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Nancy Servadio, aided many selectmen
Nancy J. Servadio of 6 Carpenter Close, a Ridgefield native who supervised the first selectman’s office under seven administrations, died on Sunday morning, Nov. 17, at Danbury Hospital. She was 82 years old.
Miss Servadio was the administrative assistant to the first selectman from the mid-1940s until her retirement in 1991. She worked under both Republicans and Democrats and, many people used to say, often ran the town.
“Nothing was ever too much for her to do,” said Hilda Monti of the tax office, who worked with Miss Servadio for years and who succeeded her as selectmen’s administrative assistant. Miss Servadio rarely took a vacation and “until the last year, never took a sick day,” Ms. Monti said.
Miss Servadio was born in Ridgefield on Nov. 16, 1920, a daughter of the late Pietro and Adelaide Frattini Servadio. She attended Ridgefield schools and graduated from Ridgefield High School in 1938.
She went to work in the town hall in 1943, serving at first as an assistant in the town clerk’s office. She was soon transferred to the selectmen’s office.
In the 1940s and early 50’s, the first selectman’s job was part time, but Miss Servadio worked a full five-day week, handling many of the administrative matters that kept the town running and answering countless questions from the public and town officials.
Over the years Miss Servadio served under seven first selectmen: Harry E. Hull, Harvey D. Tanton, Leo F. Carroll, Joseph J. McLinden, Louis J. Fossi, Elizabeth N. Leonard, and Sue Manning. All relied on her vast knowledge of the town and town government.
“She was a fun person to work with,” said Ms. Monti. “She had the most incredible, dry sense of humor.”
Miss Servadio was also an avid reader, a collector of Depression glass and enjoyed quilting. She was a member of St. Mary’s Church, Ridgefield.
Her survivors include a sister, Dorothy Servadio Stern of New York City, two nieces, three nephews, and several grandnieces and grandnephews. Her brother, Gildo, a noted food scientist, died last year.
The Rev. Robert P. Morrissey, pastor, celebrated a Mass of Christian Burial on Wednesday in St. Mary’s Church. Burial was in St. Mary’s Cemetery.
Memorial contributions to the Visiting Nurse Association, 90 East Ridge, Ridgefield, CT 06877 would be appreciated.
The Kane Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Vincent Stufano, 30, securities associate
Vincent A. Stufano of 629 Danbury Road, an associate at Deutsche Bank Securities, died early Friday morning at the Danbury Hospital after being stricken ill at home. He was 30 years old and the husband of Sonia Policicchio Stufano.
Mr. Stufano was born in Mount Vernon, N.Y., on June 3, 1972, a son of Giuseppe Stufano of Scarsdale, N.Y., and the late Giuseppina Lasorsa Stufano. He attended Yonkers, N.Y. schools and graduated from Fordham University.
He was an associate at Deutsche Bank Securities of Greenwich.
Mr. Stufano moved to Ridgefield from Yonkers a year ago. He enjoyed golf, gardening and culinary arts.
He was a member of St. Mary's Church.
Besides his wife of three and one-half years and his father, Mr. Stufano is survived by a son, Andrew Vincent Stufano of Ridgefield; two sisters, Lucrezia Jankowski of Woodstock, Ga. and Maria Stufano of Scarsdale; his maternal grandmother, Maria Lasorsa of Yonkers; his mother- and father-in-law, Lucia and Carmine Policicchio of New Fairfield; and many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.
The Rev. Robert P. Morrissey, pastor, celebrated a Mass of Christian Burial Tuesday at St. Mary's Church.
Entombment was in Ferncliff Cemetery Mausoleum, Hartsdale, N.Y.
Contributions in his memory may be made to the American Heart Association, 3020 Westchester Avenue, Purchase, NY 10577, The American Cancer Society, 2 Lyon Place, White Plains, NY 10601 or to the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society, 1311 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains, NY 10605.
Peter Delphos, 60, sales representative
Peter Cummings Delphos of Ridgefield, a retired sales representative, died on Wednesday, Nov. 20, at his home. He was 60 years old.
Mr. Delphos was born in Worcester, Mass., on Dec. 2, 1941, a son of Hortence Frechette Delphos of Falmouth, Mass., and the late Phillip Delphos.
He was a retired sales representative for International Paper Company.
Besides his mother, he is survived by a son, Peter C. Delphos and his wife Anne Marie of Oak Brook, Ill.; a daughter, Jacqueline S. Delphos of San Francisco, Calif.; a sister, Suzanne Scott of New Canaan; and two brothers, Phillip Delphos of Hopedale, Mass., and William Delphos of McLean, Va.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Tuesday in St. Mary’s Church. Burial was in Worcester, Mass.
