USA > Connecticut > History of Connecticut, Volume IV > Part 15
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On July 16, 1924, Mr. Ladish made an important forward step in his career when he was elected assistant treasurer of the bank. He was named treasurer on July 18, 1928, elected a corporator and
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a trustee July 20, 1931, and became secretary on July 20, 1936, while continuing with the duties of the treasurership. On March 25, 1959, he was elected president of the Stafford Savings Bank. He has since been named to the Associate Board of Directors of the Stafford Springs Office of The Connecticut Bank and Trust Company.
At the time of World War I, he was absent serving with the Medical Detachment of the 114th Infantry Regiment, a component of the 29th ("Blue and Gray") Division. He was in action on the Western Front at St. Mihiel, Verdun, and other campaigns.
For about five years, Mr. Ladish served as a member of the finance board of the Town of Stafford. He is a trustee, secretary, and treasurer of The Cyril and Julia C. Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs. He is a communicant of St. Edward's Catholic Church at Stafford Springs, and a member of the Felix J. O'Neill Council of the Knights of Columbus.
NICHOLAS FRANKLIN ARMENTANO
An attorney practicing in Stafford Springs for somewhat less than two decades, Nicholas Franklin Armentano, is now serving with distinction on the bench as probate judge of the Stafford Union Dis- trict. He has served as town counsel for his own and several other townships, and is active in a number of local organizations.
Born in Hartford, on January 30, 1910, he is a son of Joseph and Rosina (Donato) Armentano. He began his education at the Brown School in Hartford, graduated there in June, 1923, and in 1925 graduated from the Hartford Secretarial School. He graduated from Hartford Public High School in June, 1931. Mr. Armentano then entered Catholic University in Washington, D. C., which he attended until 1934, completing his courses there in three years. For his law training he entered the Boston University Law School. There he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1938.
Since 1941, Mr. Armentano has been practicing as an attorney. He was first associated with his brother, Anthony J. Armentano, at 983 Main Street, Hartford, but their professional connection con- tinued only from August 1, 1941 until November II of that year. On the latter date he opened an office for independent practice at Stafford Springs, and there he has centered his professional activities since.
Mr. Armentano served as prosecutor of the borough court of Stafford Springs from 1947 until 1949. In 1951 he became judge of the borough court, and served on the bench until 1953. Since 1947,
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he has been town counsel for the Town of Stafford; and he was named town counsel for the Town of Ashford in 1954 and for the Town of Willington in 1953. From 1954 until 1958, Mr. Armentano served on the Stafford board of education, and he was for a short period a member of the board of finance.
In 1959 he began duties on the bench as probate judge of the Stafford Union District. In May of that year he was appointed circuit court judge.
Mr. Armentano is a member of the American Bar Association, and the bar associations of his state and county. A charter member of the Lions Club at Stafford Springs, he was its first president. He is a member of the Italian Sick Benefit Society and the Italian Bene- fit Club, both of Stafford Springs, and of the Willimantic Country Club of Willimantic, Connecticut. He is a Roman Catholic in religious faith, but Mrs. Armentano is a Congregationalist.
She is the former Elena D'Amato, and is a daughter of Domeni- cao and Angelina (Cafarella) D'Amato. Mr. and Mrs. Armentano are the parents of two children: 1. Philip Nicholas, born May 6, 1944. 2. Christopher Joseph, born March 14, 1948.
REV. MICHAEL J. THOMPSON
Since 1937 the Rev. Michael J. Thompson has served as pastor of St. Agnes' Roman Catholic Church at Niantic. A native of Con- necticut, he has spent his entire career as a priest in the Hartford Diocese and was previously assistant at several churches in Bridgeport, Willimantic and West Haven. In his present parish, he has taken the lead in the construction of a new church building, which was dedicated July 4, 1957.
Father Thompson was born in Waterbury on November 17, 1883, son of Bernard and Bridget (Comfort) Thompson, both now deceased. His parents, who were born in Ireland, came to the United States as young people and settled at Waterbury, where Bernard Thompson was for some years engaged in the livery business. Father Thompson received his early education in the parochial schools of Waterbury. After attending St. Mary's School in that city, he studied at St. Tho- mas Seminary in Hartford from 1911 to 1915, and at St. Bernard's Seminary at Rochester, New York, from 1915 to 1921. Following the completion of his theological studies, he was ordained to the priest- hood at St. Joseph's Cathedral, Hartford, on May 2, 1921, and in June of the same year went to St. Patrick's Church in Bridgeport.
