USA > Connecticut > History of Connecticut, Volume IV > Part 26
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The younger Frederick M. Lione attended King School in Stam- ford, and on graduating there in 1951, enrolled at Dartmouth Col-
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lege, which conferred on him the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1955. He has also taken evening and summer session courses at Columbia School of Engineering. Entering the Vuono Construction Company in 1955, he is assistant treasurer, and supervisor of construction on the road. This organization is one of Stamford's long-established firms, founded in 1900 by Joseph J. Vuono, who remained at its head until his death in 1936. Today it is one of the largest construction com- panies in the area, specializing in commercial and industrial con- struction.
Also since 1955, Mr. Lione has been in the Army Reserve Corps. He spent six months in active duty with an armored unit at Fort Dix. Mr. Lione has retained two organizational interests from his Dart- mouth days: Psi Upsilon fraternity, and the Dartmouth Corinthian Yacht Club. His firm is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. Yacht- ing is his favorite sport. He votes independently, and is not active in political affairs. He is a director of the Stamford Good Government Association. In religious faith he is a Roman Catholic.
On April 14, 1956, at Stamford, Frederick Michael Lione, Jr., married Sallianne Cordiner. Born at Bridgeport on February 14, 1934, she is a daughter of Ralph Jarron and Gwyneth (Lewis) Cordiner. Her father is chairman of the board of General Electric Company, and makes his home in Stamford. His wife, the former Gwyneth Lewis, was born January 30, 1899, in Maui, Territory of Hawaii, attended schools there and in Washington, and is a graduate of Whit- man College. Her father was a Methodist Missionary. Mrs. Lione attended Low Heywood School in Stamford, graduating in 1952, and in 1956, took her degree of Bachelor of Science in Education at North- western University. She is a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, and of Pi Lambda Theta, honorary education fraternity. She is a Presby- terian. The couple have one daughter, Ann Kendall, born February 2, 1958, in Stamford. The family resides on Wire Mill Road, Stamford.
SAMUEL JOSEPH TEDESCO
Active in the practice of law in Bridgeport since 1938, and prom- inent in politics as a Democrat, Mr. Tedesco served as state represen- tative from 1940 to 1949; he was Connecticut state senator from 1951 to 1953 and he was minority leader in 1953. Judge of the Bridge- port City Court in 1955, he was elected mayor of Bridgeport in 1957, and reelected in 1959.
Mr. Tedesco was born in Bridgeport, on February 22, 1915. the
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son of Joseph Tedesco and of Elizabeth (Gelormino) Tedesco. His father was born in Bridgeport on May 30, 1893, and was active in politics as a Democrat. He was an investment banker and died in 1958. Mr. Tedesco's mother was born in 1894 and died in 1919. Mr. Tedes- co's stepmother is Jane Tedesco.
Mayor Tedesco graduated from Warren Harding High School in 1932, and obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Kentucky in 1936. He received the degree of Bachelor of Laws at Boston University Law School in 1938, and then began the prac- tice of law in Bridgeport. During World War II, he served with the Army Engineers from July 5, 1943 to March 10, 1946, and saw action in the European Theater of Operaions. He held the rank of technical sergeant.
In addition to his political activities, Mr. Tedesco has taken a keen interest in community and civic organizations, and, a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity, he also holds membership in the Amer- ican Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Sons of Italy, and holds the Third degree in the Knights of Columbus. He is a com- municant of the Roman Catholic Church.
Mr. Tedesco was married in Bridgeport, on June 6, 1942, to Evelyn De Grattola, born in Bridgeport on August 21, 1921, the daughter of Ralph De Grattola and of Beatrice (Frasca) De Grattola. Her father was born in Arino, Italy, in 1894, and is a retired postal employee. Mrs. Tedesco's mother was born in Serino, Italy, in 1898. Both of her parents came to the United States as small children.
Mrs. Tedesco graduated from Stratford High School in 1939, attended business college, and was a secretary in an insurance and realty office before her marriage.
Mr. and Mrs. Tedesco have one son, Joseph, born in Bridgeport on September 30, 1949. He is now a student at Our Lady of Assump- tion School.
DONALD THEOPHILUS STILES
Donald Theophilus Stiles came to East Haven to join the manage- ment roster of The Leeds Conveyor Manufacturing Company in 1950, and he is now its vice president and general manager. The firm is a major producer of industrial conveyors, with an established market throughout the Northeast.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 3, 1910, Mr. Stiles is a son of Wesley Eugene and Olive Margaret (Nicewonger) Stiles.
