By James Lomuscio
In 2017, Westport witnessed the loss of a number of individuals who made profound, positive changes on local, regional and national levels.
Artists, journalists, scientists, social justice pioneers, and educators, as well as those whose achievements through humble works and good will forged a welcome sense of community are all among the town’s notable deaths.
The following is a look back at some whose larger-than-life legacies live on: (Full obituaries of each can be found in the WestportNow obituary section.)
Glenn Hightower of Westport, who served three decades as principal at Bedford Junior High and Middle Schools and later as principal of Westport Adult and Continuing Education, died Jan. 1 at home. He was 76.
Known for his easy going manner, Hightower combined his love of teaching with his love of athletics. An avid runner, he was remembered Wednesday as the Westport Athletic Club dedicated a plaque and a bench in his name at the Saugatuck Elementary School track.
Bill Buckley, the longtime Westport, award-winning documentarian who created campaign films for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson plus a television series with Harry Truman, worked up until his death Jan. 20 at 88.
“The day he died he got a request for a film,” his wife Judith Hamer said at Meadow Ridge Senior Living Community in Redding, where they have lived since 2007.
Nat Hentoff, a free-thinking columnist, civil rights and liberties advocate and author who maintained a home in Westport for more than 30 years, died Jan 7 at his Manhattan apartment. He was 91.
Hentoff was perhaps best known as a Village Voice contributor and columnist for 50 years. He also wrote for The New Yorker, The New York Times, Down Beat and the Wall Street Journal. His more than 25 books included jazz and First Amendment works, novels and memoirs.
Frank Deford, a longtime Westporter and national sports writing legend, as well as a novelist, died at 78 on May 29 at his home in Key West, Florida home. He was 78.
Deford lived in Westport for 39 years before moving to Manhattan in June 2013. He was the author of 20 books, an NPR “Morning Edition” commentator, and the man the San Francisco Chronicle dubbed “the Sinatra of sportswriting.” In 2010, he was honored by the Westport Arts Advisory Committee.
Michael R. Connors, who for 30 years served up cheers and goodwill at the Black Duck Café in Westport, died at 58 on Feb. 15 at Bridgeport Hospital.
A Stratford resident, he was a graduate of Staples High School and attended Syracuse University and was an outstanding football player at both Staples and Syracuse as well as an assistant coach at Staples for 10 years.
Harold Levine, a longtime Westporter, patron of the arts and founder of a highly creative advertising agency, died Feb. 9 at home. He was 95.
In 1970, he founded Levine, Huntley, Schmidt, & Beaver in association with his colleague Bob Schmidt and newsman Chet Huntley.
He later went on to serve as chair of the board of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre Foundation, in New York. After his move to Westport, and subsequent retirement from Levine Huntley, he committed himself to providing educational and arts opportunities to the children of Bridgeport.
Lucia Nebel White, a noted photographer and longtime member of Westport’s arts community, died Jan. 14 at home in Westport following a brief illness. She was 93.
Active into her 90s, she was a member of the High Tide Club, a group of elderly residents who swim at Westport’s Burying Hill Beach. She made it a point to swim there every day in all but the most inclement weather.
Christopher Byron of Weston, a former Westport resident, prizewinning business journalist and New York Times best-selling author, died Jan. 7 at Bridgeport Hospital following a long illness. He was 72.
Byron’s career in business journalism spanned over 40 years, including editor positions at both Time and Forbes and contributing editor for publications such as Esquire, Playboy, Men’s Health, and Worth.
From 1995 to 2000, his “Back of the Envelope” column in the New York Observer exposed the swindlers and con artists from Wall Street to Silicon Valley.
John Carl Skinner of Westport died Jan. 13 at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport as a result of injuries suffered from a fall the day after Christmas. He was 80.
A Navy veteran and a former pilot for Pan American World Airways, he was best known locally along with Jeri and son Craig, as a leader for Kingdom Builders and later for Builders Beyond Borders, where he put his handyman skills to use building and repairing homes, clinics, daycare centers, and more for the less fortunate.
He and his family assembled groups of teens to participate in these efforts, traveling to such places as Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Honduras, and instilling the values of generosity, service, and goodwill through their ministry. Over the years, more than 1,700 teenagers participated in these programs.
Denise “Denny” Taft Davidoff of Bridgeport, a former Westport resident active in Unitarian Universalism for decades and a noted figure in the advertising industry, died Dec. 7 of cancer. She was 85.