Harald Lever
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Here he served as assistant priest until 1929. From September 13, 1929, until 1934, he was assistant at St. Joseph's Church in Willi- mantic, and from October 6, 1934, until 1937, was assistant at St. Lawrence's Church in West Haven. On January 15, 1937, he was appointed pastor of St. Agnes' Church in Niantic, his present charge. His devotion and zeal have strongly influenced the spiritual life of the parish and his administrative capacities have already made them- selves felt in the development of the church and its institutions, the new church being a monument to his efforts.
Father Thompson is also pastor of the mission church, of St. Francis' Chapel, which is open during the summer months at Crescent Beach, and he was formerly pastor of St. Matthias' Mission at Flan- ders. He is state chaplain of the Connecticut State Firemen's Asso- ciation, and has held this post for nearly twenty-five years. During his residence in Bridgeport, he was for a time city chaplain. Father Thompson is a member of the Knights of Columbus. He is well loved by his own people, and enjoys the respect of Niantic people of all faiths because of his sincerity, his genuine interest in the community, and his appealing personal qualities.
HAROLD LEEVER
President since 1954 of MacDermid, Incorporated, of Waterbury, manufacturers of industrial metal finishing chemicals, and associated with the company since 1938, Mr. Leever is also a director of the Patent Button Company and president of Frozen Genes, Incorporated.
He was born in Detroit, Michigan, on May 21, 1914, graduated from Ferndale, Michigan, High School in 1932, and obtained the degree of Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering at Michigan State University in 1936. He became associated with MacDermid, Incorporated, as a chemist in 1938, becoming sales manager, vice president and then executive vice president. He has held the post of president since 1954. The company was founded in 1922 by Archie J. MacDermid, who is now chairman of the board.
Mr. Leever is a director and vice president of the Waterbury Chamber of Commerce, a director of the Manufacturers Association and of the Boy Scouts of America, and he was president of the Rotary Club in 1955. A Republican in politics, his social connections include membership in the Waterbury Club and the Waterbury Country Club, he attends religious services at the Federated Church of Bethlehem, Connecticut, and is superintendent of the Sunday school.
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He was married in Angola, Indiana, on October 5, 1935, to Ruth Ann Salter, the daughter of Vaughn Thomas Salter and of Ruth (Carruthers) Salter. Mr. and Mrs. Leever have five children: I. Su- zanne, born on March 15, 1938. 2. Thomas, born in 1940. 3. John, born in 1943. 4. Daniel, born on September 17, 1948. 5. Andrew, born on August 9, 1957.
EDWARD C. WYNNE
After beginning his law practice in Hartford, Edward C. Wynne came to Glastonbury in 1950, and has had his offices there since 1953. Since 1953 he has served as town counsel. He is active in the Repub- lican party organization and in various local groups. He is a veteran of service with an airborne division in World War II.
Mr. Wynne was born in Framingham, Massachusetts, on July 24, 1923, and is a son of Edward C., Sr., and Louise (French) Wynne. His father was for some years in the diplomatic service of the United States government, and later with the Department of State in Washington, D. C. He was a native of California. His death oc- curred on Sepember 26, 1939. Louise French, whom he married, was born in Newton Highlands, Massachusetts.
The younger Edward C. Wynne attended Woodrow Wilson High School, Washington, D. C., but did not remain to graduate there, completing his preparatory studies at Lawrenceville School in Law- renceville, New Jersey. From there he went to Yale University, where he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1947. For his law training, Mr. Wynne went to Boston University Law School, and on completing his courses there in 1950, took the degree of Bach- elor of Laws.
Admitted to the practice of law in the state of Connecticut in June of that year, Mr. Wynne was also admitted to practice in Mas- sachusetts the following month. He began practice in Hartford, where he continued until 1953, and he then moved his offices to Glastonbury, where he has had them since. In that year, he was named town counsci, an office he has capably filled to the present time.
Mr. Wynne is currently chairman of the Republican Town Com- mittee of Glastonbury. His fraternity is Beta Theta Pi, which he joined at Yale.
Mr. Wynne's studies at that university were interrupted by mil- itary service in World War II. Joining the United States Army, he was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, with which he was in
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action in the European Theater of Operations. He was in uniform from 1943 to 1945. He is a member of the Goodale Ramaker Post of the American Legion.
