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Barbara McElroy, 59, East Ridge math teacher
Barbara Ann McElroy of Ridgefield, a teacher who had headed the math department at East Ridge Middle School, died at her home on Saturday, June 21, surrounded by her family. She was 59 years old and the wife of Edmond J. McElroy.
A native of Parkchester, the Bronx, N.Y., Mrs. McElroy was born on Feb. 2, 1944, a daughter of the late Francis and Mary Flynn Gould. She grew up in the Bronx and Queens, and attended St. Helena’s High School in the Bronx. She graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas College of Sparkhill, N.Y., with a bachelor’s degree in biology, and earned her master’s degree in biometrics from Queens College.
Mrs. McElroy became a Dominican nun and returned to her high school alma mater as a mathematics teacher in 1966. It was at St. Helena’s that she met Ed McElroy, a Marist brother who also taught at the school. The two fell in love and decided to leave their religious orders to marry in 1969.
The McElroys came to Ridgefield in 1971 after Mr. McElroy became a teacher and coach in the Darien schools. In 1982, Mrs. McElroy returned to teaching math, first at Ridgefield High School and then at East Ridge Middle School where she became head of the mathematics department. She retired a year and a half ago.
“She was well-liked by her students,” her husband said. Mrs. McElroy went out of her way to assist youngsters having trouble with the subject. “She would often go in before school and help kids.”
Kathleen McElroy added that her mother was “a very caring person — she was always looking out for everyone.”
Mrs. McElroy was the adviser to East Ridge’s Math Team, which frequently scored at or near the top of competitions in Fairfield County.
For relaxation, Mrs. McElroy enjoyed reading. She also participated in Bible study programs at St. Mary’s Parish.
“She was a very cheerful, and a very spiritual person,” Mr. McElroy said. “She had a great tranquility about her.”
During her battle with cancer, “she never complained,” her daughter said. “She was the bright light for all of us. She lifted us all up, even though she was suffering.”
Besides her husband of 34 years, Mrs. McElroy is survived by two daughters, Marianne McElroy Palladino and her husband Kendall of Danbury, and Kathleen M. McElroy of Ridgefield; three sons, James F. McElroy and John E. McElroy, both of Ridgefield, and Thomas E. McElroy of New Jersey; a sister, Patricia Servo of Edgewater, N.J.; and two grandchildren, Kieran and Aidan Palladino.
A brother, Francis Gould, died before her.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Wednesday, June 25, in St. Mary’s Church.
Burial followed in St. Mary’s Cemetery.
Contributions in her memory may be made to Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut, 405 Main Street, or Praxair Cancer Center, Danbury Hospital, 24 Hospital Avenue, both of Danbury, CT 06810.
The Kane Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Raymond McGrath, 75, retired engineer
Raymond Elliot McGrath of Ridgefield, a retired engineer, died at his home Monday, Aug. 11. His family said his death came after “a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.” He was 75 years old and the husband of Grace McGrath.
Mr. McGrath was born on June 11, 1928 in New Ipswich, N.H., a son of Alice and Alden McGrath. He grew up in Maine and graduated from high school in Oakland, Maine.
He and his wife met in Maine and were married July 27, 1950.
Mr. McGrath had worked as a plant design engineer for AT&T at its White Plains office from 1963 until his retirement in 1990. He and his family have lived in Ridgefield for the past 40 years.
After retirement, Mr. McGrath remained active, “helping those he loved with home repairs, car repairs, yard work, gardening, child care, virtually anything anybody needed,” his family said. “While he may be gone from this earth, his love, kindness, generosity and spirit will live on eternally through all whose lives he touched.”
Besides his wife of 53 years, Mr. McGrath is survived by four sons, Arthur McGrath of New Hampshire, Michael McGrath and his wife Theresa of Hiram, Ga., David McGrath and his wife Carmen of Black Mountain, N.C., and Tim McGrath and his wife Ellen of New Jersey; a daughter, Patti McGrath of Ridgefield; a brother, Charles McGrath of Virginia; two sisters Thelma Steel and Norma Wade of Florida; and 12 grandchildren.
A memorial service is planned at Green Funeral Home, 57 Main Street, Danbury on Friday, Aug. 15, at 2 p.m.
