USA > Connecticut > History of Connecticut, Volume III > Part 39
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He is a trustee of the Mechanics Savings Bank, American School for the Deaf, Eastern States Exposition, and the Hartford County Rehabilitation Workshop, Hartford School of Music and the YMCA.
Mr. Daniel is a corporator of the Hartford Hospital and the In- stitute of Living.
Active in the New England Daily Newspaper Publishers As- sociation, he has served as its president, and he is a member of the New England Advertising Executives Association.
He has served as a director of the Governmental Research In- stitute, Advertising Council of America, New England Council, Hart- ford Chamber of Commerce, Connecticut Chamber of Commerce, Junior Achievement of Hartford, Frank E. Gannett Newspaper Foundation Inc., Gannett Company, Inc., and Committee for Hart- ford.
Mr. Daniel was a founder of the University of Hartford.
His fraternal organization memberships include both the Masons and the Elks.
His club memberships include Rotary Club, City Club, Avon Country Club, Hartford Club, Sales Executives Club and Hartford Engineers Club.
On September 19, 1925, David R. Daniel married Marion A. Ingalls. Their children are David Ronald and Diana Lee. Diana is now Mrs. Howard H. Wetherell.
WALDEMAR J. LACH
As a lawyer, Waldemar J. Lach practices in Hartford, but in Newington Township, where he makes his home, he is well known for his role in public affairs, and is currently serving on the bench of the town court. He has also had a distinguished military career, and now holds the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Air Corps Reserve.
A native of Hartford, he was born on February 23, 1917, and is
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a son of George W. and Anna (Walczasta) Lach. His father is de- ceased, but his mother survives and makes her home in Newington. Attending the public schools of Hartford, Judge Lach graduated from Bulkley High School there, and for his advanced studies went to the University of Southern California, where he received his degree of Bachelor of Science in 1941. In August of that year he entered the United States Army Air Corps as a flying cadet, and was commis- sioned a second lieutenant on April 1, 1942. In the course of the war, he served in the European Theater of Operations, took part in fifty- four combat missions, received five battle stars and had attained the rank of major by the time he was honorably discharged in 1946. He joined the United States Air Force Reserve, in which he has since advanced to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Following the war, Judge Lach completed law courses at the University of Connecticut and Hartford College of Law, and received his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1948. In that year he was admitted to the bar of his state and has since practiced at Hartford. His offices are at 525 Main Street. He is a member of the American Bar Associa- tion, the Connecticut State Bar Association, and the Hartford County Bar Association, as well as the National Association of Compensation and Claimant Attorneys.
Judge Lach served the Town of Newington as a member of its board of selectmen from 1951 to 1953. In 1955 he became judge of the town court, an office in which he has since served.
As a veteran of Air Corps service in World War II, Judge Lach is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Polish Legion of American Veterans. His other memberships include the Newing- ton Kiwanis Club and the Knights of Columbus, and he is a communi- cant of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church. He serves as a member of the volunteer fire department in his home town. He is fond of sports, particularly golf.
At Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 7, 1941, Waldemar J. Lach married La Von Torpen of Los Angeles, California, daughter of Hiram and Roselle (Swanberg) Torpen. The couple are the parents of the following children: I. Waldemar Torpen, who was born at Bellington, Washington, on October 20, 1941. He is now attending Williston Academy at Easthampton, Massachusetts. 2. Jacqueline Gay, born April 10, 1945, also at Bellington, Washington. 3. Linda Kathleen, born December 5, 1948, at Everett, Washington. 4. Kris- tina, born September 18, 1951. 5. La Von Roselle, born on January 23, 1957. Both of the younger children were born in Hartford.
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CHARLES LOUIS FINCKE, M.D.
Charles Louis Fincke, M.D., commenced his practice of medicine at Stamford over a quarter-century ago. In the course of that time he has rendered valuable service on hospital staffs, and he has also been active in his city's business and civic life and in welfare causes. He has banking interests, and he has held office in medical groups.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, he was born on March 5, 1902, son of Charles Louis and Martha (Brown) Fincke. His father, also a physician, was born in Brooklyn on March 29, 1873, and attended public schools there. He graduated from Yale College, and in 1896, took his degree of Doctor of Medicine at Long Island Medical Col- lege. He then practiced in Brooklyn until his death in 1906. He was a member of the American Medical Association. Martha Brown, whom he married, still survives him, and makes her home in St. Petersburg, Florida. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 1I, 1875, and graduated from Smith College, where she took her degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1898. An ardent feminist in her day, she was one of the original Suffragette Marchers in New York. She taught music at Mount Holyoke and at Longy School in Cam- bridge, Massachusetts, after receiving her Master of Education de- gree from Harvard University in 1924.