He and Mrs. Wynne attend the First Church, Congregational, in Glastonbury. She is the former Miss Mary Louise Foss, and became the wife of Edward C. Wynne in a ceremony at Sudbury on Sep- tember 16, 1950. She is the daughter of Bernard and Mildred (Davis) Foss. A graduate of Rogers High School at Newport, Rhode Island, she went on to professional training at The Nursery Training School at Boston, of which she is a graduate. The couple are the parents of the following children: I. Matthew E., who was born on November 15, 1952. 2. Jane L., born September 1I, 1956. 3. Timothy D., born July 13, 1959. All three children were born in the Hartford Hospital.
B. FLOYD TURNER
In the course of his long connection with The Glastonbury Bank and Trust Company, B. Floyd Turner has advanced to the presidency, an office to which he was elected in 1951.
Member of a distinguished family long established in New Eng- land, he was born in Glastonbury on August 31, 1889, and is a son of Benjamin Franklin and Ida Augusta (Smith) Turner. His father, who died in 1905, operated an extensive tobacco farm in this section. Prior to managing this property he had been associated with the Meri- den Britannia Company, for which he worked until the outbreak of the Civil War. At that time he enlisted in the Union forces and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Twenty-fifth Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers. After the war he joined a Boston drug firm and worked there for several years, eventually returning to Glaston- bury to assume management of the family farm, which he operated until his death. Benjamin Franklin Turner was active in community affairs and held several public offices, among them that of selectman, member of the local school board, and member of the board of reliet.
In the paternal line, Mr. Turner traces his ancestry to his great- grandfather, William H. Turner, who was brought to this country from England by his mother, who settled in Boston. He married and was the father of Chauncey Turner, who was born in 1793 and mar- ried Hopestill Risley.
In the maternal line, Mr. Turner is a descendant of Richard Ris- ley, a native of England, who came to this country aboard the ship "Griffin," and settled in Newtown, Massachusetts, now known as Cam-
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bridge. In 1636 he moved to Connecticut with the Hooker Party and settled in Hartford. The lineage from this point is traced through his son Richard, Jr., born in Hartford in 1648; through his son Samuel; through his son Job; and through his son Samuel, who was born in Glastonbury and was the father of Hopestill Risley, who mar- ried Chauncey Turner.
B. Floyd Turner received his general education in the public schools of his native community, and on graduating from high school there, entered Trinity College, from which he graduated in 1910 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The same year he joined the staff of the Hartford Trust Company, which has since been renamed the Connecticut Bank and Trust Company. He continued with that bank until 1920, when he moved to Glastonbury to assume duties as treas- urer of The Glastonbury Bank and Trust Company. Two years later he was elected to its board of directors.
Throughout his residence in that town, he has been active in civic and organizational affairs. He was largely responsible for the estab- lishment of the Board of Finance in Glastonbury in 1923, and served as its chairman from that year until 1935. He was also instrumental in obtaining a bequest for the erection of the Welles-Turner Memorial Library in Glastonbury and was chairman of its board of directors for twelve years. During 1936-1937 he held office as president of the Suburban Bankers Association of Hartford County. Mr. Turner has retained membership in Phi Beta Kappa, to which he was admitted in student days in recognition of excellence in scholarship. He is also a member of Delta Phi fraternity, and he formerly belonged to the Manchester Country Club. He attends the Congregational Church and is a Republican.
On August 24, 1915, at Glastonbury, B. Floyd Turner married Emily Welles Lambert, daughter of the Reverend John R. and Helen (Kellogg) Lambert. Mrs. Turner died in 1949. Mr. and Mrs. Turner were the parents of two daughters: I. Elizabeth, born January 2, 1917. She is a graduate of Oxford School at Hartford and of Kath- arine Gibbs School in Boston. 2. Emily L., born on June 2, 1919. She graduated from Oxford School in 1937.
On June 28, 1950, Mr. Turner married Miss Arline S. Talcott, daughter of Clinton O. and Mary S. Talcott. They reside at 2113 Main Street in Glastonbury.
THOMAS F. RADY
A resident of Rockville, Thomas F. Rady has for some years
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been serving with distinction on the bench as judge of probate for the District of Ellington. This district comprises the townships of Ellington and Vernon, in the latter of which the city of Rockville is located. In past years he held office as a member of the Connecticut State Legislature, and as judge of the city court.
