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Alison Evans, 77, TV, stage and film actress
Alison C. Evans of New Canaan, a former Ridgefielder who was an actress on stage, films and television, died in Greenwich Hospital on Dec. 20. She was 77 years old.
Born in Kent, England, on May 19, 1923, she was the daughter of the late Alfred John and Marie Rose Evans. After raising her children, Mrs. Evans moved to California where she pursued her passion for the theater. Mrs. Evans produced and directed several stage productions and appeared in numerous television shows and commercials. She had roles in such films as Magnum P.I. and Ladies Night Out, and her television credits included principal roles in Divorce Court, The Young and the Restless, and Days of Our Lives.
She often performed in plays requiring an English accent, and was Mrs. Higgins in My Fair Lady and Mrs. Bradman in Blithe Spirit. She once played the Ghost of Christmas Past in a West Coast stage production of A Christmas Carol. She also performed in summer stock in Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire for many years.
Mrs. Evans lived in Ridgefield in the 1990s, at first at Casagmo and later at Ballard Green. While here, she was active at St. Stephen’s Church and sang in the choir.
She was also a member of the Screen Actors Guild and A.F.T.R.A.
Mrs. Evans is survived by a son, Jeremy Ajdukiewicz of Brooklyn, N.Y.; two daughters, Aniela McCool of New Canaan, and Joanna Vierbuchen of England; a brother, Michael Evans of Los Angeles; and two sisters, Rosemarie Schaefer of Long Island, and Bridget Fraser of Rochester, N.Y.; and six grandchildren.
A memorial service will take place on Saturday, Jan. 20, at St. Stephen’s Church.
Contributions in her memory may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Grand Central Station, P.O. Box 4777, New York, NY 10163.
The F. Hoyt Funeral Home, 199 Main Street, New Canaan, is in charge of arrangements.
Francis G. Engelhardt, photo engraver
Francis G. Engelhardt of Old Washington Road died Tuesday, Jan. 9, at Danbury Hospital. He was 80 years old and the husband of Eunice B. Pawlick Engelhardt.
Mr. Engelhardt was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Sept. 20, 1920, a son of Louise Engelhardt of Baldwin, Long Island, and the late Anthony Engelhardt. He grew up in Merrick, Long Island, and attended Freeport High School. Mr. Engelhardt served with the U.S. Navy during Word War II.
A photo engraver, Mr. Engelhardt was a longtime employee with Wilbar Photo Engraving in Darien. During his retirement, Mr. Engelhardt had worked parttime at Ridgefield Photo Shop on Main Street, joining when the Korkers still owned it and staying for four years after George Harrison bought the business in 1991.
“He was a fixture here,” said Mr. Harrison. “He was a great guy. He knew everyone in town, it seemed, and was very friendly and outgoing.”
Mr. Engelhardt moved to Ridgefield from West Hempstead, Long Island, in 1965. He was an active member of the Jesse Lee Memorial United Methodist Church and the Ridgefield Men’s Club. He enjoyed golf, bowling and model trains.
Besides his wife of 56 years and his mother, survivors include a son, Stanley A. Engelhardt of Landsdale, Pa.; two daughters: Leslie Boley of Pittsville, Va., and Robyn Geren of North Fort Meyers, Fla.; a sister, Evelyn Hubinette of Virginia; eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Services will be conducted Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Jesse Lee Memorial United Methodist Church, 207 Main Street. Burial will be at the convenience of the family.
Friends will be received at the church directly after the service.
Contributions in Mr. Engelhardt’s memory may be made to the Jesse Lee Church or to the Ridgefield VNA, 90 East Ridge, Ridgefield, CT 06877.
The Kane Funeral Home, 41 Catoonah Street, is in charge of arrangements.
John Emmons, 90, longtime Ridgefielder
John Edward “Jack” Emmons of 646 Branchville Road, a retired clerical worker who as a boy would come to school by train, died Thursday, Jan. 25, at Glen Hill Convalescent Home in Danbury. He was 90 years old and the husband of the late Myrtle Clark Emmons.
Mr. Emmons was born in New York City on July 29, 1910, a son of the late John Edward Sr. and Florence Mead Emmons. His father, a stockbroker, died in 1913 and his mother, a Ridgefield native, moved the family to Branchville where Mr. Emmons grew up.
He and his brother Charles attended the nearby one-room Branchville Schoolhouse through the fifth grade. Upper grades were then located in the East Ridge School, now the VNA and school board offices, and the Emmons boys would take the passenger train from Branchville to the old depot at what’s now Ridgefield Supply, and walk to the school. It wasn’t until after passenger service ended in 1925 that school buses were provided.
Mr. Emmons graduated from Ridgefield High School in 1928 and studied at the City College of New York. For 25 years he was a clerk for the Remington-Rand Corporation in Norwalk, where his wife also worked. He later worked for The Albany Products Company in Norwalk, retiring in 1975.