Donald T. Stilen
Conn. IV-21
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His father, born at Elmira, New York, on June II, 1881, began his career as a physician, and practiced until 1912. Also having experi- ence as a chemist and pharmacist, he left practice in 1912 to enter the pharmaceutical field as a manufacturing chemist. He was an offi- cial of the Sterns and White Drug Company in Chicago, Illinois, and later with J. L. Hopkins Company in New York City, with which he remained for thirty years. Now retired, he makes his home in Miami, Florida. Olive Margaret Nicewonger, whom he married, is a native of Altoona, Pennsylvania, and was born on November 20, 1880.
Donald T. Stiles' education was limited to the public schools, and at the age of fourteen he began his working career in the employ of a building contractor. In 1927 he joined the cable department of the Southern New England Telephone Company at New Haven, and continued with that organization until 1935. For the next two years he was a mechanic in the dairy machinery business. From 1937 to 1942 he was resident engineer with a bottling machinery manu- facturer. His next position was as district sales manager with the Island Equipment Corporation at Long Island City, New York, a conveyor manufacturing firm.
Leaving that organization in 1950 with valuable experience in this key industry, he came with The Leeds Conveyor Company as vice president. This firm was founded in 1937, and has since become one of East Haven's important manufacturing units. Mr. Stiles was promoted to his present dual position as president and general man- ager in 1951. Recently the company, to extend its line of products, purchased the Multi-Plane Chain Corporation, a manufacturer of patented conveyor chains.
Mr. Stiles is a member of the Chamber of Commerce in his home city. Affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons, he belongs to all bodies of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, holds the Thirty- second Degree, and is a member of Pyramid Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in Bridgeport. He is a Repub- lican in politics, and he and Mrs. Stiles attend the North Haven Con- gregational Church.
She is the former Saima Fiskaali, and was born in Finland on January 26, 1908, daughter of Henry Oscar and Maria Fiskaali. Her father, born in that country in 1875, preceded his family to this country in 1912 and they came shortly afterwards. He was a machin- ist in a tool factory in Massachusetts, and is now deceased. Mrs. Fiskaali survives him and makes her home in Fitchburg. Mrs. Stiles was five years old when she arrived in this country with her mother.
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She attended schools in Lunenburg and Fitchburg, Massachusetts.
She became the wife of Donald Theophilus Stiles in a ceremony at Georgetown, Connecticut, on September 1, 1929. The couple are the parents of one daughter, Nancy Joan, born January 5, 1933, at Danbury. She graduated from Wilbur Cross High School in North Haven in 1951, and from Pembroke College in 1955, receiving her degree of Bachelor of Arts. She married Paul Michael Nangle, and they live at Villa Park, Illinois. He is a sales engineer with, U. S. Electrical Motors Company. Mr. and Mrs. Nangle have one child, Elizabeth Ann.
FRANK HENRY D'ANDREA, JR.
One of Stamford's younger attorneys, Frank Henry D'Andrea, Jr., has practiced in that city since his admittance to the bar, and is a partner of William F. Hickey, Jr., whose sketch accompanies, and of Frank N. Peluso. He has become active in the councils of the Republican party.
Born at Stamford on May 10, 1931, he is a son of Frank Henry, Sr., and Josephine (Carofano) D'Andrea. His father, born in New Haven on February 16, 1906, attended the public schools there and graduated from New Haven High School. He then attended Yale College, where he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1926. Studying at Yale Medical School he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine there in 1929. Since that time he has practiced at Stamford. In addition to medical associations, Dr. D'Andrea is a Fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus, and a member of the Midtown Club and Innis Arden Country Club. Josephine Caro- fano, whom he married, was born in New Haven on March 18, 1904, and received her education in that city's public schools. She is a mem- ber of St. Joseph's Hospital Auxiliary.
The younger Frank H. D'Andrea completed his secondary studies at Fairfield Preparatory School, graduating there in 1948. In 1952 he received his degree of Bachelor of Arts at Yale College, and took his professional courses at Harvard Law School. When he had re- ceived his degree of Bachelor of Laws there in 1955, he was admitted to the Connecticut Bar.
His first connection was with the law firm of Moore and Epi- fanio in Stamford, and after one year's experience with that organiza- tion, he established his own firm in 1956, in association with Wil- liam F. Hickey, Jr. He has been in private practice since. The firm, which has its offices at 695 Summer Street, is now known as D'An-
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drea, Hickey and Peluso. The firm also maintains offices in the Maher Building in Greenwich.