Mr. Rady is a native of Rockville, and a son of Thomas F., Sr., and Mary L. (O'Connor) Rady. His father was publisher and printer of the Rockville Leader for fifty years prior to his death in March, 1936. His wife, the former Mary L. O'Connor, survived him until August, 1954.
Born on January 6, 1907, Judge Rady completed his preparatory courses at Clason Military Academy, Clason Point, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, which is now LaSalle Military Academy. Graduating there in the Class of 1927, he then enrolled at Catholic University in Washington, D. C., and there he took his degree of Bachelor of Science in 1931.
In the early years of his career, Judge Rady was associated with his father in the publishing of the Rockville Leader. In 1941 he was elected to the Connecticut State Legislature, and after serving a four- year term, was re-elected in 1945, serving continuously until 1947. In that year, he was appointed to the post of judge of the city court at Rockville by Governor Raymond A. Baldwin (who himself recently became Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court). Thomas F. Rady continued in the municipal judgeship until his election to his present post as judge of the probate court for the District of El- lington, in 1949. He was re-elected, to four-year terms, in 1951 and 1955, and was again returned to office in the course of the current year (1959).
Judge Rady is a member and past president of the Rockland Civic Association. He is also a past president of the Rockville Rotary Club. He is a communicant of St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church. Fond of the out-of-doors, he follows the sports of hunting, fishing and golf.
At Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 20, 1929, Thomas F. Rady married Margaret May Rink, daughter of William J. and Helena (Kasper) Rink. The couple are the parents of the following children : I. Thomas F., 3rd, who was born on January 20, 1931. He graduated from Rockville High School and the University of Connecticut, and after graduation from the university, served in the United States Army with a commission as lieutenant. Later attending Hartford Law School, he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and is
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now practicing in Rockville. He is a member of the Connecticut State Bar and Tolland County Bar associations. Married to the former Miss Dolores Pelczarski of Webster, Massachusetts, he is the father of two children : Mark and Jane. 2. Helen L., born on March 12, 1934. She married Ronald F. Nolan. Mrs. Nolan is a graduate of Rockville High School and of St. Francis School of Nursing at Hartford. She and her husband are the parents of a daughter, Margaret Ann Nolan. 3. William J., born on September 14, 1941. A graduate of Rockville High School in the Class of 1959, he is now attending the University of Connecticut. 4. Edward D., born on January 21, 1949.
REV. PATRICK J. MAHONEY
For the past decade and a half, the Rev. Patrick J. Mahoncy has devotediy served his faith as pastor of St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church at Rockville. He previously served parishes in sev- eral other Connecticut cities.
A native of Waterbury, Father Mahoney was born on April 28, 1892, son of Jeremiah J. and Agnes (Sweeney) Mahoney. After at- tending the public schools of Waterbury and graduating from Crosby High School in 1910, he entered Holy Cross College at Worcester. There he graduated in 1914. Choosing the service of the Roman Cath- olic Church through the priesthood as his vocation, he next entered St. Bernard's Seminary at Rochester, New York, and on April 2, 1918, was ordained at St. Joseph's Cathedral at Hartford by the Most Rev. John J. Nilan, D.D.
Father Mahoney's first assignment was at Sacred Heart Church in New Haven, where he served as assistant pastor. Froni there he went to St. Mary's Church at Greenwich, also being assistant pastor there. After another period as assistant pastor of St. Lawrence O'Toole Church in Hartford, Father Mahoney was appointed in January, 1935, to the pastorate of St. Mary's Church in Stonington. While there he earned a reputation for leadership in athletics and in youth work. He remained at Stonington until 1944, when he was appointed pastor of St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church at Rock- ville.
During the hurricane of 1938 which lashed the New England coast, St. Mary's Church in Stonington opened its doors to those in distress. The following account of this act of mercy was written by the Pastor :
ST. MARY'S CHURCH AND THE HURRICANE
A short account of the good work done by the Catholic Church in Stonington
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for the townspeople and the refugees from a passenger train wrecked in the parish.
The hurricane of September 21, 1938, did great damage in more ways than one. In addition to the loss of several lives and the destruction of many homes and other property, it counted in its heavy toll several Church buildings and did not spare even the burial place of the dead.
