United States High School Yearbooks by County
Mary Wowk
Mary Wowk, 92, a longtime resident of Old Greenwich and a recent resident at Smith House in Stamford, died on June 9, 2010 at Stamford Hospital.
Born in Stamford on April 24, 1918, Wowk was the daughter of Ignatz and Kateryna Szkwarok Wowk. She will be best remembered by her kindness, generosity and the love she gave to her extended family. Her cooking skills were well known and she enjoyed nothing more than to prepare an entire meal for her family and to send guests home with delicious leftovers.
She is survived by her brother-in-law and friend of over 60 years, Alexander Kulchuk of Stamford; two nephews, Gregory Kulchuk and his wife Lynn of Enfield and Michael Wowk Jr. and his wife Lisa of Trumbull; and two nieces, Marcia Wessels and her husband Tom Wessels of Westminster, Vt. and Cathy Bird and her husband Ken of Trumbull. She is also survived by many great nieces and nephews: Robert Kulchuk, his wife Julie and daughter Katie of Littleton, Mass.; Kelsey Wessels of Greenfield, Mass.; Christopher and David Wowk; and Daniel and Brian Bird of Trumbull. She was predeceased by her siblings, Michael Wowk and Sophie Wowk Kulchuk.
Funeral services were held on June 15 at Leo Gallagher Funeral Home in Stamford. Interment followed at Fairfield Memorial Park Cemetery, Oaklawn Avenue in Stamford.
Walter E. Finch Jr
Walter E. Finch Jr., 68, of Norwalk, died Jan. 3, in Norwalk. Born on Sept. 20, 1941 in Stamford, he was the son of Frances T. Finch of Norwalk and the late Walter E. Finch Sr.
He served in the US Navy as a submarine serviceman. He was a retired captain of the Stamford Fire Department, Local 786 and was a recently retired Senior Dispatcher for the 911 Emergency Services of Stamford. He was also a former Shop Steward of his union. He was an avid walker, crossword puzzle solver, but most of all enjoyed spending time with his family.
In addition to his mother, he is survived by his wife, Ann Marie (Cha) Tuccinardi Finch of Norwalk; his children, Mark Finch and his wife Mary of Bethel, Kathryn Malizia and her husband Louis of Stamford, Max and Zak Finch of Norwalk; his sister Nancy Finch of Norwalk; his cousin, Lou Ann Finch of Stamford; grandchildren, Brooke, Meghan, Krystin, Sara, Melissa, and James; and former wife, Joyce Finch of Stamford.
Services and Interment are private.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made in Walter's name to the Lustgarten Foundation, 1111 Stewart Avenue, Bethpage, NY 11714
Robert W. Geitz
Robert W. Geitz, 72, of Norwalk died in his home while surrounded by his family on Sunday, Jan. 3 following a lengthy illness.
Born in Norwalk on June 6, 1937, he was the son of the late Ernest W. and Ella Mae (Beebee) Geitz. He was a 1955 graduate of Norwalk High School and while enrolled, received various medals for his athletic abilities.
Following High School, he served in the US Army and while serving, he married
his beloved wife of 51 years, Frances (Carlo) Geitz and together, raised their family in Norwalk.
He was employed for 27 years at Perkin Elmer of Norwalk and retired as a project manager in 1993. He then owned and operated Robert W. Geitz Electrical Contracting for 15 years and was active through his illness.
He was a devout Catholic and was a member of St. Matthew R.C. Church and its New Horizon club. He was a coach for various Norwalk sport teams and volunteered his time in Boy Scouts. He enjoyed various sports, especially golf. He also enjoyed playing poker and bowling. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother and friend and will be missed by all.
Along with his wife, he is survived by two sons, Robert E. and his wife, Barbara Geitz and Wayne A. and his wife, Karen Geitz, all of Norwalk; one daughter, Donna Dutlinger of Harwinton, Conn.; seven grandchildren, Melissa and her husband, Roy Gruner, Angela Geitz, Danielle and her husband, Mathew Beyus, Steven Robert Geitz, Robert M. Geitz, Leanne Dutlinger and Layne A. Dutlinger; three great-grandchildren, Roy J. Gruner III, Jason Gruner and Arianna Beyus; one sister, Barbara and her husband, Roger Peden of DeBary, FL and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
Norwalk's Hoyt-Cognetta Funeral Home & Crematory handled arrangements.
Memorial Contributions may be made to: Mid-Fairfield Hospice, PO BOX 489, Wilton, Conn, St. Matthew R.C. Church or the Whittingham Cancer Center, Maple Street, Norwalk.
Richard Holt
Richard Holt, 87, formerly of Norwalk, died Dec. 31, in Terryville, Conn. Holt diedafter a long illness. He will be dearly missed by his loving family.
Holt was born on Aug. 23, 1922 to Horace and Beatrice Holt and spent his childhood in New Canaan. He spent the bulk of his professional career at Nash Engineering Company in Norwalk, where he worked for 52 years.
Holt is survived by his wife, Jennie, and two loving daughters, Charlene Holt Mango and her husband Bill of Greenwich and Janet Angione and her husband Christopher of New Milford. His memory will live on in his five grandchildren, Stephanie, Nicolas, Alison, David and Dillon.
