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Letitia Asciutto, 94, golfer, bowler, August 18
Letitia Asciutto of Ridgefield, formerly of Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., died on Monday, Aug. 18, 2003 at her home. She was 94 years old and the widow of Joseph Asciutto.
Mrs. Asciutto lived in Ridgefield for the past seven years. Before that she lived in Briarcliff Manor for more than 50 years. She was a parishioner of St. Theresa Church in Briarcliff Manor, member of the former Briar Hall Country Club there and an avid golfer and bowler well into her 80's.
Her husband Joseph died in 1991. They had married on July 4, 1929, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Brooklyn, N.Y.
She is survived by a daughter, Marlene Reece, two granddaughters, Karen Farkas and Lori Gentile; four great-grandchildren; two great-great grandchildren; and a sister, Muriel Donohue.
The funeral was Thursday, Aug. 21, at 10 a.m. at St. Theresa Church, Briarcliff Manor. Burial will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery.
Friends may send memorial donations to the Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut Inc. 405 Main Street, Danbury, CT 06810.
Waterbury and Kelly Funeral Home, Briarcliff Manor, is in charge of arrangements.
William Binninger, printer, veteran
William H. Binninger, 78, a retired printer and World War II combat veteran, died Dec. 1 in Laurel Ridge nursing home on Route 7. He was the husband for 47 years of Rita Binninger and the father of Lori Decaminada, both of Ridgefield.
He was born in Germany in 1923, the son of William and Margaret Binninger, and immigrated to the U.S. with his parents as a young child. He grew up in Queens, N.Y. In World War II Mr. Binninger was a U.S. Army infantryman who fought in the battle of Normandy.
He lived most of his life in Queens, and worked for more than 30 years as a printer for the New York Daily News.
Mr. Binninger and his wife moved to Ridgefield six years ago and lived with their daughter Lori and son-in-law Gene Decaminada at 32 Craigmoor Road South.
“He was a family man,” Ms. Decaminada said.
Besides his wife and daughter in Ridgefield he is survived by another daughter, Suzanne Binninger of Manhasset, N.Y.; a son and a daughter-in-law, William J. and Anna Binninger of Glen Head, N.Y.; and two grandsons, William Binninger of Glen Head and Noah Decaminada of Ridgefield.
Services were on Wednesday in Manhasset, N.Y.
Jay Brundage, 41, hazardous materials specialist
Jay E. Brundage of Mountain Road, a hazardous materials specialist, died on Saturday, April 19, of a sudden illness while visiting family in Loch Sheldrake, N.Y. He was 41 years old and the husband of the late Christine Jensen Brundage, who died in 1994.
A native of Norwalk, Mr. Brundage was born on May 4, 1962, a son of Jay R. and Patricia Farrington Brundage of Ridgefield. He attended Norwalk schools and Norwalk High School. In 1979, he and his family moved to Ridgefield.
Mr. Brundage was in expert in handling hazardous materials and specialized in toxic spills. When he was 17, he began his career at New England Pollution Control in Norwalk where he worked for eight years. When his father founded American Environmental Technologies Inc. in Bethel in 1988, Mr. Brundage joined that firm. When Fleet Environmental Services bought the company a few years ago, he remained with Fleet, serving as a foreman working out of the Bethel office.
Mr. Brundage led cleanups at chemical fires and explosions, train wrecks, and other disasters around the country where toxic chemicals were involved. “He worked on some of the biggest spills — some really nasty jobs,” said his father.
It was often grueling work, his father added. As an example, when a huge transformer in a 17-story state office building in Binghamton, N.Y., caught fire and released highly toxic chemicals and smoke, Mr. Brundage worked seven days a week for five months on removing the “heavy contamination” and it was still several years before the building could be safety reopened.
For relaxation, Mr. Brundage enjoyed freshwater fishing and boating, particularly on Lake Candlewood. He was also an enthusiastic fan of the New York Yankees.
Mr. Brundage especially enjoyed his children, Kyle and Samantha. “He was a good dad — he loved those kids,” said his father. He’d take them to ballgames and other sporting events, amusement parks and to visit their grandparents in Minnesota each year. “Kyle just loved to go fishing with him,” his father said.
Mr. Brundage was a member of St. Mary’s Church in Ridgefield.
Besides his parents, he is survived by a son, Kyle Brundage, and a daughter, Samantha Brundage, both of Ridgefield; three sisters, Laureen Magyar of Bethel, Barbara Brundage of Loch Sheldrake, N.Y., and Patricia Mentnech of Danbury; a brother, Matthew Brundage of Ridgefield; and several nieces and nephews.
