Obituaries pg 8 5-22-14
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Thomas Converse
E. WOODSTOCK — Thomas Franklin Converse, 58, of E. Woodstock, died May 16, 2014, at UMass Medical Center in Worcester. He was the husband of Susan (Brown) Converse. They were married Oct. 1, 1977.
He was born Dec. 3, 1955, in Putnam, son of Franklin and Patsy Converse.
He was a lifelong resident of E. Woodstock, a 1974 graduate of HH Ellis Technical School and had worked his entire life as a tool and die maker. A 40-year member of the Muddy Brook Fire Department and had served as a former captain and a member of the Putnam Baptist Church. Tom was an avid New England Patriots fan, who attended two winning Super Bowls.
He leaves in addition to his wife Susan; his mother Patsy and father Franklin; his son Thomas Converse Jr. (Amanda); grandchildren, Abigail, Kaylyn and Thomas; his brothers Glenn Converse (Diane), David Converse (Lynn).
A Memorial Service was May 20 at the Putnam Baptist Church. Donations: Muddy Brook Fire Department, PO Box 222, East Woodstock, CT 06244; or the Putnam Baptist Church, PO Box 85, Putnam, CT 06260. Smith & Walker Funeral Home, 148 Grove St., Putnam.
Albina Lipcius
PUTNAM — Albina (Juodis) Lipcius, 98, of Thurber Rd., died May 13, 2014, in Matulaitis Nursing Home. She is the wife of the late Stasys Lipcius. She was born in 1915.
Mrs. Lipcius was a member of Lithuanian Community Organization and enjoyed writing Op-Ed articles for various Lithuanian organizations.
She leaves a daughter-in-law Rosanne Lipcius of Tolland; and two grandsons Paul Joseph Lipcius and Alexander John Lipcius. Albina was predeceased by her two sons Linas A. Lipcius and Stasys J. Lipcius; and two brothers.
The Mass of Christian Burial was May 17 at Matulaitis Nursing Home with burial in Gate of Heaven Cemetery. Gilman Funeral Home, 104 Church St., Putnam.
Stephen R. Curtis Sr.,
Korean war vet
UNION — Stephen R. Curtis Sr. 86, of Union, died May 11, 2014, at home. He was the husband of Ruth A. (Feiler) Curtis. They were married, July 4, 1950.
He was born March 25, 1928, in Waterford, son of the late Samuel K., Sr. and Margaret (Hughes) Curtis.
He was a Korean war veteran serving with the U.S. Marine Corps in Motor Transport. He was employed by the State of Connecticut with the Department of Transportation for nearly 30 years. Stephen enjoyed fishing, woodworking and playing in Pitch Tournaments at the Union Volunteer Fire Department.
He leaves his wife: Ruth Curtis; two sons Stephen R. Curtis Jr. (Vicki) of Canterbury; Thomas A. Curtis (Teresa) of Union; grandchildren Emma and Vaughn Curtis and Ellis Feliz; a sister Emily Curtis of Union. He was predeceased by a brother Samuel K. Curtis Jr.
The Funeral was May 16 at Smith & Walker Funeral Home, 148 Grove St., Putnam, with burial in Westford Village Cemetery, Ashford. Donations: Visiting Nurse and Health Services of CT, 8 Keynote Dr., Vernon, CT 06066.
‘Nick’ Lepikov,
Marine vet
PUTNAM — Nikolai “Nick Lepik” Lepikov, 78, of Putnam died April 13, 2014 in Rhode Island. He was born Dec. 6, 1935, in Estonia, son of Maria and Paul Lepikov.
He immigrated to the U.S. on July 11, 1950, and became a U.S. citizen. He served in the U.S. Marines from 1955-1958. He owned and operated a poultry and egg farm in the Pineville section of Dayville.
He leaves two sisters: Aleksandra Kirsipuu of Voluntown and Veera Kurisoo; nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, and great-great-nieces. He was predeceased by a brother Aleksei Lepikov and brother-in-law Alfred Lembit Kirsipuu. A private memorial service will be held.
George H. Pickett Sr.
THOMPSON — George H. Pickett Sr., 73, of Quaddick Town Farm Rd., died May 15, 2014, in Hubbard Hospital. Born in 1940 in Putnam, he was the son of the late Ray F. and Marion (Goodell) Pickett.
Mr. Pickett enjoyed auto racing at Waterford Speedbowl, Thompson, Stafford, and Seekonk Raceways. He was last employed as a welder for both Rawsons and LaFramboise Well Drilling.
He leaves a son George H. Pickett Jr.; two daughters Nancy J. Pedersen (Richard) and Laurie A. Pickett – Boire all of Thompson; a brother James Mason of Florida; a sister Margaret Freeman of Colo.; four grandchildren Elizabeth, Alisha, Christopher, and Harmony, a great-grandchild Talon-John. George is predeceased by a sister Barbara Higginbotham.