As a lawyer, Mr. D'Andrea is a member of the American Bar Association, the Connecticut Bar Association and the Stamford Bar Association. He was also a member of the Legislative Research Bureau at Harvard Law School. A Republican, he is treasurer of the Young Republican Club, and was formerly a member of the Republican Committee in Stamford.
He retains membership in the Exchange Club of North Stam- ford, and is president of that organization, and serves on its board of control. Holding the Third degree in the Knights of Columbus, he is a member of St. Augustine Council, and he also belongs to the Holy Name Society at his church, the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic. He is a member of the Stamford Charter Revision Commission and Stamford Scholarship Foundation.
At Stamford, on June 17, 1953, Frank Henry D'Andrea married Anita Ferry. Born in that city on July 7, 1932, she is a daughter of Samuel and Anne (Pittaro) Ferry. Her grandfather, Vito Pittaro, was one of the charter members of the Italian Center in Stamford. Her father, a carpenter by trade, received his education in that city's public schools and now makes his home there. Mrs. Ferry too was born in Stamford and attended its public schools. Mrs. D'Andrea, on graduation from Stamford High School, entered Connecticut State Teachers College in New Haven, where she was a student for three years. She then transferred to Boston University where she took her degree of Bachelor of Science in 1954, following her marriage. The couple are the parents of a daughter, Mary Jo, born September 17, 1956, in Stamford.
WILLIAM FRANCIS HICKEY, JR.
Member of the Stamford law firm of D'Andrea, Hickey and Peluso, William F. Hickey, Jr., is a native of the city in which he now practices. Born on May 28, 1929, he is a son of William F., Sr., and Margaret (Dooley) Hickey. His father too was a native of Stam- ford, born on June 27, 1898. He became a builder in that city, and was a Third degree member of the Knights of Columbus. He died November 29, 1949. He is survived by Mrs. Hickey. She was born in Stamford on October 29, 1898, and attended its public schools. She is a member of the Altar and Rosary Society, and of St. Joseph's Hospital Auxiliary.
The younger William F. Hickey graduated from St. Basil's
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Preparatory School in 1948, and from Manhattan College in 1952, taking his degree of Bachelor of Arts there. In 1955 he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws at Fordham University Law School.
Admitted to the Connecticut Bar in that year, he began his pro- fessional experience with the law firm of Cressy, Bartram, Melvin and Sherwood, remaining with that organization for one year. He joined Frank D'Andrea, Jr., in establishing their own firm in 1956. It is now D'Andrea, Hickey and Peluso, and has offices at 695 Sum- mer Street, and at the Maher Building in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Mr. Hickey is a member of the American Bar Association, the Connecticut Bar Association and the Stamford Bar Association. His other memberships include the Lions Club, the Knights of Columbus, in which he holds the Third degree, and the Holy Name Society. He is a Roman Catholic.
ROLAND BAIRD WEBB
Real estate and insurance have been the major professional in- terests of Roland Baird Webb since the beginning of his career. Early in his career he joined the firm of C. Pond Webb, Inc., and is now its president and treasurer. He has held top executive offices in the Stamford Board of Realtors, and is active in other real estate and insurance men's groups, as well as in civic organizations.
Born in Stamford on May 31, 1913, he is a son of C. Pond and Florence Isabel (Dougdale) Webb. His father, who was born in Darien in 1888, founded the real estate and insurance firm of C. Pond Webb, Inc., in Stamford in 1912. A Republican, he served on the common council and the board of appeals, and was active in the lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He died in 1951. Florence Isabel Dougdale, whom he married, was born in 1892 in Darien. She took an active part in church affairs, and in the programs of the Woman's Club of Stamford and the Garden Club. Her death occurred in 1957.
After completing two years at Stamford High School, Roland Baird Webb went to Augusta Military Academy in Fort Defiance, Virginia, to complete his preparatory studies. He graduated there in 1932. For two years he attended Hampton Sidney College. He then left his studies to join his father's firm, in 1934. He has been active in the management of the real estate and insurance organization ever since, and succeeded his father as its executive head when the elder man died in 1951. He has held office as president and treasurer since that time.
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As a member of the Stamford Board of Realtors, Mr. Webb has held the offices of president and secretary, each for two terms. He is a member of the National Association of Real Estate Boards, the Connecticut Board of Realtors, the Southwestern Connecticut Real Estate Society, and the Columbia Society of Residential Ap- praisers, and serves on the Stamford Insurance Board.