A son, Zachary Brundage, died before him.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday morning at 10:30 in St. Mary’s Church, Ridgefield. Burial will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Bethel.
Friends will be received in the Kane Funeral Home, 41 Catoonah Street, on Thursday from 4 to 8.
Contributions to benefit Mr. Brundage’s son and daughter may be made to the Connecticut Higher Educational Trust, c/o Jay R. Brundage, Trustee, 16 Mountain Road, Ridgefield, CT 06877.
John Deane, 71, marketing executive
John “Jack” Deane of Dover, Del., a former marketing executive who had lived in Ridgefield many years, died on Monday, Oct. 6, at his home. He was 71 years old and the husband of Janice Hurst Deane.
Mr. Deane was born Nov. 6, 1931, and grew up in Darien and New Canaan, graduating from New Canaan High School in 1950.
He attended St. Bonaventure University before transferring to Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., where he received a bachelor of arts degree in commercial art. At Bradley, he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity and served as captain of the 1954 tennis team.
Upon graduation, he was commissioned ensign in the U.S. Navy and served as a Navy artist on the staff of Rear Admiral Dan Gallery, stationed in Glenview, Ill.
His business career included producing radio shows starring Arlene Francis, Betsy Palmer and Raymond Massey. He held creative marketing positions at Columbia Records, The Singer Company, Velcro USA and the R.H. Macy Company before retiring last spring.
In 1978, he was elected to the Who’s Who in Advertising and Sales Promotion.
The Deane family moved to Ridgefield in August 1963 to the house at the corner of High Ridge and Barry Avenue. He lived here for 29 years before moving in 1992 to Danbury, where he spent 11 more years before retiring to Dover.
Active in the Ridgefield community, he coached both Pop Warner football and Babe Ruth baseball. He served on the Board of Incorporators of the Ridgefield Boys and Girls Club, and was a founding member of the Ridgefield Booster Club and the Ridgefield Jaycees.
Mr. Deane was a sportscar enthusiast, and was a member of both the Sports Car Club of America and the Vintage Sports Car Club of America. He raced at Lime Rock and drove a 1952 Morgan.
Mr. Deane was active in the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America for more than 20 years and sang with the Danbury Mad Hatter Chorus and various quartets throughout his life.
He enjoyed sports, especially tennis, and had belonged to both the Lakeside Tennis Club in North Salem and the Ridgefield Tennis Club.
He was a member of St. Mary’s Church.
“All those who knew and loved him will dearly miss him,” his family said.
Besides his wife of 46 years, Mr. Deane is survived by seven children, Bryan Deane of New Milford, N.J., Timothy Deane and his wife Elizabeth of Orange, Darren Deane and his wife Kim of St. Charles, Mo., Christopher Deane and his wife Vicki of Geneva, Ill., Kevin Deane and his wife Jennifer of Branford, Tracie Mitchell and her husband John of Ashburnham, Mass., Meg Coffey and her husband Carl of Danbury; two sisters, Faith Sheehan of Portland, Maine, and Susan Kirchner of Shaker Heights, Ohio; 14 grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
His parents, John V. and Loretta C. Deane, and a brother, Peter M. Deane, died before him.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Monday, Oct. 13, in St. Mary’s Church, Ridgefield. Burial will take place at the convenience of the family.
Memorial donations may be made to Dover Hospice, 911 South Dupont Highway, Dover, DE 19901.
The Kane Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Louise L. Fisher, advocate for disabled
Louise Lundblad Fisher of Bloomfield, a longtime advocate for the disabled, died on Thursday, Oct. 16, at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford. She was 55 years old and the wife for 21 years of George M. Fisher.
Mrs. Fisher lived in Ridgefield as a young woman. When she was 15 years old, she had broken her neck while diving off a boat in Lake Champlain, and lost the use of both legs and a hand.
Despite having to use a wheelchair, she graduated from college, became an editor at Xerox, and finally operated her own consulting firm.
“Being disabled doesn’t completely inhibit you if you don’t let it,” Louise Lundblad told a Press reporter in 1972. “There are things you have to give up, of course. But it means that you are physically, but not mentally, disabled. You learn to develop other interests.”
Born in Hamden, Mrs. Fisher was the daughter of Linea Gustafsen Lundblad of Ridgefield and the late Frank Lundblad. She came to Ridgefield in 1968 and had lived in Farmington for some years before moving to Bloomfield 20 years ago.
Mrs. Fisher graduated from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield with a bachelor of arts in English. After graduation, she became a receptionist at the Ridgefield Town Hall. She later worked for Xerox for 22 years, first as an editor and then as a quality control specialist.