The Kane Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Diana Dayton Dalton, former resident
Diana Dayton Dalton of Minor Bridge Road, Roxbury, a former Ridgefielder who had lived in many parts of the world, died Friday, Dec. 13, at her home. She was 62 years old and the wife of Howard William Dalton.
Mrs. Dalton was born in New Rochelle, N.Y., on May 3, 1940, daughter of the late Eldorous Lyons and Diane Gauthier Dayton. She spent her early years in Larchmont, Armonk and Bronxville, N.Y., attending Westchester area schools and graduated from Le Chatelaine in Gstaad, Switzerland. She attended Parsons School of Design in New York City, N.Y., and had worked as a buyer for Lord & Taylor in New York City when she met her husband, an oil geologist, at a party in 1965.
The Daltons came to Ridgefield in 1987, living on Griffith Lane off and on while on assignments overseas until last year.
She and her husband traveled extensively and had lived in Pakistan, Venezuela, England, and Egypt, as well as New York, Chicago, Ill., and Houston, Texas.
She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Besides her husband, Mrs. Dalton is survived by a son, Matthew Lyons Dalton of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; two daughters, Elizabeth Dalton Sullivan of New Britain and Diana Gauthier Dalton of Roxbury; a brother, Peter Eldorous Dayton of Heathrow, Fla.; and five grandchildren.
Services will take place on Saturday, Dec. 21, at 3 p.m., at the Lillis Funeral Home, 58 Bridge Street, New Milford. Burial will be private at the convenience of the family.
Friends may call at the Lillis Funeral Home on Saturday from 1 to 3.
Contributions in her memory may be made to New Milford Visiting Nurse Association, 68 Park Lane Road, New Milford, CT 06776.
Ruth M. Craddock, antiques dealer
Ruth M. Craddock, a former Ridgefielder who had been an antiques dealer, died Friday, Oct. 11. She was 81 years old and the wife of Thomas J. Craddock.
A native of Long Island, Mrs. Craddock was born March 27, 1921, a daughter of Ed Westermann Sr. and Margaret Babcock Westermann of Valley Stream, N.Y. She lived for many years in Huntington, Long Island, before moving in 1971 to West Lane in Ridgefield where she raised her family.
She was an avid collector of early American glass and primitive furniture and was well known to most antiques dealers in the area. After she moved to Rumney, N.H., in 1988, she became the owner of the Butternut Antiques Shop there.
Mrs. Craddock was also the treasurer of the Byron G. Merill Public Library in Rumney.
She greatly enjoyed spending time with family, especially her grandchildren, said her daughter, Brid Pessin of Newtown.
Besides her husband and daughter Brid and Brid’s husband Harvey, Mrs. Craddock is survived two other daughters: Leah Jaquith of Athens, Ohio, and Nancy Sposato and her husband David of Bridgewater; two brothers: Ed Westermann Jr. and Robert Westermann, both of Tucson, Ariz.; a sister: Evelyn Burke of Valley Stream, N.Y.; and two grandchildren: Kevin T. Jaquith and Katie A. Pessin.
A memorial service took place Monday, Oct. 14, at Mayo and Daigle Funeral Home, 40 Federal Street, Wiscasset, Maine.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Byron G. Merrill Library, Buffalo Road, Rumney, NH 03266.
Stanley Cassar, 73, engineer for Navy
Stanley Joseph Cassar, a retired quality control engineer who supervised work on naval aircraft, died Saturday, Aug. 10, 2002, at Danbury Hospital after a brief illness. He was 73 years old and the husband of Delano Barbour Cassar.
Mr. Cassar was born in New York City on Jan. 11, 1929, a son of the late George and Iris Cassar. He studied engineering at the City College of New York, and entered the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, serving aboard the destroyer escorts USS George (DE-697) and the USS DeLong (DE-684).
After the service, he became a civilian employee of the U.S. Defense Department. As a representative of the Navy, he oversaw the work of private contractors, such as Grumman and Sikorsky, which were building aircraft for the Navy. He worked at first at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, then at Grumman on Long Island and finally, as the naval plant representative at Sikorsky Helicopter in Stratford.
Over the years he received many commendations from the government for his work. He retired in 1989 after more than 30 years with the Defense Department.
A Ridgefielder for the past 28 years, Mr. Cassar was a member of the AARP chapter here, and was a volunteer for the Visiting Nurse Association here and for Literacy Volunteers in Danbury. He had also been a volunteer in the industrial arts department at Ridgefield High School.