Mr. Webb is also a member of his city's Chamber of Commerce, and of the lodge of Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was pledged to Sigma Chi fraternity while in college. He and his family attend St. Luke's Episcopal Church. During 1944-1945, Mr. Webb served in the United States Army. Remaining stateside, he held the rank of corporal.
At St. John's Episcopal Church in Stamford, on June 5, 1936, Roland Baird Webb married Dorothy Elizabeth Caldwell of Stam- ford. She was born in that city on August 22, 1915. Her father, a native of Stamford, was a contractor, and is deceased. Her mother was born in New Jersey, and now lives in Darien. Mrs. Webb at- tended Stamford High School and graduated from Sacred Heart Academy and from Traphagen Art School. She is active in church organizations and in the Woman's Club. The couple are the parents of three children: I. Roland P., born on February 10, 1941. He is attending Darien High School. 2. Mary Elizabeth, who was born on May 31, 1944. She is a student at Low-Heywood School. 3. Judith Ann, born September 23, 1946; also attending Low-Heywood School. All three children were born in Stamford.
STANLEY PENFIELD MEAD
Judge Stanley Penfield Mead has to his credit an excellent re- cord in public office. He has been prosecutor and judge of the town court of New Canaan, and during six sessions, occupied a seat in the Connecticut State Legislature. In the session of 1943 he was majority leader of the Senate. Since that time he has been judge of the State Juvenile Court for the First District, serving all of Litchfield and Fairfield counties. Up to 1943 he was a partner of his brother in the firm then known as Mead and Mead in Stamford and New Canaan.
Born at New Canaan on April 10, 1890, he is a son of Benjamin P., formerly of Greenwich, and Florence (Heath) Mead of New Canaan. Another son of this couple, Benjamin Heath Mead, was the other partner in the law firm, and is the subject of a separate bio- graphical sketch in this work. Attending the public schools of his native town, Stanley P. Mead completed his secondary studies at
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Stamford High School, where he graduated in 1907. He then entered Yale University, where he took his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 19II and his Bachelor of Laws degree two years later.
In that year, 1913, having been admitted to the bar, he com- menced practice with his brother in the firm of Bartram and Mead in Stamford. They continued their professional association until July I, 1943, when this subject withdrew to give his entire time to the Juvenile Court judgeship. The firm was at that time Mead and Mead.
Mr. Mead's role in the public affairs of his township began many years ago. For eight years he was prosecutor in the town court, and he followed this with an eight-year tenure as judge of the New Canaan town court. He was first elected to the Connecticut State Leg- islature for the session beginning in 1933, and was re-elected to the 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941 and 1943 sessions. He left the legis- lature in 1943 to become judge of the State Juvenile Court, First Dis- trict, over which he has now presided with distinction for a decade and a half.
For thirty-eight years, Mr. Mead has served on the school board at New Canaan, where he makes his home, and he was chairman of that board for fifteen years. For the past decade he has served as president of the Child Welfare Association of Connecticut. Interested in work with youth, he is president of the Fairfield County"Y" As- sociation, and chairman of the board of Camp Mohawk, a Y.M.C.A. camp. He has filled this latter post for the past forty years, and has been its president for the past fifteen years. For some time he was a member of the state board of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion. He is a charter member of the New Canaan Kiwanis Club.
Judge Mead is a Republican in politics, and a lifelong member of the Congregational Church of New Canaan which he has served as trustee, deacon and, for over twenty years, superintendent of the Sunday school.
On September 18, 1915, at New Canaan, Stanley Penfield Mead married Esther C. Comstock. She was born in that town in September, 1891, daughter of Frank L. and Elizabeth (St. Johns) Comstock. Her parents came of old New England families resident in New Canaan for many years. Her father was a retail storekeeper. Mrs. Mead graduated from the Stamford High School and Arnold School of Physical Education, which became the New Haven School of Gymnastics, and later Arnold College. She received a degree in physical education. She has been active in the work of the Church of Christ, Scientist in New Canaan.
