Marilyn Biggins, nee Carroll, died peacefully Sept. 16 at Ridge Crest Health Center in Redding after a long battle with the brain disease leukodystrophy. Marilyn was born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1940. Marilyn had a huge impact on many of the people she met throughout her life. After graduating from Purdue University in 1961, she taught English at Proviso West High School outside of Chicago.
Diane Wheeler Kough, 85, of Sarasota, Florida, died peacefully on July 16, 2020 with her family by her side. A former resident of Darien and Rowayton, Diane moved to Sarasota in 1980. She was born June 6, 1935 to Mayland Milbank Wheeler and Betty H.B Wheeler in New Jersey. Diane was predeceased by her parents, her brother Kenneth Wheeler of Georgia, and former husband, Jesse R. Kough. Diane is survived by her children, Sandra K. Inman of Sacramento, California and Russell W. Kough and his wife, Lori, of Sarasota; and her grandchildren: Jessika W. Rutledge and husband Shaun of Roseville, California; Elizabeth Noelle Kough and Johnny Eilermann of Sarasota; her great-grandchildren: Taylor Rutledge and Parker Rutledge of Roseville; her longtime companion, George Kern, of Sarasota; several nieces and nephews, other relatives and many treasured friends.
John Edward Nicholson of Plymouth, Massachusetts and formerly of Darien, passed away peacefully on July 28. Ed was born in Ohio, and throughout his childhood lived in numerous towns throughout the state with his father, Hobart “Nick,” his mother, Kathleen, and his sister, Sally. He went on to receive his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the Ohio State University, where he played on the golf team and deepened his roots as a diehard Buckeye fan. Ed started his career working in sales at Lenox Industries. Although he found great success, he soon realized that he wanted to follow his passion and spend the rest of his life playing golf.
James C. Bogie of Darien died unexpectedly of a heart attack on July 12, 2020. He was 67. Jim is survived by his loving wife Patty, sons Chris and Cam, and their dog Cooper; his mother Helen Murphy Bogie, siblings Peter, Susan, and Scott (Lisa) Bogie; and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his father, Duane C. Bogie. Born April 16, 1953, Jim grew up in suburban Chicago and was proud to have Midwestern roots.
Christine Ellen Johnson, of Darien, died on her birthday Monday, July 20, 2020 at the Regional Hospice Center in Danbury after a valiant two-year battle with cancer. She was 43. She was born on July 20, 1977 in San Sebastian, Spain to Philip Johnson and Maria de los Angeles Johnson Antoñana. She grew up in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, graduated from Central Bucks High School East, and graduated Cum Laude from Drexel University with a Bachelor of Science degree in management information systems.
She went on to become a consultant and project manager in Pennsylvania and Connecticut for financial institutions such as GMAC, Smart Consulting, and RBS. She married Michael Kuchmek on April 11, 2014 in Puerto Rico.
William (Bill) R. Billenstein passed away on Wednesday July 22, 2020 at the age of 95. William’s wife of 69 years, Eileen(nee Adkins)predeceased him in 2016. William was born in Darien CT on April 9, 1925. He graduated from Darien High School and retired from Sikorsky Aircraft in 1987. William entered the Navy in 1942 and served until he was honorably discharged in 1946.
Anne S. Fullerton, a counselor and educator whose boundless energy and generous spirit enriched the lives of everyone she knew, died Tuesday, July 14, of cancer at her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, surrounded by her devoted family: her husband, Reese, her three sons and their wives, her three grandchildren and her three sisters. She was 70
Born Anne Wood Seagrave in Washington, D.C., on March 23, 1950, Anne was the eldest daughter of Norman P. and Mary R. Seagrave, who moved to Santa Fe in 2011 to spend their final years with her. Anne was raised in Montreal, Canada, Rome, Italy, and Darien, where she graduated from high school in 1968. She spent part of every summer of her life on Cliff Island, Maine, perhaps her favorite place on earth, where she spent joyous days swimming, playing tennis, picking raspberries and preparing delicious meals for an endless stream of family, friends and visitors. She received a B.A. in sociology and anthropology from Swarthmore College, then worked briefly as a paralegal in New York City, where she met her future husband, Reese Fullerton.
