USA > Connecticut > History of Connecticut, Volume III > Part 20
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Dr. Westerfield was lecturer at the University of California in the summer of 1925. In 1927-1928, he was on leave of absence abroad as George Westinghouse Professor in the universities of Italy. He was lecturer at the summer sessions at Northwestern University in 1930 and 1935; at Ohio State University in 1931 ; at the University of Southern California in 1932; at the University of Texas in 1937; and at Columbia University in 1939.
Throughout his period of years as an educator, he found time to fill a number of important non-teaching posts. During the summer of 1926 he was chief of the Section of Statistics. United States Treas- ury. He was a member of the research staff of the National Industrial Conference Board during the summers of 1927 and 1928; and in the summer of 1929 he conducted a survey of banks and credit for the
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state of Oklahoma. Dr. Westerfield served as president of the Eco- nomists' National Committee on Monetary Policy in 1934-1935. From 1957 to 1959, he served as a member of the Connecticut State Tax Study Commission. He was secretary and treasurer of the American Economic Association 1920-1925 and a member of its executive com- mittee from 1939 to 1942.
Dr. Westerfield was named president of the First Federal Sav- ings and Loan Association of New Haven in 1934, while still teaching at Yale University. He remained active in both posts concurrently until 1951, and retired from both in that year. He has since been chairman of the board of the Savings and Loan Association.
In addition to these duties, he has been a director of the Trades- men's National Bank since 1937. Active in the Connecticut Building and Loan League, he served as its president in 1940-194I.
For more than four decades, Dr. Westerfield has had an established reputation as a writer on economic topics and banking practice. Follow- ing are the titles of his books, with years of publication: "Middlemen in English Business" (1915) ; "Early History of American Auctions" (1920) ; "Banking Principles and Practice," a five-volume work first appearing in 1921, with college editions published in 1924 and 1928; "Problems in Money, Credit and Banking" (1928) ; "Incidence and Effects of Federal Income Tax" (1929) ; "American Business Prac- tice," a five-volume work which he co-authored with others, and which was published in 1931; "Financial Handbook" (with others, 1933) ; "Our Silver Debacle" (1936) ; "Money, Credit and Banking" (1938, reissued in 1948); "Consumer Credit and Its Uses" (with others, 1939) ; "Branch Banking" (with J. M. Chapman, 1942) ; "Interna- tional Financial Stabilization" (with others, 1944); and "The Indi- vidual Enterprise System" (with others, 1947).
Dr. Westerfield is a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity and of Sigma Xi, a national scientists' society. Locally he belongs to the Rotary Club of New Haven, the New Haven Lawn Club, the Faculty Club of Yale University, and the Graduates Club, and he is also a member of the Yale Club of New York and of the Yacht Club of Watch Hill, Rhode Island.
At Wellesley, Massachusetts, on June 17, 1924, Ray Bert Wes- terfield married Mary Beatrice Putney, daughter of Frank Osborn and Mabel Lidorra (Holt) Putney. Mrs. Westerfield teaches Latin in the Hamden Hall Country Day School. The couple became the parents of two children: I. Holt Bradford, born on March 7, 1928. 2. Putney, born on February 9, 1930. The former is assistant professor of Political Science, at Yale University, and the latter is on the managerial staff of Time, Inc.
FREDERICK T. BACKSTROM
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FREDERICK T. BACKSTROM
With more than three decades in the savings and loan business to his credit, Frederick T. Backstrom is now president of the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of New Haven. His name and record are well known in the state, and in the banking fraternity nationally, and he has capably filied a number of offices in professional groups, and in local welfare and civic organizations.
A native of Sweden, he was born on July 18, 1903, son of Carl Victor and Eva (Utberg) Backstrom. Completing his education at Commercial High School in Brooklyn, New York, he studied bank- ing over a fourteen-year period by attending evening classes offered by Columbia University and the Savings and Loan Institute. He was the first student in the country to complete all of the courses offered by the Institute, and earned its three-year, its five-year, and its graduate diplomas. These courses were taken concurrently with his regular schedule of work in the banking field, which began on June 6, 1926. On that date he began his connection with the Century Federal Savings and Loan Association of New York City in the capacity of teller-trainee, and he remained until 1940, by which time he had attained the position of branch manager.