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The couple are the parents of two children: 1. Penfield Comstock, who was born on March 26, 1920, at New Canaan. He took his degree of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from Yale University, and is now practicing with the firm of Mead and Mead in Stamford. During World War II he served two and a half years in the European Theater, and in 1950 was again called up for active duty when this country became involved in the Korean War. However, he served in Germany, with the 192nd Field Artillery Battalion. He retains his commission as a captain in that unit at Stamford. Penfield C. Mead married Elizabeth Johnson of New Canaan. 2. Ann Comstock, born on December 2, 1924 at New Canaan. She married C. M. Schmitt, vice president and copy chief of P. S. Advertising in Stamford. They have two sons: Michael Mead and Christopher Comstock, and a daughter Ann C. Mead.
The family's home is at 30 Mead Street, New Canaan, on a part of the Mead Homestead property where our subject was born.
FREDERICK BERKELEY BEARDSLEY, JR.
Since the beginning of his career, Frederick B. Beardsley, Jr., has been with the Waterbury Rolling Mills, Inc. He has advanced to the position of secretary and treasurer, and is also a member of its board of directors.
The operation of this company has long been a family interest, for his father, Frederick B. Beardsley, Sr., was one of its founders and an official from that time until the end of his life, when he held the office of treasurer. The elder Mr. Beardsley was born in Wood- bury on February 8, 1882, son of Henry and Henrietta (Atwood) Beardsley. He attended the schools of Woodbury and New Haven, and graduated from Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University in 1903. He began his career in the brass industry shortly afterwards, and, in 1906, joined A. H. Wells, R. D. Somers, and Frank P. Welton in forming the Waterbury Rolling Mills. At that time he assumed duties as secretary of the firm, which began the production of nickel in 1907. Also, from 1920, Mr. Beardsley was a director of the Citizens and Manufacturers National Bank. He was a member of the lodge of Free and Accepted Masons and of the higher bodies of the Scottish Rite, holding the Thirty-second degree. He was also a member of the Waterbury Club, the Kiwanis Club, Country Club of Waterbury, and the Senior Golf Association of Connecticut. He was a communi- cant of All Souls' Episcopal Church.
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Frederick B. Beardsley, Sr., married Ella Nuhn of Waterbury, and their son, Frederick, Jr., was born in that city on November 15, 1916. He completed his preparatory studies at Choate School in Wall- ingford, where he graduated in 1936, and for two years was a student at the University of Virginia. He entered the United States Army at the time of World War II and served for three and a half years; but except for this sole interruption, his entire career has been spent with the Waterbury Rolling Mills, Inc. A record of the company appears in the industrial and institutional section of this history. Acquiring early experience in its various departments, he was promoted to assistant treasurer in 1950, and was elected secretary and treasurer in 1954. This position he has held since. He has been a member of the board of directors since 1950. He was a director of the Citizens and Manu- facturers National Bank, which is now merged with the Colonial Trust Company and called The Colonial Bank and Trust Company, of which he is now an associate director. Interested in community and welfare causes, Mr. Beardsley is a director of United Com- munity Fund of Greater Waterbury, and also a director of the Boys' Club of Waterbury. He is a member of the Waterbury Club, the Country Club of Waterbury, and Highfield Country Club. His favorite sports are golf, boating and fishing. He and Mrs. Beardsley attend Christ Church in Watertown.
The couple were married in that church on April 17, 1955. She is the former Miss Elizabeth Heminway of Watertown, daughter of Bartow L. and Annabel (Hubbard) Heminway. Mr. and Mrs. Beards- ley have a son, Peter Lewis, who was born on February 22, 1958.
BENJAMIN FILMORE FERRIS
An attorney practicing at Greenwich from the early days of his professional career, Benjamin Filmore Ferris has rendered capable service in several public offices, and fills the position of town counsel at the present time. He takes a lively interest in political and organiza- tional affairs.
Born at Old Greenwich, in the Town of Greenwich, on October II, IQII, he is a son of George E. and Josephine E. (Maher) Ferris. After attending St. Mary's Parochial School and Cos Cob Public School, Benjamin F. Ferris was graduated from Greenwich High School in 1930. He began his advanced studies at Fordham Univer- sity, where he received his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1934. For his professional course, he enrolled at New York University, and took his degree of Bachelor of Laws there in 1939.
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Mr. Ferris returned to Greenwich in 1940 to take up the prac- tice of law, serving as assistant town counsel in 1941 and 1942. From 1943 to 1946 he was associated with the law firm of Hirschberg, Pettingill and Strong, and in 1947 he joined former town court judge Archibald H. Tunick, now judge-elect of the state circuit court, as a partner in the law firm of Tunick and Ferris with offices at 12 Have- meyer Place, Greenwich.
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