Dr. Fincke completed his preparatory studies at Loomis Insti- tute, where he graduated in 1920. He received his degree of Bachelor of Arts at Harvard College in 1924, and went on to Harvard Medical School, where he graduated with his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1928. He served on the staff of the Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York, until 1931.
In that year, he commenced his practice at Stamford. Since 1937 he has been a member of the medical board at Stamford Hospital, and was chosen chairman of the board in 1954, holding that office since. He is also chief of the Medical Service of Stamford Hospital. From 1942 to 1958 he served on the staff of St. Joseph's Hospital as atten- dant physician, and is now an emeritus member of its staff. He was assistant physician and assistant in medicine at the Vanderbilt Clinic (Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons) from 1931 to 1942. Dr. Fincke is consulting physician to Stamford Hall.
Dr. Fincke is also a member of the board of directors of Connec- ticut Medical Service, and of the board of directors of Gaylord Farm, a retreat with hospital facilities for those suffering from chronic illnesses.
The physician's banking interests include membership on the
C. Louis Frêche
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board of directors of the Stamford Savings Bank, and membership on the advisory staff of the Darien branch of the National Bank and Trust Company of Fairfield County. He serves on the board of di- rectors of the Stamford Boys Club, having a vital interest in work with youth. He was also a trustee of the Stamford Community Chest.
His professional connections include the Connecticut Medical Society, which he served as alternate councillor of Fairfield County from 1947 to 1952 and councillor from 1952 to 1958. He served as chairman of the Council from 1955 to 1957. He is a member and past president of the Stamford Medical Society. He also holds membership in the Fairfield County Medical Society and the American Medical As- sociation. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, Fellow of the American College of Physicians and mem- ber of the Connecticut Medical Examining Board from 1953 to present. He is also a member of the American Heart Association. His club memberships include the Stamford Yacht and the Harvard (of New York). In religious faith he is a Protestant.
At Salem, Ohio, on July 28, 1925, C. Louis Fincke, M.D., mar- ried Katheryne Miller. She was born in Columbus, Ohio, daughter of Ralph Freeman and Geneva (Dickson) Miller, on June 18, 1903. Her father, born at Mount Gilead, Ohio, in 1875, was an auditor, and he died in February, 1931. Mrs. Miller survives him and lives at Nashua, New Hampshire. She was a teacher for many years, but is no longer active. She was born in Crawford County, Ohio, July 3, 1875.
Mrs. Fincke is a graduate of Salem High School in her native state, and of Radcliffe College, where she took her degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1924 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She is a past president and member of the board of the local Young Women's Christian Association, and is now a member of the organization's national board. She is also a director of the Stamford Family and Children's Services, and serves on the board of the Psychiatric Clinic for Children at Stamford Hospital. She has been active in the Junior League, of which she is a past president.
The couple are the parents of two children : I. Elizabeth, who was born at Boston, Massachusetts, on August 5, 1928. She is a graduate of Dana Hall, and entered the Connecticut College for Women, where she graduated in 1949 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. She is married to Mark H. Brown, an account executive with the na- tionally known investment firm of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Smith. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have three children: i. Katheryne Eliza-
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beth, who was born on July 21, 1951. ii. Victoria Louise, born on December 14, 1952. iii. Andrew Fincke, born on October 3, 1955. 2. Norma, born June 4, 1931. She completed her preparatory studies at Kent Place, Summit, New Jersey, where she graduated in 1949; and in 1953 received her degree of Bachelor of Arts from Radcliffe College. She married Roger S. Wales, an insurance actuary, and their children are: i. Carol Swift, born on January 21, 1953. ii. Amy Sewall, born August 17, 1954. iii. Sarah Gilpin, born on January 25, 1956. iv. Marcy Millard, born April 18, 1959.
C. GILBERT SHEPARD
As head of the Hartford firm of Shepard and Company, C. Gilbert Shepard has represented Aetna Life Insurance Company for the past forty-five years. He is a native of Hartford and was born on April 5, 1892, son of Charles E. and Grace (Geer) Shepard. His father, a native of West Hartford, was a general agent of Aetna Life Insurance Company, which he joined in 1886. He was active in the management of Shepard and Company, its agency in Hartford. His death occurred in December, 1942, at the age of eighty-one. His wife, the former Grace Geer, died in February, 1946, in her eightieth year.