He left to accept appointment as executive secretary of the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of New Haven. On January 2, 1943, he was promoted to executive vice president, and he was named president on January 20, 1955, succeeding Ray Westerfield, whose biographical sketch accompanies.
He has remained active in the Savings and Loan Institute, be- longing to its New York Chapter, which he served as president dur- ing the 1930-1931 term. He is a member, former director and former member of the executive committee of the United States Savings and Loan League, and on February 19, 1958, was named vice chair- man of its Committee on Federal Home Loan Banks. In the same year he became chairman of its Subcommittee on Proposals for a Secondary Home Mortgage Market. He has served on its Legisla- tive Committee, and many other of its committees. He has served as president of the Connecticut Savings and Loan League, and of the Federal Savings and Loan Council of Connecticut. During the 1958- 1959 term, he was chairman of the Coordinating Committee, Connecti- cut Savings and Loan League, and he is a member of its Tax Com- mittee. He is a former member of the Federal Savings and Loan Advisory Council for the entire system; and he has been moderator of several of the United States Savings and Loan League's manage-
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ment conferences over the past decade and a half. He is a former director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, former vice chairman of its executive committee, and a former member of the Federal Advisory Committee of the Federal Home Loan Bank Sys- tem in Washington, D. C.
Apart from his professional connections, Mr. Backstrom has served as a director of the Connecticut Chamber of Commerce and of the New Haven Chamber of Commerce. He was formerly chairman of the Urban Renewal Committee of the latter group. He is a former trustee of Arnold College, Milford, and is on the advisory board of the School of Executive Development of New Haven College. He is also a member of the board of trustees of Quinnipiac College, Ham- den. When the flood disaster hit Connecticut in 1955, he served as chairman of a special committee set up by the Savings and Loan League to help victims of the disaster who had lost their homes. He is a member and former president of the New Haven Rotary Club, and former vice president and treasurer of the New Haven Adver- tising Club. He has served as director of the Quinnipiac Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and of the New Haven Council of Churches, and as chairman of the New Haven Price Control Board during the war years. Mr. Backstrom's career has comprised experi- ence as teacher and lecturer. He has taught courses offered by the American Savings and Loan Institute, and has appeared as speaker before such groups as the New Haven Real Estate Board, New Haven Home Builders Association, Columbia Society of Residential Appraisers, the United States Savings and Loan League, service clubs, schools and church groups-as well as on radio and television programs. A communicant of the Church of the Redeemer in New Haven, Mr. Backstrom has served on its board of trustees.
Frederick T. Backstrom married Ethel Ericson, and they are the parents of one son, Alan, who attends Hopkins Grammar School. The family lives on Ridge Road in Hamden.
PHILIP WILLIAM GENOVESE
As a professional engineer, Philip W. Genovese has been indenti- fied with a number of projects of great value to the people of his state. He heads the firm of Philip W. Genovese and Associates, with of- fices at 294 Elm Street, New Haven.
Born in that city on January 22, 1917, Mr. Genovese is of Italian parentage. Both his father, Anthony Genovese, and his mother, the former Angelina Ingianni, were born at Trapani. The engineer at-
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tended the public schools of his native city and graduated from New Haven Senior High School, "Hillhouse," in 1934. For his profes- sional training he went to Yale School of Engineering, where he graduated in 1938 with the degree of Bachelor of Engineering.
He began his career with the firm of Clarence M. Blair in 1938, later with Bridgeport Hydraulic Company., Inc., and left in August, 194I, to serve in the United States Navy. He attained the rank of lieutenant commander in the Navy's Civil Engineer Corps. His first assignment was as public works officer in charge of underground fuel storage at Pearl Harbor, and he was later project manager in connec- tion with the power plant, water supply, and oil receiving station there. His next assignment was public works officer and resident officer in charge of construction at the Naval Air Station at Honolulu, Hawaii. Returning to this country, he was next assigned to the Naval Air Station at Sanford, Florida, where he had similar duties until his separation from the service in November, 1945.
Shortly after returning to civilian life, Mr. Genovese became a design engineer, in 1946, with the firm of Argraves and Mort in New Haven. Becoming a registered professional engineer in 1948, he was made a partner in the firm in that year. Its name was changed to Newman E. Argraves and Associates in 1949. In 1947, Mr. Genovese carried out important professional work on highway design projects for the Connecticut State Highway Commission.