In 1939, Mr. Emmons married Myrtle Clark of New Canaan, and the couple lived in Norwalk for many years. In 1959, they built their own home on family land in Branchville.
Mrs. Emmons died in 1990, a year after the couple had marked their 50th wedding anniversary.
Mr. Emmons belonged to Jesse Lee Memorial United Methodist Church and worked for many years on the church’s annual Yankee Peddler Fair. He was secretary of the Men’s Club at Jesse Lee for several years, and also belonged to the OWLS, where he enjoyed playing bingo.
Survivors include two daughters, Carole Emmons and Trish Reese, both of Ridgefield; his brother, Charles Emmons of Ridgefield; two grandchildren, John Reese of Gloversville, N.Y., and Jennifer Valachovic of Pittsburgh, Pa.; and three great-grandchildren.
Services took place Monday at Jesse Lee Memorial United Methodist Church. Burial was alongside his wife in Lakeview Cemetery, New Canaan.
Contributions in his memory may be made to the Jesse Lee Memorial United Methodist Church Scholarship Fund, 207 Main Street, Ridgefield.
The Kane Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Lauretta Dougherty, retired secretary
Lauretta M. Dougherty, a retired secretary who lived in Ridgefield for 40 years, died Friday, Dec. 1, in Newark, Del. She was 86, and the widow of the late James Dougherty.
She was born Lauretta Mather and was a descendant of Cotton Mather. She grew up in Darien went to Darien schools.
She met her husband during World War II. He was an accountant. The Doughertys lived in Stamford for a time, then moved to Ridgefield 40 years ago, and had a house on Old Washington Road. Mr. Dougherty died in 1977.
Mrs. Dougherty worked for many years as a secretary for Kanthal Corporation in Stamford, and later worked at the medical office of Dr. Rebecca Boorer.
Carol Scherrer, a former neighbor, said that Mrs. Dougherty was a woman of wide-ranging interests who followed politics and world affairs, was very interested in people, and loved nature. “She was very well read,” she said.
Mrs. Dougherty was very independent, and even in her 80’s would drive by herself from Ridgefield to Vermont in spring and fall to visit friends there, Ms. Scherrer said.
Mrs. Dougherty lived the last two months of her life in Wilmington, Del., near her nephew, Stephen M. Howard. Besides Mr. Howard she is survived by some great-nieces and -nephews, and many friends.
Memorial services will be private.
Anna M. Dorr, 92, retired operator
Anna M. Dorr, a former Ridgefielder and retired telephone operator, died Monday, Nov. 6, at the Bennington Health and Rehabilitation Center in Bennington, Vt. She was 92 years old and the widow of John Dorr.
A native of the Bronx, N.Y., Mrs. Dorr was born on Sept. 13, 1908, a daughter of the late Henry and Margaret Singer Rice. She attended New York schools, and had lived in the Bronx and Brooklyn for many years.
She was a retired telephone operator, and had last worked for AT&T in New York. She belonged to the Telephone Pioneer Workers Association.
Mrs. Dorr moved to 27 Lincoln Lane in 1964 and was there until 1984 when she moved to Yorktown, where she lived for 12 years before moving to Vermont.
Mrs. Dorr enjoyed raising flowers. “She loved to garden,” said her son, Paul Dorr of Ridgefield. “She was always out in the garden.”
Mrs. Dorr also enjoyed baking and, when her husband was alive, travel.
She had been a member of St. Mary’s Church here.
Besides her son, Mrs. Dorr is survived by a daughter, Ann Nolan and her husband Donald of Pownal, Vt., as well as 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
A stepdaughter, Rosemary Wood, died in 1999.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Thursday at 10 a.m. in St. Mary’s Church here.
Burial will follow in the Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven in Hawthorne, N.Y.
Contributions in her memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association of Fairfield County, 611 Riverside Avenue, Westport, CT 06880.
Valerie G. Dingee, 52, led fire auxiliary
Valerie Goodrow Dingee, a former president of the Ridgefield Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary and a 27-year resident of Ridgefield, died Monday, Nov. 20, in Danbury Hospital after a struggle with cancer. She was 52, the wife of former Ridgefield Fire Department Assistant Chief Richard Dingee Sr., and had lived in Port Charlotte, Fla., the last four years.
“She was just wonderful, everybody loved her,” said her daughter, Gretchen Lombardi of Danbury. “She was very giving. She would have given anything to anyone — very charitable, she never had a mean thing to say about anyone.”
Mrs. Dingee was born Sept. 16, 1948, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Willis A. Goodrow of Somers, N.Y. She grew up in Somers, graduated from Somers High School, and graduated from Western Connecticut State University with a teaching degree.