Beginning his education in the West Middle District School of Hartford, C. Gilbert Shepard went on to Hartford High School, where he graduated in 1910. He completed his work for the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy in three years at Yale University, receiving the degree in 1913.
In that year he began his career with the Aetna Life Insurance Company, which he served as agent until 1923. At that time he be- came associated with his father in the firm of Shepard and Company, general agents for the Aetna Life Insurance Company, with a terri- tory comprising the state of Connecticut exclusive of New Haven and Fairfield counties.
Mr. Shepard's military experience predates World War I. He served in Troop B, Cavalry, Connecticut National Guard, from 1914 to 1917, and was in service on the Mexican border in 1916. When this country became involved in hostilities, he entered the federal service with the TOIst Machine Gun Battalion, and served until 1919.
As one of Hartford's business leaders, C. Gilbert Shepard is a trustee of the Dime Savings Bank of Hartford, and a member of the advisory committee of the West Hartford Branch, Connecticut Bank
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and Trust Company. He has become well known in insurance circles, and is a member of the National Association of Life Underwriters. His other memberships include The Hartford Club, Hartford Golf Club and the Yale Club of Hartford. He is a Republican in politics, and attends the Asylum Hill Congregational Church.
In New Haven, on October 2, 1920, C. Gilbert Shepard married Louise McCance, daughter of William J. and Nancy (Hodge) Mc- Cance. The McCance family came from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Shepard became the parents of four children: I. Nancy S., who was born on September 18, 1921. She is the wife of Mr. Gerald H. Doherty. 2. Betty S., born on June 1, 1923. She married Mr. R. Parker Jones. 3. Charles E., 3rd, born on August 8, 1926. He married Eliza Finkenstaedt. 4. Louise S., born on February 3, 1931. She married Raycroft Walsh, Jr.
ROGER BURTON MCCORMICK
Roger Burton McCormick received his training in the law fol- lowing his wartime service in the Army Air Corps, and since his ad- mittance to the bar, has practiced at Hartford. He specializes in patent law, and has his offices at 36 Pearl Street.
A native of Kewanee, Illinois, he was born on May 7, 1919, and is a son of Emmett and Hazel (Rogers) McCormick. His father is now deceased, but his mother survives and makes her home in Tavares, Florida. Roger B. McCormick completed his public school education with his graduation from Wethersfield High School in Kewanee, and he then entered the University of Notre Dame, later transferring from there to Illinois Institute of Technology. In 1942 he entered the Army Air Corps, and served as a pilot, being assigned successively to the Seventh, Eighth, and Fourteenth Air Forces. He spent some time in the Pacific, later went to Europe, and at the war's end was in China. He attained the rank of first lieutenant, and received his honorable discharge from the service in 1945.
Mr. McCormick resumed his education after the war, and in 1949 received his degree of Bachelor of Laws from DePauw Univer- sity Law School. Admitted to the Connecticut bar on January 30, 1951, he began his practice at Hartford, where he has specialized in patent law. He is a member of the Connecticut Patent Law Associa- tion, American Patent Law Association, American Bar Association, and Hartford County Bar Association.
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His other memberships include the Engineers Club of Hartford and the Exchange Club of West Hartford. He attends St. Marks Church in West Hartford. He is fond of the out-of-doors and his hobby is gardening.
In Chicago, on September 19, 1942, Roger B. McCormick mar- ried Margaret Dolwocky, daughter of Andrew and Wilma (Panik) Dolwocky. Mrs. McCormick attended Harrison Technical High School in Chicago. The couple are the parents of twins, Wilma Karen and Thomas David, who were born on April 23, 1947 in Chicago. The family lives at 44 Seymour Avenue, West Hartford.
BISHOP WALTER H. GRAY
Bishop of Connecticut for several years past, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Walter H. Gray has spent most of his years in the service of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Connecticut. In past years he was dean of Christ Church, Hartford, and he is former suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Connecticut and former bishop-coadjutor. Bishop Gray has had legal as well as theological training.
Born at Richmond, Virginia, on August 20, 1898, he is a son of William Cole and Irena Hanswood (Talley) Gray. After completing his public elementary and high school education in the region of his birth, he entered the College of William and Mary, and later trained for the law at the University of Richmond Law School. He was ad- mitted to the bar in Virginia in 1925. At about the time he commenced his practice, however, he felt the call to the service of the Christian Church, and enrolled for courses at Virginia Episcopal Theological Seminary. There he received his degree of Bachelor of Divinity in 1928, and the same institution conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1941. He also holds degrees of Doctor of Divinity from the University of Richmond (1954), and Doctor of Sacred Theology from Berkeley Divinity School ( 1940) and from Trinity College in Hartford (1941).