Her volunteer lay leadership culminated with her service as UUA moderator from 1993 to 2001. She preached in more than 100 congregations, and mentored generations of ministers and lay leaders
John Mather Lupton III of Washington, D.C., a former resident of Westport and Weston, died March 30 following a battle with cancer. He was 69. Former executive director of the Westport Historical Society, he was founder of PCa Blue, a prostate cancer awareness organization, and a former member of the Georgia House of Representatives.
Known as Johno to his friends, he was a 1966 Staples High School graduate and remained “class president for life,” helping to organize reunions and raising funds for gifts to the school.
Ted Simons, known as “Westport’s Music Man” for his musical contributions to the community as well Broadway, television, film, and cabaret musical director, composer, and arranger, died Dec. 5. He was 84.
He was a creative force in corporate America, creating shows and films for more than 100 companies, including Pepsi-Cola, IBM, GE, Ford, and Procter & Gamble.
Locally, he led the Hoot Owls and other singing groups of the Y’s Men of Westport Weston and was active in school theater productions.
Saul Haffner, a former member of Westport’s Representative Town Meeting (RTM) who remained active in community affairs, died Nov. 27 after a brief illness. He was 87.
A longtime Westport resident, he worked more than 20 years at Barnes Engineering where he participated in NASA’s Gemini program.
His final career was as a professor of business and marketing at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield. He also founded an organization of justices of the peace.
Watts Wacker, Jr., a 31-year town resident and noted futurist, died Oct. 15 at home. He was 64.
When he moved ith his family to Westport, Wacker took a position at Yankelovich Partners and later worked remotely for Stanford Research Institute (SRI) International, a Menlo Park think-tank with offices in London, New York, and Westport.
After leaving SRI, he opened his own consultancy, FirstMatter LLC, and became a well-known futurist, public speaker, and innovator for Fortune 500 companies.
William Clark “Bill” Steinkraus of Darien, a former Westport resident and a show jumping champion once called “the man who epitomized style on horseback,” died Nov. 29. He was 92.
He was the brother of Ruth Steinkraus Cohen, for whom the Post Road bridge over the Saugatuck River in Westport’s center is named. She died in 2002 at age 81.
Robert Satter, a longtime Westport photographer, World War II veteran and grand marshal of the 2014 Memorial Day parade, died Oct. 26 in Norwalk Hospital after a battle with cancer. He was 94.
A decorated World War II pilot, who in 1944 flew 25 missions in Europe, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross, he said: “I’m lucky to be standing here. Our original squadron had 18 crews and 12 of them were lost.”
Thomas (Tod) Michael Keenan of Westport, a charter member of the Westport Volunteer Emergency Medical Service (WVEMS), died Sept. 2 at the Regional Hospice in Danbury. He was 81.
He was an Eagle Scout and a former troop leader of Sea Explorers Ship No 1. An attorney in Westport since 1964, he was a former partner at the Wake, See, and Dimes law firm.
Pat McCormack, a longtime Westport resident and award-winning journalist whose writings offered a unique view of midcentury America, died July 26 in Norwalk Hospital. She was 90.
Her journalism career spanned more than 50 years, much of it as a nationally published columnist and senior editor for United Press International (UPI).
Barry Blau of Westport, who started a business in his basement that became one of the world’s largest direct marketing firms, died March 28 in Norwalk Hospital after a short illness. He was 89.
His Barry Blau & Partners agency grew rapidly, winning clients like American Express, Avis, Citibank, IBM, Merck and UPS. The agency opened offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco, Frankfurt and London.
By the time he sold the firm in 1998, it was the world’s No. 1 independent direct agency, employing over 400.
Stage star Brenda Lewis died Sept. 16 in her Prospect Road home in Westport. She was 96
She was best known for starring as alcoholic Birdie Hubbard in the original operatic adaptation of Lillian Hellman’s “The Little Foxes” titled “Regina,” at New York City Opera and on Broadway, as well as her role in “Lizzie Borden” by Jack Beeson.
Sally White, a Westport mainstay whose encyclopedia knowledge of music made her the go-to person for vinyl, tapes and CDs for more than five decades, died Dec. 27 at Autumn Lake Healthcare in Norwalk. She was 88.
A 1946 graduate of Norwalk High School, she began working at age 14, finally finding a job she loved at Melody House in Norwalk, a music store at the foot of Main and Wall Street that was destroyed by the great flood of 1955.
In 1956, she found work at another Melody House in Westport and became a town fixture ever since. After two years she left Melody to sell 45s and 33s at Klein’s on Main Street, staying there for 20 years and building a following.
In 1985 she opened Sally’s Place at 190 Main St., a haven for music lovers of all genres, celebrities too, including the late Dave Brubeck and Paul Newman. It closed in the summer of 2013.