Mary Mary Craighill Yellowlees passed away at home in Atlanta with family on July 14. She was 82. She was born in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 31, 1937, the daughter of Mary Haile Craighill and Alexander Lee Craighill. Moving to Columbia, South Carolina two years later, she attended A.C. Moore School and Dreher High School, as well as the University of South Carolina, where she belonged to Kappa Delta Sorority.
Michael Avery Poler passed away peacefully at his home in Norwalk on July 1, 2020, surrounded by family, including his wife of 42 years Petrea. He was 84. Michael was born on Sept. 23, 1935 in Huntington, New York to parents Helen M. (Saylor) and Emmons Edson Poler. Michael attended the Kent School in Kent, Connecticut (Class of 1954) and Babson College in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts (Class of 1957).
Edward Parsons “Bud” Corning, Jr., a former longtime Darien resident, passed away peacefully in Greenville, Rhode Island on June 24, 2020. Born June 5, 1930 in New York City, Bud was the son of Edward Parsons Corning and Valerie Ebbets Corning. A lifelong sailor, he grew up in Stamford, CT on Shippan Point, sailing at Stamford Yacht Club and later at Noroton Yacht Club in Darien, CT where he raced in the Ensign and then the Sonar fleets. Bud attended King School in Stamford, Westminster School and Bard College before entering the family business, the Edward Corning Company, a construction management firm founded by his grandfather in New York in 1898, where his father was then president. He became secretary-treasurer at the company, which built many school and college buildings, banks, office buildings, YMCA buildings and hospital buildings primarily in New York and Connecticut.
Wilbur A. Lewis, 90, resident of Brightview on New Canaan, CT, formerly a longtime resident of Chapel Hill, North Carolina passed away peacefully on July 2, 2020. “Web” was born on Aug. 27, 1929 in Cincinnati to Albert and Marie Lewis. Web grew up in Cincinnati and graduated from Withrow High School in 1947. He received his bachelor’s degree from the College of Wooster, where he met his wife, Nancy Bachtell.
Howard W. Moore, 96, passed away peacefully on July 16, 2020 at the Knollwood Nursing Center in Paxton, Massachusetts. He was born June 21, 1924, in Greensboro, NC, the son of George R. and Lalla R. (Patterson) Moore and had lived in Paxton since 1963 before moving in 2014 to the Briarwood Continuing Care Community. Howard grew up in Richmond, Virginia during the Great Depression, and first exhibited his propensity for public service when he served as student council president at Binford Junior High School and president of his class at Thomas Jefferson High School. He matriculated at the University of Richmond until, like most of his generation, his college education was interrupted by World War II. Howard joined the U.S. Navy through the V12 program, was recognized as a superior navigator.
Genevieve Ann Alcott Causse Causse, a Darien resident, passed away Aug. 9 at the age of 82. She was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she attended public schools and Holland Hall private school before getting her undergraduate degree in chemistry at Oklahoma A&M in Stillwater. Geni loved classical music, skiing, drawing house plans, traveling Chris-Craft wooden boats, trains, transatlantic crossings on the Queen Mary 2, reading, and gardening. Her husband, Andre Causse, predeceased her in 2017.
Richard Van Arnam Huie, age 85, of Branford died on Wednesday, Aug.ust 12, 2020 at The Hearth in Branford. Richard and his twin brother, David, were born in Greenwich on July 5, 1935, the sons of Janet (Lockwood) Huie and Albert Van Arnam Huie. In 1937 Richard moved to Great Neck, New York and then in 1941 to Hinsdale, New Hampshire, where he attended the Bridge Street School. In the summer of 1943 he moved to Northford, finishing his grammar school education there. He graduated from the Lyman Hall High School in Wallingford in 1953.
On Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020, Charles Thomas Nedder of Darien, loving husband and father of three children, passed away at the age of 77 after a long battle with Lymphoma. Charles was born on March 16, 1943 in Boston to Ernest and Mary Nedder. As a child, growing up in West Roxbury, Massachusetts with his six siblings, he had a reputation for kindness, support and a quiet strength. He accumulated many accolades as a student and football player at Cathedral High School, Boston.
