Carolyn Hughes of Westport died Sept. 30. She was 72.

Carolyn Hughes: loved to entertain. Contributed photo

The wife of, Neil Gerhardt was born in New Rochelle, N.Y to William and Mary Hess. The oldest of five children she was proud of her Catholic education. She attended Blessed Sacrament, Mother Elizabeth Seton, Good Counsel College in White Planes N.Y., and received a master’s in English from Iona College.

She was known to everyone as “Billie,’  a nickname given to her because as a child she looked like her father. She was the first person in her family to receive a college degree and felt education was important. Both of her children graduated from excellent colleges.

She loved to entertain, throw parties and made a special event out of every holiday with her creative touches including making her Thanksgiving guests dress as either a pilgrim or indian. She was proud of being Italian and accentuated her dialogue with Italian phrases.

Richard G. Bryan of Seattle, a former Westport resident, died Sept. 27. He was 78.

He was born near Philadelphia PA and lived in Cincinnati, Franklin Lakes N.J., and Westport before moving to the Seattle area in 1993 and retiring to Whidbey Island in 2002.

He graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1960 and earned an MBA from the University of Cincinnati in 1966.

His career was spent in marketing, sales, and general management. He held executive positions with Procter & Gamble, the American Cyanamid Company, AT&T Wireless, and most recently with the Marketwave Corporation (now part of Accrue Software Inc.) in Seattle.