Bishop Gray was ordained a deacon in the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1928, and the following year was ordained a priest. He began his career of service to the church as assistant rector of St. John's Church in West Hartford, remaining in that capacity until 1932. Thereafter until 1936, he was absent from Hartford, serving as dean of the Nativity Pro-Cathedral at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Back in Hartford, in 1937, he was named dean of Christ Church Cathedral. In 1940 he assumed duties as suffragan bishop of the Dio-
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cese of Connecticut, and served until 1945, when he became bishop coadjutor. He has held his present office as bishop since 1951.
At the Anglican Congress of 1954, he was chairman of the com- mittee on arrangements and Episcopal secretary; and he has been a member of the Lambeth Conference Consultive Committee and the National Council of the Protestant Episcopal Church. He was chair- man of Committee III of the 1958 Lambeth Conference. He is presi- dent of the Church Missions Publishing Company. He has been visiting lecturer at Berkeley Divinity School, and is president of it and of St. Margaret's School, and the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut; and has taken a vital part in the programs of the Trustees of Donations and Bequests, Glebe House Society, the Church Home of Hartford, the Society for the Increase of the Ministry, and the Church Scholar- ship Society. He is president of trustees of the Colt Bequest.
Bishop Gray has also made a contribution to his denomination through his publications on spiritually oriented themes. Their titles and years of publication are: "Our Belief," (1945) ; and "Future Course of the Anglican Communion" (1946). He also composed an anthem, "Faith in the Right," in 1945. He is editor of Pan-Anglican.
Bishop Gray's fraternities are Kappa Alpha and Delta Theta Phi. He is interested in the programs of patriotic societies, and is a member of the Sons of the Revolution in Virginia, and the Society of Colonial Wars which he has served as Connecticut chaplain and cha- plain and chaplain general. Local organizations in which he holds membership are the University Club and The Hartford Club, both of Hartford, the Graduates Club of New Haven, and the Common- wealth Club of Richmond, Virginia.
A veteran of service in World War I, Bishop Gray served with the 29th Division, a component of the American Expeditionary Forces. Subsequently he held commissions as second lieutenant in the infantry and first lieutenant in the cavalry, Officers Reserve Corps, until 1933.
On February 4, 1933, Dr. Walter H. Gray married Virginia Stuart Hutchinson, daughter of Robert Parke and Elisa (Myers) Hutchinson. They became the parents of two children: I Agatha Ashton (Mrs. J. T. Cabaniss, Jr.). 2. Parke Hanswood. The family live at 100 Westerly Terrace, Hartford, and the bishop's office is at 1335 Asylum Avenue.
DONALD FOWLER BRADLEY
Vice president of the First New Haven National Bank of New Haven, since 1955, Mr. Bradley has been associated with the bank
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since 1947. He has had long experience in the investment and manu- facturing fields and is active in the community. He was born in New Haven on December 5, 1905, the son of Edward M. Bradley and of Florence S. (Fowler) Bradley. His father was an investment banker and was one of the founders of the New Haven Foundation. A most public-spirited man, he was a director of the Union New Haven Trust Company and died in 1950. Mr. Bradley attended Rumsey Hall School in Cornwall, The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, and obtained the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Yale College in 1929.
He was associated with his father in Edward M. Bradley, In- corporated, the oldest investment house in Connecticut, for twelve years, starting as a runner and holding the post of secretary and assis- tant treasurer when he left the company in 1940 to work for the Mullite Refractories Company in Shelton, where he held the post of sales engineer for a year and a half. He was then branch manager for the American Tube Bending Company in New Haven. Made factory manager in 1942, he became associated with the First Na- tional Bank of New Haven in 1947, soliciting new business for the trust department until 1951. Made assistant trust officer in 1950, he became assistant vice president in 1952 and has held the post of vice president since July 1, 1955. A member of Mory's Association and of the Quinnipiac Club, Mr. Bradley attends religious services at the Congregational Church of the Redeemer.
He was married on January 25, 1930 to Orril M. Thompson, the daughter of George E. Thompson and of May (Farnham) Thomp- son. By this marriage, Mr. Bradley had five children: I. Donald F., Jr., born on August 30, 1931. 2. Thompson, born on June 17, 1934. 3. Edward M. II, born on April 3, 1936. 4. Orrin T., born on June 5, 1940. 5 Nicholas H., born on May 24, 1943.