In 1954 the firm name was changed to Philip W. Genovese and Associates. During the years since that time, he has been responsible for planning a number of the important projects which have been undertaken in his state and elsewhere in the Northeast. The firm was structural designer of the grandstand and club house of the Jockey Club at Monmouth, New Jersey, a five and a half million dollar project. The planning of highway and bridge construction projects has always been a major part of their work. In 1955 alone, they re- stored forty-five bridges in Connecticut, and twenty bridges in Mas- sachusetts, following the destructive floods which had visited those states. In 1957 they were responsible for designing Nike guided mis- sile sites for the Army Corps of Engineers. Projects in progress dur- 1958 include the planning of storm sewer systems and roads, and redevelopment programs in New Haven.
Mr. Genovese has found time for public service in several official posts. He has been chairman of a committee to review town planning, zoning, and construction practices. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce Committee on Public Transit in New Haven.
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His professional connections include the National Society of Professional Engineers, which he has served as national director; and he is a member and past president of both the Connecticut Society of Professional Engineers and the New Haven Society of Profes- sional Engineers. A Roman Catholic and a communicant of St. Barnabas' Church in North Haven, he is a member of the Knights of Columbus.
At North Haven, on January 25, 1947, Philip W. Genovese mar- ried Restituta Adelaide Buonocore, daughter of Vincent and Carlotta (Buonocore) Buonocore. Her father was born on the Isle of Ischia in the Bay of Naples, and her mother is a native of the city of Naples. Mr. and Mrs. Genovese have two children, both of whom were born at North Haven, Connecticut: I. Adelaide Felicity, born on April 13, 1949. 2. Philip Anthony Vincent, born August 27, 1952.
JOHN DEKOVEN ALSOP
Following his return from overseas service in World War II, John deKoven Alsop joined the staff of the Hartford County Mutual Fire Insurance Company. His rise within the organization has been exceptionally rapid, and he is now its president and treasurer, and a member of its board of directors. He also holds offices in other cor- porations, and has been active in public affairs.
Born on August 4, 1915, in Avon, he is a son of the late Joseph Wright Alsop who died on March 17, 1953 and of Corinne Robinson Alsop, now Mrs. Francis W. Cole. As a boy, John deKoven Alsop attended Kingswood School in West Hartford, where he graduated in 1928; and in 1933 he completed his preparatory courses at Groton School, Groton, Massachusetts. He then entered Yale University, where he took his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1937.
On his graduation from Yale, Mr. Alsop began his career on the staff of the New York investment banking firm of Smith, Barney and Company. He continued with that organization for five years, and in 1942, entered army service as an enlisted man. Serving in England, France, and China during the remaining years of World War II, he attained the rank of captain, and was separated from the service on December 25, 1945.
Mr. Alsop entered the employ of the Hartford County Mutual Fire Insurance Company as a field inspector in July, 1946. In 1947 he became manager of the Fire Prevention Service Department. On October 18, 1950, he was made vice president of the company, and on April 14, 1953. became president, treasurer, and a director of the
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Hartford County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, now called the Mutual Insurance Company of Hartford.
Other offices which Mr. Alsop holds at the present time include a number of corporate executive posts and directorships. He is treasurer and director of the Connecticut Valley Mutual Insurance Company, vice president and treasurer of the Waterville Road Realty Corporation, member of the Farmington Valley Divisional Com- mittee of the Hartford Electric Light Company, and a director of the Hartford National Bank and Trust Company, Torrington Manu- facturing Company, and the Simsbury Bank and Trust Company. He is also a director of the Connecticut Humane Society, and a corporator of the Hartford Hospital. He takes a vital interest in the cause of education, being a member of the Connecticut State Board of Educa- tion, and a director of Connecticut Citizens for Public Schools. He is a director of the Institute of Living. As a loyal and active Republican, Mr. Alsop is currently serving as a member of the Avon Republican Town Committee. In past years he became well-known in his state as a legislator and political worker. In the 1947 and 1949 sessions of the Connecticut State Legislature, he was a member of the General Assembly from Avon; and he was a member of the Finance Com- mittee during both terms, and chairman of the Insurance Committee in 1949. In 1948, Mr. Alsop was chairman of the Connecticut Stassen Organization; and in 1952 he served as vice chairman of the Con- necticut for Eisenhower Organization. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention from Connecticut's First District that same year.