Contributions may be made in his name to the Praxair Cancer Center, Danbury Hospital, 24 Hospital Avenue, Danbury, CT 06810.
Charlotte R. Mead, home health aide
Charlotte R. Mead of Ridgefield, a former home health aide, died Tuesday, June 17, at Danbury Hospital. She was 77 years old and the widow of Gilbert Mead.
Mrs. Mead was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on May 27, 1926, daughter of the late John and Borghild Bertelsen Rundgren.
Until her retirement she worked as a home health aide for various health agencies in the Ridgefield area.
She is survived by her daughter Carolyn Ottly of Purdys, N.Y., her son John Mead of Orlando, Fla., her grandchildren Christina, Adam, Amanda and Paul, her great-grandchildren Payton, Taylor and Christopher.
A memorial service took place Saturday at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church.
Cremation Services of Western Connecticut, 55 Main Street, Danbury, was in charge of arrangements.
Jake A. Meade, 3,
Jake A. Meade, 3 year 10 month old child of Garrett Meade of Brookfield and Candace (Ledingham) Meade of Ridgefield, died on Friday afternoon, July 18, 2003 at Danbury Hospital.
Jake was born in Danbury August 27, 1999.
In addition to his parents, a brother, Kyle Meade of Ridgefield and his maternal grandmother, Sherry Smyth and paternal grandparents, Richard and Helen Meade as well as several aunts, uncles and cousins survive him.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday at 10:30AM in St. Mary’s Church, Ridgefield.
Interment will be private.
Friends will be received in the Kane Funeral Home, 41 Catoonah Street, Ridgefield on Tuesday from 4PM to 8PM.
Memorials to the Kyle Meade Education Trust, The NewMil Bank, 50 Danbury Road, Ridgefield, CT 06877 would be appreciated.
Stamuda Mosca, 96, Ridgefield native
Stamuda Louise Mosca of 56 Beaver Brook Road, Danbury, a Ridgefield native, died Wednesday, June 11, at Pope John Paul II Health Care Center. She was 96 years old and the widow of Joseph P. Mosca.
She was born in Ridgefield May 24, 1907, one of 10 children of Augusto and Ersilia Pandolfi Tomasini. She was employed by the former Lee Hat Company of Danbury for many years.
She is survived by a son, Robert J. Mosca of Lord Valley, Pa.; a daughter, Margaret Hrabcsak of Danbury; a sister, Janet Tomasini of Brookfield; two sisters-in-law, Sophia and Laura Tomasini, both of Danbury; seven grandchildren; three great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at St. Joseph Church in Danbury on Saturday. Burial was in St. Peter Cemetery.
Contributions in her memory may be made to St. Joseph Church, 8 Robinson Avenue, Danbury, CT 06810.
The Green Funeral Home, 57 Main Street, Danbury was in charge of arrangements.
Helen Murtagh, former Ridgefielder
Helen McKeefrey Murtagh, a former Ridgefielder, died Monday, July 28, at Rhode Island Hospital. She was 78 and the widow of Thomas Murtagh.
Mrs. Murtagh was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. on June 1, 1925, daughter of the late John and Elizabeth Leheny McKeefrey. She grew up in Brooklyn and attended Brooklyn schools. She moved to Connecticut in the 1950s, living in Newtown and Ridgefield, before moving to Rhode Island in 1983.
Mrs. Murtagh is survived by three sons, Thomas, Christopher and Vincent Murtagh, all of Providence, R.I.; a daughter, Michele Murtagh of Stamford; two sisters, Irene Reddy of New Hampshire; and Claire Britz of Queens, N.Y.; a brother Joseph McKeefrey of Missouri; a cousin, Joan Ginty of Danbury as well as several nieces and nephews.
A Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Friday, at 10 a.m., at St. Peter’s Church in Danbury.
Burial will follow in St. Peter Cemetery.
Friends may call at Green Funeral Home, 57 Main Street, Danbury on Thursday, from 5 to 8 p.m.
The Green Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
Stanley Nixon, engineer, church elder
Stanley W. Nixon, a former Ridgefielder who was active in church work, died Saturday, May 31, in his home in Raleigh, N.C.
