard Berry 91, Longtime Darien Resident, Beautification Commission Member

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Richard (Dick, “Gamps”) Lindabury Berry died peacefully at home with his family on August 18, 2016 in Darien, Conn. He was 91. Lois Boots Berry, his wife of nearly 64 years, survives him. Dick was born on Dec. 5, 1924 in Short Hills, N.J. His parents were Lucy Van Saun Lindabury Berry and Robert Lawrence Berry, a U.S. Navy captain and naval aide to Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. He attended the Short Hills Country Day School; and graduated from the Choate School (1942) and Princeton University (class of 1946).

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Darien Residents Who Recently Lost Close Family Members

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Close family members (parents, siblings, children) of these Darien residents recently passed away. If you know them, a few words of condolences may be appropriate, along with your prayers:

Leonard Smith on July 27 — daughter Kathie and her husband Doug Rischmann. Robert Conkey on Aug. 16 — daughter, Mollie Conkey Fullington and s0n-in-law Kevin. Adelaide Munkenbeck on Aug.

Obituaries
Cynthia McIlmurray obit 8-19-16

Cynthia McIlmurray, 60, Traveler, Tennis Player, Longtime IBM Executive

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Cynthia Eiswert McIlmurray, 60, a highly regarded individual known for her resiliency and grace, died peacefully in her home in Darien on Thursday, Aug. 18.  She was the wife of Spencer McIlmurray. Cindy was born on May 8, 1956 in Chicago to Albert and Pauline (Szutowicz) Eiswert.  She attended Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and earned a bachelor of science degree in psychology.  While at NIU she was inducted into Sigma Kappa sorority. Upon her graduation in 1978 she joined IBM in Chicago and has remained with the company since then.  Over the years her career progressed through a series of staff and management positions at the field, region, and strategic business unit levels. In her last role she worked in the legal department of IBM Global Finance as a subject matter expert in contracts, negotiations, and regulatory compliance directly supporting worldwide business operations.