During the 1952 term, Mr. Alsop served as Senior Chubb Fellow of Timothy Dwight College, Yale University. He was formerly a di- rector of the Pope Brooks Foundation-Avon Old Farms, and is a member of the board of governors of The Hartford Club.
He retains a vital interest in civic affairs, and his favorite out- door sport is golf.
On June 19, 1947, John deKoven Alsop married Augusta Robin- son, daughter of Lucius, Jr., and Augusta (McLane) Robinson. Mrs. Alsop is a graduate of Miss Porter's School at Farmington. The couple are the parents of three children: I. Mary Oliver, born on April 2, 1948. 2. Augusta McLane, born on August 22, 1950. 3. John de Koven, Jr., who was born on November 20, 1951.
GUNNAR HOLGAR ANDERSON
An official of the Burrett Mutual Savings Bank of New Britain
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for over a quarter-century. Gunnar Holgar Anderson has advanced to the presidency of that financial institution. Mr. Anderson has also held municipal office.
The son of John Wilhelm and Emma (Carlson) Anderson, he was born at Thompson, Connecticut, on January 4. 1903. His father became a builder in New Britain, and Gunnar H. Anderson lived in that city from his early years, attending public schools there. He grad- uated from New Britain High School in 1918. In the years since, he has completed courses given by the American Institute of Banking, and also completed courses at the Graduate School of Banking, Rut- gers University.
Mr. Anderson began his career in banking when he was only fifteen years old, joining the staff of the New Britain Trust Company as a messenger in 1918. Remaining with that organization until 1930, he advanced to the position of general ledger bookkeeper. He left to join the Burrett Mutual Savings Bank in the capacity of teller. He was promoted to assistant treasurer in 1943, and became secretary and treasurer in 1950. Culminating his varied experience in the bank- ing profession, he was named president of the Burrett Mutual Sav- ings Bank in 1953.
Mr. Anderson served as a member of the board of finance of Newington, Connecticut, and in his own city belongs to the Rotary Club and the New Britain Club. He and his family attend the First Church of Christ, Congregational, at Newington.
Mrs. Anderson is the former Miss Blanche Evelyn Hagert, and is a daughter of Gust and Bertha (Sand) Hagert. She became the wife of Gunnar Holgar Anderson in a ceremony at Winthrop, Mas- sachusetts, on October 23, 1936. The couple have two children: I. Gunnar Holgar, Jr., born on January 23, 1943. 2. Sara Bean, born on February 20, 1947.
RENE LEO LIEGEOT
Following a number of years' experience in the insurance field, Rene Leo Liegeot established his own agency in New Britain. This successful organization has now been in existence more than two de- cades, and was recently incorporated.
Born at Rutherford, New Jersey, on March 2, 1899, he is a son of the late Julien and Mary (O'Brien) Liegeot. Before coming to this country from France in 1893. Julien Liegeot had served in the French National Army as a commissioned officer. After coming to this country he worked as a chef.
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Rene L. Liegeot attended St. Patrick's Parochial School at Hart- ford through the ninth grade, graduating in the year 1913. From 1913 to 1915 he worked in a butcher shop, and in May of the latter year, began his career in the insurance field as a file clerk in the Hartford offices of the AEtna Casualty and Surety Company. He remained with that organization until November, 1916.
At that time Mr. Liegeot accepted a position with the audit de- partment of Travelers Insurance Company, and remained with that well-known organization until 1929. From 1923 to 1925 he was spe- cial agent at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after attending the Travelers training school; and he held a position as field assistant from 1925 until he left the firm. From 1929 to 1935 he was manager of the Commercial Company Insurance Agency at New Britain.
Since 1935, his major business interest has been the management of the Liegeot Insurance Agency, of which he was sole owner prior to the incorporation of the agency in 1957. Its address is 109 West Main Street, New Britain
Mr. Liegeot is a member of the New Britain Board of Fire Underwriters and the Connecticut Association of Insurance Agents. Locally he holds membership in the Lions Club and the lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, as well as the fourth de- gree Knights of Columbus. He and his family attend St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in New Britain.
Mrs. Liegeot is the former Miss Elizabeth Agnes Simpson, daugh- ter of the late Joseph Francis and Bernadette (Maynard) Simpson. She became the wife of Rene Leo Liegeot in a ceremony at Hartford, on February 14, 1928. The couple are the parents of the following children: 1. Rene, who was born on March 23, 1929. 2. Joan Eliza- beth, born on May 16, 1931. She is the wife of Attorney Morton C. Hansen, Jr. 3. Mona, born on February 19, 1935. 4. John David, born on June II, 1938. 5. James Bernard, who was born on September 5, 1947.