He was a member of the Bridgeport Council of the Navy League of the United States, the Destroyer Escort Servicemen’s Association, and the American Legion. He also belonged to the American Society for Quality Control.
Mr. Cassar was also a Eucharistic minister at Sacred Heart Church in Georgetown.
For relaxation, he enjoyed building electronic kits and was an amateur meteorologist, who maintained daily records of Ridgefield weather.
Besides his wife of 28 years, Mr. Cassar is survived by his daughter Liana Maria Cassar of Barrington, R.I.; a son, Steven J. Cassar of Watertown; a sister, Helen Shears of New York City; two brothers, Edward Wilson of Lake Charles, La., and Benjamin Wilson of San Diego, Calif.; two grandsons; and several nieces and nephews.
The Rev. Mark E. Grimes, parochial vicar, celebrated a Mass of Christian Burial Wednesday in Sacred Heart Church, Georgetown. Burial was in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Ridgefield.
Contributions in memory of Mr. Cassar may be made to a cancer charity of one’s choice.
The Bouton Funeral Home, 31 West Church Street, Georgetown, was in charge of arrangements.
Edward M. Brolin, former principal
Edward M. Brolin of 33 Walnut Grove Road, an administrator at both of the town’s secondary schools and an athlete who once pitched to Ted Williams, died on Friday, June 28, at his home. He was 71 years old and the husband of Mary Donovan Brolin.
Mr. Brolin had been principal of East Ridge Junior High School, now the middle school, and later became an assistant principal of Ridgefield High School.
A native of Massachusetts, Mr. Brolin was born on Aug. 23, 1930, a son of the late Manelf and Hazel Brolin. He attended Massachusetts schools and graduated from the Bridgewater (Mass.) State Teachers College with a bachelor’s degree and received his master’s degree from Fairfield University.
Mr. Brolin served in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War. After a period of working in the insurance industry in the Boston area, he turned to education and in 1963 took a job teaching biology at the old Ridgefield High School on East Ridge.
“I came to Ridgefield because it was a good place to teach, to live and to raise my family,” he said in a 1990 interview. “I’ve never been sorry for that decision.”
In 1966, Mr. Brolin was named the Jaycees “Outstanding Teacher of the Year.” A year later, he was elected the president of the Ridgefield Teachers Association.
In 1968, Mr. Brolin became chairman of the science department at Ridgefield High School and two years later, assistant principal of the school. But only a few months after that appointment, he was named principal of East Ridge Junior High School.
He led the junior high school for 13 years, including a period in the early 1970s when it was the most overcrowded building in the system — some 1,300 students were packed into a school designed for about 850. The school system had a thousand more students then than it does today.
Because of his background as a teacher and administrator at the high school, Mr. Brolin was appointed chairman of a committee that planned the use of the “new” high school that was about to open in 1972 on North Salem Road. He served on many other curriculum and administrative committees, and headed the Ridgefield Administrators Association for 10 years, often negotiating contracts.
Around 1984, Mr. Brolin moved to the high school, serving as assistant principal until his retirement in June 1990.
At the time of his retirement he told an interviewer that his greatest pride in his career was the ability to work with students, parents and teachers. “Deep down I hope they’ll miss me just a little bit.”
Guidance Counselor Arlene Heissan said at the time that Mr. Brolin provided “the best advice.” “He cares about kids and the faculty,” she said. “We’re going to miss him.”
An avid sportsman, Mr. Brolin had been a top college baseball player who was once scouted by the Boston Red Sox. During a tryout with the team, he had the opportunity to pitch to Ted Williams. He remained a Red Sox fan all his life, and was also a collector of sports memorabilia.
Mr. Brolin was also a Little League and Pony baseball coach. His first team, Ridgefield Savings Bank, went on to become the undefeated league champion that year.
Mr. Brolin was a member of St. Mary’s Church.
Besides his wife of 40 years, Mr. Brolin is survived by three sons: Air Force Lt. Col. Edward M. Brolin, stationed in Saudi Arabia, James M. Brolin and William E. Brolin, both of Ridgefield; a brother: Richard Brolin of Massachusetts; two sisters: Marilyn Hamilton and Judy McLaughlin, both of Massachusetts; and a granddaughter: Ashley Ann Brolin.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Tuesday morning in St. Mary’s Church. Burial was in St. Mary’s Cemetery.
Contributions in Mr. Brolin’s memory may be made to the Ridgefield Fire Dept. Ambulance Fund, 6 Catoonah Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877.
The Kane Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