She married in 1969, and moved to Ridgefield. She lived at 135 Barry Avenue, and raised two children in town.
Mrs. Dingee was regional director of broker services of the Southeast Region for Cendant Mobility Services, a relocation firm. She worked with the company for 17 years, first out of its Danbury office and later in Florida.
She was chairperson of the Relocation Directors Advisory Council.
Earlier, she taught at Holy Innocents, a Catholic elementary school that operated in town in the 1970s.
She was a member of St. Mary’s Church in Ridgefield, taught religious education there, and was involved in the church fair every September.
In Florida she was involved with the Junior Achievement Program of Charlotte County, and sought to brighten the lives of friends and neighbors.
“In Florida, they always entertained, especially seniors who had no family,” Ms. Lombardi said of her parents. “She was very giving. She was a leader, she was always organizing things.”
She enjoyed travel, reading, swimming, boating, walking and the beach.
Survivors include her husband, Richard Dingee Sr. of Port Charlotte, Fla., her daughter Gretchen Lombardi of Danbury, son Richard Dingee Jr. of Ridgefield, and four grandchildren — Kyle Kammer and Cody Dingee of Ridgefield, and William and Brittany Lombardi of Danbury. She is also survived by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Willis A. Goodrow of Somers N.Y., a sister, Beverly Rosa of Danbury, a brother, John Goodrow of Mahopac, N.Y., and several nieces and nephews.
Friends may call at the Kane Funeral Home of Catoonah Street on Friday, Nov. 24, from 5 to 8 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday morning, Nov. 25, at 11:30 in St. Mary’s Church on Catoonah Street.
Contributions in her memory may be made to Habitat for Humanity in Charlotte County., Fla. P.O. Box 6028 Port Charlotte, FL 33949, or to the Ridgefield Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary, P.O. Box 243, Ridgefield 06877.
Mary C. Boring, active volunteer
Mary Catherine Bernard Boring, an active volunteer for three decades in Ridgefield, died on Sunday, Jan. 14. She was a longtime resident of Ridgefield, having built a home in Twixt Hills more than 30 years ago.
Mrs. Boring was born in Hopkinton, Mass., and graduated from Framingham State Teachers College.
A lifelong athlete, she was captain of her high school and college basketball and field hockey teams. She was nominated for the Hopkinton High School Women’s Hall of Fame and was part of a sports documentary made by it. She avidly followed many sports and knew statististics for many major players.
Mrs. Boring taught fifth and sixth grade for two years and then was selected to be among the first class of graduating stewardesses for United Airlines after World War II. She was based in New York.
She was married for 51 years to United Airlines Captain Norman “Mike” Boring, who died in 1998.
Mrs. Boring was always involved in volunteer work. She drove patients to medical appointments and provided transportation for shopping through FISH for over 25 years. She volunteered weekly at the Dorothy Day soup kitchen in Danbury for more than eight years, feeding homeless people. She also drove for Meals on Wheels, was a founding member of the Ridgefield Family Y, served on the board of directors and various committees of the Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association, and was a volunteer for the American Red Cross Bloodmobile.
Mrs. Boring was also a eucharistic minister at St. Mary’s Church for many years. She was also a Confraternity of Christian Doctrine teacher there, even after her own children were grown.
“Her faith, based on her personal relationship with Jesus Christ, was an encouragement to all she knew or met,” said a family member. “She always had a kind and uplifting word or prayer for those who needed it. Bible studies in her home were a delight for those who came to learn more about God’s love, as well as to enjoy the ‘million-dollar view’ from her glassed-in living room overlooking a lake.”
Mrs. Boring was an avid reader, and loved the ocean along the New England coast and in St. Augustine, Fla., where she enjoyed the winter months. She was an active golfer through ladies leagues at the Ridgefield Golf Course and in St. Augustine. She and her husband were also members of the Retired United Airlines Pilots’ Association.
“Her legacy is her large, loving family who had the privilege of caring for her during her illness,” said a family member. “She was surrounded by love and surrendered to the great love of God. She will be greatly missed by her family and dear friends who were so faithful to visit, call and send gifts of Mass cards, flowers, cards and treats during her illness.”
She is survived by six children, Sue Ellen Oblom of Revere, Mass., Michael Boring of Odessa, N.Y., Martha Northway of Bakersfield, Calif., Jeanne McMahon of Andover, Mass., Jackie Curtsinger of Northport, Fla., and Mary Kay Oakland of Bainbridge Island, Wash. She is also survived by 23 grandchildren and by her sister, Helen Deiana, of Hopkinton, Mass.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Wednesday at St. Mary’s Church. Burial was in St. Mary’s Cemetery.
Contributions in Mrs. Boring’s memory may be made to the Ridgefield VNA, 90 East Ridge, Ridgefield, CT 06877.
The Kane Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