Trained as an engineer, he graduated in 1947 from Wheaton (Illinois) College with a degree in physics. He met and married Grace Louise Bishop after service in the military and raised a family of four: The next 36 years he spent as an engineer for General Telephone and Electronics in San Angelo, Texas; Grinnell, Iowa; and Stamford.
The Nixons lived on Forest Drive from 1969 until the mid-1980s.
In retirement Mr. Nixon was an avid golfer at Eagle Crest Golf Course in Raleigh.
Mr. Nixon was also active in church work in Ridgefield and North Carolina where he served as an elder for the Black Rock Congregational and the Peace Presbyterian churches. He was an active participant in the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and Young Life ministries and supported more than 100 missionaries.
Mr. Nixon’s survivors include his four children, Emily Nixon, Stanley Jr., Barbara Brewer and Beverly Lyon; and five grandchildren. Memorial services took place Tuesday, June 3, at Peace Presbyterian Church in Cary, N.C.
Montlawn Memorial Park, Funerals and Cremations was in charge of arrangements.
Georgiana Pawlyk, 85, singer, mother
Georgiana Pawlyk, an 11-year Ridgefielder who had been talented at both singing and sewing, died on Wednesday, June 25, at Laurel Ridge Nursing & Rehabilitation Center. She was 85 years old, the widow of Peter Pawlyk, and the mother of Georgiana Castellani of Ridgefield.
Mrs. Pawlyk was born on March 16, 1918, in Queens, N.Y., a daughter of Frank and Marie Henzel Slavik, who had immigrated from Czechoslovakia. She grew up in Queens and attended New York schools.
Mrs. Pawlyk enjoyed music, and both sang and played the piano. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, she and her sister Vlasta Guise Braun appeared as singers on the weekly program, “The Czechoslovakian Hour,” broadcast live over radio station WWRL in New York City. They also appeared as the Slavik Sister regularly at Sokol Hall, the Czechoslovakian club in Astoria, Queens.
Mrs. Pawlyk devoted most of her life to her family. “She was a great homemaker and a great cook,” said her daughter, adding that she specialized in many Czech dishes.
She was also a talented seamstresss who designed and made ballet and dancing costumes for both family members and friends for more than 20 years.
Mrs. Pawlyk came to Ridgefield from Astoria in 1992. Her husband died in 1995; they had been married for 50 years.
Besides her daughter Georgiana and her husband Thomas Castellani, Mrs. Pawlyk is survived by a daughter-in-law, Carol Pawlyk of Dix Hills, N.Y.; and by four grandchildren, Valerie Sheehan of Dallas, Texas, Andrea Castellani of Ridgefield, and Randy Pawlyk, and Lauren Pawlyk, both of Dix Hills.
A son, Peter Pawlyk, died before her.
Services took place on Monday in Oakwood Cemetery, Bay Shore, Long Island.
Contributions in her memory may be made to the Ridgefield Police Benevolent Association, P.O. Box 168, Ridgefield 06877-0168.
The Kane Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Michael Perry, marketing executive
Michael C. Perry, 56, of Ridgefield, husband of Cathy H. Perry died on Saturday afternoon, July 12, 2003 at the Danbury Hospital.
Mr. Perry was born in New Britain, CT, August 13, 1946, a son of Mary (Bordonaro) Perry of New Britain and the late John Perry.
A graduate of Bryant College of Rhode Island, Mr. Perry was president of MPS Marketing of Secaucus, New Jersey and resided in Ridgefield for the past twenty-four years.
In addition to his wife of 34 years and mother, a son Christopher P. Perry and his wife Heather of Saudi Arabia, a daughter Katie Perry of Providence, Rhode Island and a brother John Perry of Saratoga, New York survive him.
Private interment services will take place at the direction of the family.
A Memorial Service will take place on Thursday, July 17th,at 2PM in the First Congregational Church, 103 Main Street, Ridgefield.
The family will receive friends following the service in Lund Hall of the First Congregational Church.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to the Fondation Mira, a favorite charity of Mr. Perry’s that trains seeing-eye dogs, at 1820, Rang Nord-Ouest; Sainte-Madeleine, Quebec, Canada, J0H 1S0.
The Kane Funeral Home, 41 Catoonah Street, Ridgefield is in charge of arrangements.