There will be a private service for the immediate family. Abbey Funeral Home and Crematory Services in Rocky Hill will be handling the arrangements.
Mary L. Irvin
Mary L. Irvin 75 of Norwalk died Dec. 24 at Honey Hill Health Care Center after an extended illness.
She is survived by her eldest and dearest nieces and nephews Stanley C. Moorer, Jr., Janice, Marcella, Diane, Niecey, Cynthia, Sherry, Theresa, Derek, Danny, Patricia, Stacey, and Melissa; a host of loving great and great-grand nieces, nephews, numerous friends, neighbors and second families.
Efstathios Kyriakides
Efstathios Kyriakides, 86, husband of the late Parthena Konstontinides Kyriakides died Jan. 4 in his home. Born Nov. 15, 1923, he was son of the late Haralambos and Despina Alexandrides Kyriakides.
Kyriakides was born in Russia, and moved to Greece in 1938. He later emigrated to the United States with his family in 1963 and owned and operated restaurants in Stamford, and Middletown, R.I. before his retirement.
He is survived by his three children, Peter Kyriakides and his wife Vicky of Portsmouth, R.I., Harry Kyriakides and his wife Anna also of Portsmouth, and his daughter Paula Kyriakides of Norwalk. Additionally, he is survived by his six grandchildren, Patty, Katie, Steve, Genna, Tori and Stathi and by his great-granddaughter Melina.
Donations in his memory may be made to: St. George Greek Orthodox Church, 238 West Rocks Road, Norwalk, CT 06851 or to St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church, 390 Thames St., Newport, RI 02840.
Connie S. Maniatty
Connie S. Maniatty, a Wall Street executive, founder of the Norwalk Hospital Foundation, lifelong philanthropist, husband, father and brother, died Jan. 8, at his home in Westport, at the age of 90. His wife of 61 years, Betty, was at his side.
He joined Salomon Brothers in 1943, he became a general partner in 1960 and remained so until his retirement in 1979, when he became a limited partner, then honorary partner in 1982. Due to a series of mergers, his most recent position was honorary managing director of Citigroup.
"Connie was my first boss at Salomon Brothers back in 1966, and I was lucky to land under him -- he was a great mentor and a true gentleman. Sitting right next to him, I learned the business of bond trading -- and every day saw the importance of hard work and honest leadership, " said Michael R. Bloomberg, mayor, City of New York.
"Connie Maniatty was responsible for a whole generation of Salomon Partners who went on to succeed and revolutionize the capital markets. He taught us to work hard and think outside the box, but most of all to do the right thing. We will miss him, " said Lewis Ranieri, former vice chairman, Salomon Brothers, founder and general partner of the Hyperion Group, CEO of Ranieri & Co.
"As incredibly successful as he was professionally, he had such a passionate enthusiasm for his friends, his tennis game, his charities, his alma mater, and most importantly his family. He was as loyal a friend and as good an example of a true gentleman as you will ever find in this world ... but God help you if you were up a game on him in the third set. It was then best to just get out of the way, as his fiery competitive streak was unleashed. Boy, he hated to lose, but he was always just as graceful in defeat, as he was in victory. I learned a lot of lessons from Mr. Maniatty, all of which I carry with me today, and I will miss him very much, " said Sean McManus, president, CBS News & Sports.
After graduating from Deerfield Academy, Maniatty went to New York City and entered Columbia College, from which he graduated in 1943. This was also the beginning a life-long love affair with both the city and the school. He worked tirelessly raising money for Columbia and became a huge supporter of Columbia athletics.
"We have lost our true lion, a great man, a great friend, a great trustee and the best Columbia lion ever. I can never thank him enough for what he did for me when I was coaching Columbia football and how he helped me when I left. Without Connie there would be no football program and no Bill Campbell. I can honestly say that I have never known anyone that I respected more, " said William "Bill" V. Campbell, chairman of the board and former CEO, Intuit Inc.
Maniatty lent support to many athletic programs, not just football. He provided financial backing to every female and male athletic team at Columbia and Barnard for the past 40 years.
"Without a doubt, there is no one I've ever known who gave more of himself to Columbia and Columbia football. Moral, financial, any support -- he was always there. Connie enabled us to do things that we could not have accomplished without his support. He believed strongly in women's athletics, and when we began them in the early 1980s, he contributed to them. The NCAA limits recruiting budgets to funds contributed by alumni, and we would never have been able to recruit for women's teams, which of course had no alumnae, if he hadn't been supportive. He also gave strong support to the building of Wien Stadium. I don't think we could ever have gotten it off the ground, if it hadn't been for Connie, " said Al Paul, the director of athletics at Columbia University from 1974 to 1991
Indeed, Maniatty worked for 17 years to get Columbia a new football stadium. Finally, a substantial donation by Larry Wein, as well as large donations from Maniatty and his best friend, Eugene Remmer, got the project up and running. Maniatty and Remmer also funded the building of an Alumni Lounge in Wein Stadium, which was named in their honor. The Maniatty-Remmer Alumni Lounge opened Sept. 22, 1984.