In 1978, she took a year’s leave of absence from Xerox to work with the Connecticut Coordinating Committee of the Handicapped to set up a model home for the handicapped in Hartford, the first house of its kind in the state.
“I have always been concerned with the issue of independent living for the handicapped,” she said in an interview that year. “I don’t think the general public is intentionally overlooking the problems of the handicapped — they just don’t know what our problems really are.”
After retiring from Xerox, she started Progressive Attitudes, a consulting firm for businesses with employees with disabilities.
As an advocate for people with disabilities, she was a program coordinator for the Connecticut Youth Leadership Forum, served on the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Independent Living in Wethersfield, and the Connecticut Institute for the Blind/Oak Hill, was a candidate for the U.S. Para Olympic Equestrian Team, and was a past president of the Women with Disabilities Network for the State of Connecticut.
In 1980, Governor Ella Grasso presented her with the Handicapped Employee of the Year award for “fortitude and determination in overcoming personal handicaps.”
Mrs. Fisher also served as a juror for The Hartford Courant’s annual Tapestry Awards, which recognize an individual or organization each year for their contributions to the community.
Besides her husband and her mother, Mrs. Fisher is survived by a cousin, Karen Baldwin and her husband Robert of Farmington.
A memorial service took place Wednesday, Oct. 22, at the NEAT (New England Assisted Technology) Market Place on the grounds of the Connecticut Institute for the Blind/Oak Hill, in Hartford.
Donations in her memory may be made to NEAT Market Place, 120 Holcomb Street, Hartford, CT 06112.
Helen Leary George, Ridgefield native
Helen Leary George of 2 Cherryfield Drive, Danbury, formerly of Ridgefield, died on Friday morning, Oct. 17, at Danbury Hospital. She was 84 years old and the wife of Frederick George and the widow of Lawrence Leary.
Mrs. George was born on June 4, 1919 in Ridgefield, a daughter of Antonio and Albina Manoni Mei. She attended Ridgefield schools and was a retired nurse’s aide at the former Altnacraig Nursing Home on High Ridge.
An area resident all of her life, Mrs. George was a member of the Ridgefield O.W.L.S., the Ridgefield Chapter of A.A.R.P. and of St. Mary’s Church.
She enjoyed wintering in Port Charlotte, Fla.
She is survived by two sons, Lawrence Leary and his wife Christian of Ridgefield, and Daniel Leary and his wife Sharon of Danbury; three daughters, Inez Barrett and her husband Robert of Wareham, Mass.; Carole Leary of Fort Myers Beach, Fla. and Roberta Montanari and her husband Guy of Bethel; a son-in-law, Edward Conklin of Atlanta, Ga.; eight grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
A daughter, Lorraine Conklin, three brothers, Frank Mei, Ciero Mei and Anthony Mei and a sister, Inez Latanzi, died before her.
Private funeral services and burial will take place in St. Mary’s Cemetery.
Contributions in her memory to the Ridgefield Fire Department Ambulance Fund, 6 Catoonah Street, Ridgefield would be greatly appreciated.
The Kane Funeral Home, 25 Catoonah Street, was in charge of arrangements.
Helen Reilly Hoyt, 83, Brown graduate
Helen Reilly Hoyt of Lewis Drive, a longtime Ridgefielder, died Sunday Oct. 19, at her home. She was 83 years old and the beloved wife of the late Richard Hawkins Hoyt.
Mrs. Hoyt was born in Wilmington, Del., the daughter of the late Charles and Mollie McQuade Reilly. She was a graduate of White Plains High School and Brown University.
Mrs. Hoyt lived much of her life in Rye, N.Y., before moving to Ridgefield 39 years ago. In recent years, she also lived in Tequesta, Fla.
She is survived by two sons, Luke A. Nelligan of Ridge, N.Y., and Mark C. Nelligan of Whitehouse, N.J.; two stepsons, Richard M. Hoyt of Easton and Stephen P. Hoyt of Downingtown, Pa.; two granddaughters, Katherine E. Nelligan and Meghan M. Nelligan and two step-grandchildren, Kendall Hoyt and Taylor Hoyt survive her.
Her husband died in 1996.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday at 10:15 a.m. in St. Mary’s Church.
Burial will take place in the Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven, Hawthorne, N.Y.
There are no calling hours.
Contributions in her memory may be made to Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut, 405 Main Street, Danbury, CT 06810 or to St. Mary’s Church Building & Development Fund, 55 Catoonah Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877.
The Kane Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
