Darienite (https://darienite.com/tag/darien-obituary-october-2016)
James A. Clements (Jim), 87, husband of Sally Gessler Clements, of Naples, Fl., and formerly of Darien, passed away on Oct. 23. Jim was born in Suffern, N.Y. to F. Paul and Adelaide R. Clements on May 11, 1929. He graduated from Suffern High School and then St. Lawrence University.
Pauline Anna Valenti, 83, passed away peacefully on Thursday, Oct. 27 in the Indiana home of her oldest son, Joseph. Born Nov. 2, 1932 in Norwalk, Pauline was the daughter of the late Ejnar and Anna Andersson. Pauline graduated from Norwalk High School in 1950 and attended the Teacher’s College of Connecticut in New Britain, earning a B.A. in elementary education in 1954.
Mildred B. Rowe, a life-long resident of Darien, passed away on Friday, Oct. 28, 2016 at the Friends Nursing Home in Sandy Spring, Md. Born on Oct. 1, 1929 in Queens, she was the daughter of the late August Stegmuller and Mildred Meyer Stegmuller. Mildred attended the Sacred Heart Academy in Stamford and graduated in 1947.
Deborah Frances Derbyshire Catino left this earth on Oct. 26 after a very long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Deborah was born Feb. 6, 1950 and grew up in Darien, after raising her four children in Easton, she moved to San Mango Sul Calore, Italy where she lived the rest of her days. She will always be remembered for her smile that would light up a room, a love for meeting new people, her heartfelt love for her family and friends, her infectious laugh, and her giving heart.
A life well lived! Margaret Sue Anderson Cooper was born July 19, 1924 in Dallas and passed away peacefully on Oct. 17 in Dallas. Sue was the first daughter born to Leonard R. and Naomi P. Anderson of Venus and later Wills Point, Texas. It’s hard to sum up 92 years into several paragraphs, but for a former English teacher, we will give it a try and hope that we don’t have any grammatical errors since Sue is no longer able to proof read our work.
George Joseph Brown, 85, of Darien passed away peacefully on Thursday, Oct. 27. He was born on Feb. 15, 1931 in White Plains, N.Y. to the late George W. and Emily M. Bleakley Brown. He is survived by his devoted wife, Marie Bianco Brown of Darien, his loving children, Mark C. Brown of New Canaan and Sharon M. Brown of Darien, as well as his nieces and nephew, Janice, Christine, Mary and Peter and their families.
Ann Marie Reilly, 79, of Darien and Vero Beach, Fl., died peacefully in Vero Beach on Oct. 22. Born in New York City on Oct. 13, 1937, Ann was the daughter of John White of County Cork, Ireland and Margaret Doyle of County Kerry, and the sister to James and Margaret (Cissie). Ann grew up in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan and was a graduate of St.
Angelo F. Luchetta, 82 of Stamford passed away peacefully on Tuesday, Oct. 18, at Stamford Hospital. Angelo was born in San Vincenzo la Costa, Cosenza, Italy on Feb. 14, 1934. He moved to the United States in 1949 when he was 15 years old, then lived in Port Chester, N.Y. for a short time before moving permanently to Stamford.
Donald J. Brown, a longtime resident of Darien, passed away peacefully on Oct. 19 at his daughter’s home in North Carolina. He was 93. Born Nov. 17, 1922, he was known affectionately by family and friends as “Jigger” or “Doc” and he never met a stranger.
Richard Chafin Coveny passed away Tuesday Oct. 11, 2016 at Stamford Hospital. He was 76 years old. Richard, Dick to friends, was a media mogul, entrepreneurial programing visionary and prolific television producer. He produced several talk shows including Phil Donahue, Sally Jesse Raphael and Jerry Springer winning nine Emmy awards along the way.
Carol Pfeiffer (nee Quinn), 59, died peacefully at home on Oct. 17 after a ferocious battle with ovarian cancer. Known by many as a global adventurer and skilled nurse, she devoted much of her life to helping others, doing so with a caring voice, kind temperament and quick wit. Carol attended high school in Portsmouth, Va. After graduating from University of Virginia Nursing School, she worked at the University of Virginia Hospital as an intensive care unit and pediatric intensive care unit nurse.
Elizabeth Marciano Plank, a longtime Darien resident, passed away peacefully on Oct. 13 at the age of 82. She was born in Stamford to Anna and Anthony Marciano on Jan. 18, 1934. After graduating from Stamford High School, Betty met William Plank and was married in 1953.
Longtime Norwalk resident Wilma M. Spurr, aged 96, reached the end of a long, loving and Christian life and went home to the Lord on Saturday, Oct. 15. The daughter of Fred and Ruby Langhammer of Stratford, she attended Stratford schools and worked at the Bridgeport Brass Company inspecting shell casings just prior to World War II. It was there that she met her first husband, Eugene G. Miller. The two were married in 1940 and raised five sons and two daughters.
Cynthia (“Cindy”) Shannon Desseau, formerly of Darien, passed away peacefully Oct. 14 in Perrysburg, Ohio where she had relocated to be near her granddaughters Kerry (Burke) Duran and Kelly (Burke) Draper. Cynthia was born in Woonsocket, R.I. She attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y. where she majored in commercial art. With the onset of World War II she left school to marry her classmate William Smith Shannon in 1942. They lived on various air bases until his deployment overseas.
James Stephen Armour died in Stamford on Oct. 7, 2016, at the age of 86. He is survived by his wife, former Darien Representative Town Meeting Moderator Karen Ahlberg Armour. Jim was born on Jan. 27, 1930, in Brooklyn, and grew up in Larchmont, N.Y., where he met lifelong friends and fly-fishing buddies Larry Rosenstadt, Ed Nusbaum, and Joe Andress; became an Eagle Scout; and graduated from Mamaroneck High School.