"Connie was Mr. Columbia University. He already is terribly missed by all the students who were there and those who have wanted to enter. I will never forget his kindness and generosity; it was a great honor to have known him. He will be in my prayers forever, " said Julius Maldutis, president and chief airline analyst for Aviation Dynamics, Inc.
Maniatty was elected to the Board of Trustee's of Columbia University in 1973 and served until 1985, when he became a Trustee Emeritus. He also served Columbia well in many other capacities. He was an Executive Committee member, chairman of the President's Alumni Advisory Committee on Athletics, chairman of the Columbia Football Advisory Committee for 35 years, a member of the Columbia College Board of Advisors from 1975-1983 and permanent president of the Columbia College class of 1943.
Columbia honored Maniatty for his exceptional efforts by awarding him the Columbia Alumni Medal, the Columbia Varsity "C" Athletic Award, the John Jay Award in 1982, the Father Ford Award of Distinction in 1986. He was also awarded two citations from the Catholic Society of Columbia University, one of which was the Menton Award, and was an honored member Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity.
In 2006, he was inducted into the Inaugural Columbia Athletics Hall of Fame in recognition of his continued support of Columbia Athletics.
Retirement was not in Maniatty's vocabulary. In 1979, the same year he "retired" from Salomon Brothers, he was elected to the Board of Trustees of Norwalk Hospital, and served two consecutive 3-year terms. He was elected secretary to the Board of Trustees from 1983-1984 and vice chairman from 1984-1986. In December of 1986, Maniatty was named chairman of the board and was re-elected to an unprecedented nine consecutive terms. He stepped down in 1995.
While still chairman of the Board of Trustees, Maniatty founded the Norwalk Hospital Foundation and was named chairman at its inception in 1989. He remained chairman until 2006. During his tenure at Norwalk Hospital, more than $80, 000, 000 was raised for the capital improvement project, which literally transformed the hospital for the 21st century from a small city hospital into one of the most highly regarded hospitals in the state. Maniatty was honored by Norwalk Hospital on Oct. 13, 1995, with a gala attended by many celebrities, prominent philanthropists and state dignitaries alike.
"Connie, one of the longest serving chairmen of Norwalk Hospital, distinguished himself by his steady and stern leadership during a time when hospitals were at risk of being absorbed into larger medical systems and with financial restraints, threatening extinction. His commitment to our remaining a `Community Hospital' was unswerving and will forever be his legacy, " said Carol B. Bauer, former chairman of the board at Norwalk Hospital.
Throughout his many years in business, philanthropy and health care leadership, Maniatty was strengthened by a special resource unique to him -- the interest and support of Betty Maniatty, a wife whose background in nursing further underscored his feelings of responsibility about insuring quality health care in their community through Norwalk Hospital ... not only today, but tomorrow as well.
At Mt. Holyoke College, Maniatty set up a scholarship in the name of his sister, Anne S. Maniatty, which she attended.
In Maniatty's hometown of Westport, he was an active member of the Fairfield County Hunt Club and was on the Board of Trustees from 1977--2009. He served as president from 1980 to 1982. In addition, he was a trustee of the Nature Center from 1971 to 2005.
Maniatty always felt indebted to the men and women who protect us at home. In their honor, he created the Scholarship Fund for any Westport police or fire personal or their families who wanted to take college courses to further their education and the Employee Assistance Program, which helped police, fire and EMS with any problems they might have, whether it be financial or emotional. As the first major contributor to the Defibrillator Program, which put a defibrillator in every police car, ambulance and EMS vehicle, he initiated a program that now has saved hundreds of lives. He was also a generous supporter of the Policeman's Benevolent Foundation to benefit the families of police officers and firefighters in his hometown of Westport.
"Connie was a long time supporter of a great many of our programs. He did so much for the Westport Police and Fire Departments. We could never have done as much without supporters like him, " said Alfred R. Fiore, chief of police, Westport.
Maniatty was one of the co-founders of the New York City Police and Firefighters Widows and Children's Benevolent Foundation.
Born in Greenfield, Mass., he was the son of Ellen and Steven P. Maniatty and was one of 13 children. Maniatty married
the former Betty Lasher in 1948 and had three children, Margaret Maniatty Fullington of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Anne Maniatty Walker of Darien, and Philip Maniatty of New Canaan; and five grandchildren, Christina Fullington, Garrett Fullington, Lindsay Walker, Stephen Walker and Lilly Walker. He is also survived by his brothers, Leo Maniatty, Hermes Maniatty, Arthur Maniatty, Christopher Maniatty and Perry Maniatty.
Funeral services will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Christ & Holy Trinity Church, 75 Church Lane, Westport. There will be a reception following the service at Fairfield County Hunt Club, 174 Long Lots Road, Westport.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Norwalk Hospital Foundation, 34 Maple St., Norwalk, CT 06856; Columbia University Athletics, 3030 Broadway, Dodge Fitness Center, New York, NY 10027; or Christ & Holy Trinity Church, 75 Church Lane, Westport, CT 06880.