WILLIAM DAILEY MCCUE
William Dailey McCue, engaged in the mortgage banking field and active in public affairs, now heads his own firm, The William D. McCue Company, Mortgage Bankers, with offices at 70 West Main Street, New Britain. He serves on his city's Board of Finance and Taxation; is active in political affairs; and also takes a constructive interest in the cause of education.
He is a native of New Britain, and was born on September 19,
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1906, son of William Patrick and Katherine Frances (Dailey) Mc- Cue. His father served in the New Britain Police Department with the rank of lieutenant, and he also has a distinguished record of serv- ice in the National Guard.
William D. McCue began his education at St. Mary's Parochial School, which he attended until June, 1921. He completed his secondary studies at New Britain Senior High School, graduating there in June, 1925, and he took an additional year at Massee Preparatory School in Stamford, completing his courses there in June, 1926. Mr. McCue received both the Bachelor of Philosophy and the Bachelor of Laws degrees at Georgetown University in the nation's capital, where he graduated in June, 1932.
He began his career on the staff of the Home Owners Loan Cor- poration in the state of Connecticut, and remained with that federal agency until 1938. On January 31 of that year, he assumed duties as assistant state director of the National Youth Administration for Connecticut. He later served for four years as Connecticut repre- sentative of the National Housing Agency, another government bureau. He was executive director of the Housing Authority at New Britain from 1939 to 1941, and from 1938 to 1941 was chairman of the city's Board of Fire Commissioners.
In 1946 Mr. McCue joined the executive staff of the mortgage banking firm of William A. Curtin Company, serving as vice presi- dent of this Hartford organization until 1949. In that year he left to establish his own concern, The William D. McCue Company, also engaged in the mortgage banking field, and he has been president since that time.
In 1955 Mr. McCue was elected president of the New Britain Real Estate Board. He has been a member of the Board of Finance and Taxation since 1954. He is serving on the board of directors of the New Britain Chamber of Commerce. Active in the councils of the Democratic party, he served as chairman of the Democratic Town Committee in 1954-1955.
Mr. McCue has taken a particular interest in the affairs of his alma mater, Georgetown University. He is at present serving as a member of its Alumni Board of Governors. In August, 1956, he was honored by the alumni of the university at a banquet held at the Shore Haven Club in East Norwalk. On that occasion the Connecticut grad- uates named him the "Man of the Year" from their number, in re- cognition of his consistent and effective work on behalf of the univer- sity. He was Connecticut chairman of a fund-raising campaign which
David J. Day.
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had as its purpose the construction of a new science building. Mr. McCue was prominent in athletics in high school, preparatory school, and college, and at Georgetown, he was fullback on the football team. His fraternity is Gamma Eta Gamma, and in his own city he belongs to the lodges of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Columbus. He is a communicant of St. Maurice Roman Catholic Church in New Britain.
At Newington, Connecticut, on November 20, 1941, William Dailey McCue married Mary Gertrude McCusker, daughter of An- drew Joseph and Mary (Geary) McCusker. The couple are the parents of the following children: 1. Karen Ann, born November 22, 1943. 2. Margaret Ann, born April 10, 1945. 3. William James, born on November 24, 1946.
DAVID SHELDON DAY
A member of the law firm of Marsh, Day and Calhoun of Bridge- port since 1910, and active in the practice of law since 1905, Mr. Day served as a representative from Colchester in the Connecticut General Assembly in 1905 and he was a member of the Connecticut State Board of Pardons from 1921 to 1935. He was president of the Con- necticut Bar Association from 1932 to 1935.
Mr. Day was born in Colchester, on September 8, 18So, the son of Erastus Sheldon Day and of Catherine Gardner (Olmstead) Day. His father was born in Colchester in 1836, and was an attorney. Chairman of the Republican State Committee, and a member of the state legislature, he was consul for Bradford, England, and died in 1925. Mr. Day's mother was born in 1840 and died in 1910. Mr. Day is a graduate of Bacon Academy, obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree at Yale University in 1902, and received the degree of Bachelor of Laws from Yale University Law School in 1904.
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