All Obituaries

    Mrs. Charlotte von Voss passed away peacefully at the West River Healthcare Center, Milford, CT, on Wednesday April 7 with her loving son beside her. Charlotte was born in the Konigsberg region (East Prussia) on the Baltic Sea. Many of her family members were men of the sea. She always loved the sea and made many trans-atlantic crossings. On March 4, 1954 she first traveled to America on the SS United States to join her husband, with their eight month old son in her arms,...

  Frederick T. Koch, 75, avid fisherman, hunter and well driller for over 40 years, peacefully passed away Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at Middlesex Hospital, Middletown, CT.   Fred, or “Kochie”, as he was affectionately known, was born on April 22, 1945 in Madison, CT. Fred spent his entire life on Race Hill Road in Madison with his late wife, Judy Koch, in their cozy country farm home. Fred was a quiet and kind gentleman who worked hard, a breadwinner who provided, a...

Charles Hill—career diplomat, teacher, and scholar—died in New Haven, Connecticut on March 27, 2021. As a member of the U.S. foreign service he represented his nation across three continents and served as a senior advisor to leading figures in modern diplomacy. As a teacher of politics and the history of ideas, he revived the study of statecraft at Yale.    Hill was born in 1936 in Bridgeton, New Jersey, to Morton and Alvenia Hill. After graduating from Brown...

  After a full and rewarding life, Russell David von Beren Jr. passed away peacefully and surrounded by his family on March 18, 2021.  He was 92. He was a supportive, generous father to Cindy von Beren (Fred Frassinelli) and Russell D. “Fritz” von Beren III (Beth); and to granddaughters Izabella and Gabriella von Beren.  Other survivors include his beloved sister, Gloria Farrell, and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews—each with wonderful...

  Jeffrey L. Sammons, Leavenworth Professor of German Literature Emeritus at Yale University, died February 15, 2021. He was born November 9, 1936 in Cleveland, Ohio and took his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Yale. He specialized in nineteenth-century German literature with a particular emphasis on the poet and political writer Heinrich Heine. He was director of the Yale Summer Language Institute 1980-84; chairman of the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures 1966-77...

Alan Scott, one half of a husband-and-wife musical duo, writer of commercial jingles and campaign speeches, who landed troops on South Pacific beaches during World War II, passed away peacefully on February 5, 2021.   He died one month after his wife, Marilyn, at his home in Branford, Connecticut, with his two children and granddaughter by his side. He was 98.   In all his pursuits, Alan was a storyteller; he used stories to distill what he believed, where he found meaning, and...

On July 20th, 1967, Abigail Abbott was born as the beautiful first daughter of Gardner and Christine Abbott, and was raised in Connecticut as the oldest of four girls.  Abigail played an integral part in the lives of her sisters Tina, Mary Gardner and Betsy, always there to offer help, guidance and of course to just have fun.  At The Loomis Chaffee School (‘85), she met lifelong friends.  Her years at Duke University (‘91) led her to a career in education and a...

Richard K. Snyder, who practiced law in New Haven for 45 years, died peacefully in his home on Saturday, January 23 at age 85, having achieved his final wish, to live long enough to witness Joe Biden’s inauguration. Dick, as he was known to his family and friends, was born August 31, 1935 to Emily and Allen Snyder. He grew up in central New York and attended college at the University of Michigan, majoring in English. During his senior year he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Michigan...

  Elmer Holcomb Russell, 94, son of the late Mary Holcomb Russell and Elmer E. Russell, died on January 15, 2021 peacefully at his home in Guilford, Connecticut.  He was the husband of the late Shirley Doebrick Russell and Viola Dragotto Russell. Elmer was born in West Haven, CT July 10, 1926, graduated from Guilford High School in 1944 and proudly served in the U. S. Navy from 1944 - 1946.  He retired from Pratt & Whitney North Haven Plant as a Technical Supervisor of...

Sallie June (Goodman) Goldschmidt, 75, died peacefully at home in Guilford on January 13 after a long struggle with dementia. She was the beloved wife of Stephen Goldschmidt for 53 years. Sallie was born in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn on June 4, 1945. In 1961, her family relocated to Bethel, Connecticut, where she met Stephen, a fellow member of the Bethel High School Class of 1963. Sallie earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Western Connecticut State University in 1967, and...