It blew the cross which surmounts the church over against the chimney, drove the cupola eight inches out of line, threw two heavy girders under the church roof out of place, and cracked the ceiling in some places. Across the street the chimney of the rectory was blown into the roof, half the shingles were torn off the roof, while all trees and fences were smashed down by the rushing wind. The same thing happened to the cemetery fence and to one on the Water Street property. All trees behind St. Mary's Hall and some fine ones along the side the cemetery went down; half a dozen monuments also fell before the fury of the storm.
Wind and waves worked together, as part of Stonington is a peninsula on Long Island Sound, destroying property and flooding the land; the turn of the tide caused added fear but no greater rush of water from the sea.
In spite of all this the Church did not go down, nor the priest's house, nor the hall. They proved to be a Godsend, a place of refuge and comfort, of rest and refreshment. Many persons came closer to God than ever before and thought of Christ's words "Come to Me-and I will refresh you."
So between 200 and 250 people slept in St. Mary's Church that night, most of them men; in the vestry were a few women with children. About 30 women and 30 or 40 children slept in St. Mary's Hall, 16 people slept in the rectory at 95 Main St. Two of them were priests. Others came from afar, as their letters of gratitude testified. Many were refugees from a train wrecked only a short distance from the church. A very large number of the 275 passengers and most of the crew found food and shelter on St. Mary's Church property
In both the rectory and the hall all comers were fed almost until midnight. The next morning about 500 were fed in St. Mary's hall. All church buildings were thrown open by the pastor personally, without any suggestions from out- siders. All who helped in any way did so voluntarily. The hall was opened by the pastor as soon as he realized the passenger train victims needed shelter, food and care, as did the people of the town also.
St. Mary's Church, built in 1851 provided spiritual and material aid on that occasion. It will do so again in every case of distress, and by its good example, may it lead many to eternal salvation.
Your pastor, Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, St. Mary's Church Stonington, Conn.
P.S. After the hurricane was over, permission was granted to the American Red Cross to make use of St. Mary's Hall as its headquarters for a period of about three months.
While at Stonington, Father Mahoney organized a Boy Scout troop, as well as forming a Holy Name Society in St. Mary's Church. While at Greenwich and Hartford, he served as chaplain of the two communities' organizations of the Catholic Daughters of America, and at New Haven he formed and conducted several boys' athletic organizations, particularly parish sports teams. He has been active in the Knights of Columbus, and was formerly chaplain of the Ston- ington Council. He also served as chaplain of that city's chapter of the Daughters of Isabella, as well as being director of the parish soci- eties. He has continued his useful organizational work at Rockville.
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IRWIN I. KRUG
One of Connecticut's outstanding attorneys, Irwin I. Krug has practiced at Willimantic since his admittance to the bar. He has served the Town of Windham in the Connecticut State Legislature.
Mr. Krug is a native of Willimantic, and was born on September 19, 1909, son of Abraham and Molly (Gluck) Krug. After attending local public schools, he went to New York University, where he took his degree of Bachelor of Science in 1930. For his professional train- ing he enrolled at Harvard Law School, and there received his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1933. Admitted to the Connecticut bar in that year, he began practice in his native city. A member of the State Bar Association of Connecticut, Mr. Krug has served on the State Bar Examining Committee since 1948.
His record in public office began in 1933, when he assumed duties as justice of the peace. In the years since he has served as assistant prosecutor of the Willimantic municipal court, as counsel for the Town of Windham, and as representative to the State Legislature. A com- missioner of the Willimantic Housing Authority since it was founded in 1946, he was its chairman from 1952 to 1956. Since 1950 he has been public defender for Windham County.
Mr. Krug is a veteran of service in the Transportation Corps during World War II, holding a first lieutenant's commission and serving from 1942 to 1946.
On October 15, 1948, Irwin I. Krug married Dorothy Monahan, daughter of Michael and Katherine (Owens) Monahan. The couple are the parents of a son, Thomas Arthur, who was born in Willimantic on February 20, 1957.
ANDREW EMERSON TURNER
Shortly after Knudsen Brothers Dairy was founded at North Haven, a young man joined its staff who has grown with the organi- zation during the two decades since that time. He is Andrew Emerson Turner, whose position is now sales manager and director of distri- bution. The firm, with a staff of one hundred and fifty, is one of the major milk distributors of the New Haven area, and it is the subject of a brief historical sketch in this volume.
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