Mr. Bradley was married for the second time on October I, 1955, to Betsy Clark (Adams) Dodge, the widow of Nelson Dodge. Mrs. Bradley had three children by her first marriage: I. N. Lowell, born on November 12, 1940. 2. Martin C., born in September, 1942. 3. Steven B., born on July 8, 1945.
SANFORD H. WADHAMS
Brigadier General (retired) in the United States Army at the time of his recent death, Sanford H. Wadhams was also vice chair- man of the Connecticut River Valley Flood Control Commission and chairman of the Connecticut Water Resources Commission. He was a member of the board of governors of the Charlotte Hungerford
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Hospital and a member of the board of directors of the Institute of Living in Hartford. President of F. L. Wadhams and Sons, Incorpo- rated, he was also president of the Torrington Water Company and chairman of the board of directors of the Sanitary Paper Mills.
Mr. Wadhams was born in Torrington, on March 20, 1874, the son of Frederick Lyman Wadhams and of Sarah M. Wadhams. His father was born in Goshen, on December 4, 1844, and his mother was born in New Hartford, on November 10, 1854. Mr. Wadhams attended the Torrington grade school and graduated from Torrington High School in 1891. He obtained the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy at Yale University in 1894, and received his medical degree at Yale University Medical School in 1896. In 1919, he received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Yale University, and graduated from the Army War College in 1921.
Mr. Wadhams entered the United States Army during the Spanish-American War in 1898, and he served continually in the Army Medical Corps until 1922, when he retired with the rank of colonel; upon his retirement he was advanced to the grade of Brigadier General. His service included two and a half years with the Army of Occupation in Puerto Rico and three years in the Philippine Islands during the Philippine Insurrection. He was on duty at the American Embassy in Paris in 1916, and in 1917, was attached to General Head- quarters, General Staff, upon General Pershing's arrival in France. At the war's end, he returned to the United States for duty at General Staff College until his retirement in 1922.
He then became director and chairman of the Connecticut State Water Commission, chairman of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Commission and also chairman of the Flood Control and Water Policy Commission. A member of the Army and Navy Club of Wash- ington, D. C., Mr. Wadham's social connections included membership in the Graduates Club of New Haven, and the University Club and the Hartford Club, both of Hartford. He was a member of the Center Congregational Church of Torrington, and served his church as a trustee.
Mr. Wadhams was married at Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 5, 1906, to Carra Atkins, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Elias C. Atkins. Her father was born in Bristol, Connecticut, and was president and the principal owner of the E. C. Atkins Company of Indianapolis.
FREEMAN LIGHT
For a great many years, the Light family has been identified with
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law practice at Norwalk. Freeman Light became a member of the bar there shortly before World War I, and until his recent death was a senior member of the firm of Light, Light and Paris. In the course of that time he had won a distinguished reputation as a public official. He was a member of the Connecticut State Legislature during three sessions, and had been judge of the Norwalk City Court for nearly a quarter of a century.
Born at Norwalk on February 6, 1887, in the same house in which he lived throughout his life, he was a son of John Henry and Ida M. (Lockwood) Light, and grandson of Belden and Ann (Keen- an) Light. His father, born at Carmel, New York, on March 27, 1855, graduated with honors from Chamberlain Institute at Randolph, New York, in 1880, and read law in the offices of Levi Warner in Nor- walk. Admitted to the bar in 1883 he began practice in South Norwalk in that year. He served as corporation counsel of South Norwalk from 1884 to 1908; was prosecuting attorney from 1896 to 1900; and served on the bench as judge of the Criminal Court of Common Pleas from 1900 to 1905. From 1899 to 1901, he was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, and was speaker in 1901. He was treasurer of Fairfield County from 1899 to 1906; and for many years subse- qent to 1886, was a member of the South Norwalk school board, serv- ing as its chairman for some time. He was director of the South Norwalk Public Library from 1890, and he himself owned one of the most extensive private libraries in the state. He was a director of the City National Bank and the South Norwalk Savings Bank. He had a wide reputation as an orator, lecturer, and Shakespearean scholar. He was a lifelong Republican, and a Mason, affiliated with the Knights Templar and the Shrine. He also belonged to the Odd Fellows lodge. He and Mrs. Light attended the Congregational Church. They were married in New Canaan on August 3, 1881. She was born there in 1861 and died in 1924. He survived her until 1947.
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