The Funeral was private. Donations: Connecticut Humane Society 701 Russell Road, Newington, CT 06111 Gilman-Valade Funeral Home of Putnam and N. Grosvenordale.
Donald Dancause
QUINEBAUG — Donald Dancause, 78, died May 12, 2014, in Regency Heights, Danielson, after a long illness. His wife of 53 years, Elaine (Rodio) Dancause died in 2008
He was born in Webster, the son of the late Alphonse and Aldea (Jalbert) Dancause. He worked at the Cranston Print Works 15 years and previously at A.O. in Southbridge . Mr. Dancause was a member of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church and lived many years in Webster . Donald served three years in the Army National Guard.
He leaves three sons: Dennis Dancause of Woodstock, Richard Dancause (Sandra) of N. Grosvenordale and David Dancause of Westbrook; one daughter: Linda Orlowski (John) of Thompson; nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by infant son Ronald Dancause and a brother Alphonse Dancause.
A Memorial Mass was May 19 in Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, Webster, with burial in parish cemetery with military honors. Bartel Funeral Home & Chapel, Dudley.
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Senior pg 5 5-22-14
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Senior fitness
POMFRET — The Pomfret Senior Advocate Commission is offering an eight-week senior strength training fitness class from 9 to 10 a.m. starting May 28. Classes can be performed standing or seated. For all fitness levels. Focus is on building muscle and endurance looking to increase the ease of which Seniors perform their daily activities. Open to all surrounding towns seniors. Cost $10 total.Contact Judy Miller 860-753-0613 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Welcome Spring pg 6 5-22-14
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Spring
Clockwise from top left: Moss on crevice near Front Street railroad trestle. Dogwood near downtown Putnam. Fiddleheads. Quinebaug River.
Drew pg 9 5-22-14
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By Ron P. Coderre
This week’s RPC sporty shoutout is sent along to Jeff Coderre of Thompson. A former Tourtellotte standout athlete, today Coderre enjoys watching his kids compete and playing a little Jack Benny sports. Enjoy this week’s column, Jeff.
The Wildcat Invitational is the premier high school golf tournament in Eastern Connecticut and probably throughout Connecticut. Each year high school golfers look forward to competing in the granddaddy of all events as a preview to potential matchups on the State level.
The 2014 Invitational featured 24 boys’ teams vying for the championship and a number of girls’ teams competing in a nine-hole championship match. The overall boys’ title went to perennial power Xavier High School from Middletown with a cumulative score of 311. Glastonbury finished second two strokes off the winning score at 313. Rounding out the top five was East Catholic (324), Berlin (336) and Tolland (353).
Thanks to a stellar performance by Drew Aitken of Killingly who posted a 74 over the 18-hole Mohegan Sun Country Club at Pautipaug par 72 layout, Killingly High School was the top local finisher in seventh place with a respectable score of 359. Aitken’s 74 placed the sophomore sensation third overall in the individual competition. He was four strokes off the winning pace of 70 fired by Austin Forauer of Berlin. Second place went to Bryan Stanton of Xavier with a 73.
Joining Drew Aitken in helping the Redmen to the seventh slot was his twin brother John Aitken with an 84 good for a tie in 17th place. Spencer Salvas of Putnam was the second northeastern Connecticut individual finisher as he posted a 77 to tie him for seventh place with Joe Ko of Marianapolis who also carded a 77. Tourtellotte’s ace, Mike Jezierski finished tied for 20th place, posting an 85. The last local to make the top 25 was Nick Harrington of Parish Hill who tied at 23rd with a score of 86.
In the team competition Woodstock finished behind seventh place Killingly in 11th place with a team score of 378. Tourtellotte captured the 13th spot with a cumulative score of 390, while the Tigers’ Thompson neighbor Marianapolis was one stroke behind in 14th place at 391. Plainfield was 23rd with a score of 488.
In the female competition Woodstock Academy represented the area very well as Roxanne Garceau fired a highly competitive 50 to finish one stroke off the pace in second place overall. The individual winner was Katie Strickland of Norwich Free Academy with a 49. Woodstock placed golfers in the fourth, fifth and sixth slots in a great team effort. Sothea Semmelrock (54) was fourth, Elaina Becher (60) was fifth and Grace Yang (63) tied for sixth.
All of the teams are in the process of closing out their regular season schedules and looking forward to State tournament competition.
Plainfield Raising Eyebrows
The Plainfield Panthers baseball team, which raised its record to 15-0 with a 1-0 squeaker over neighboring rival Killingly, is beginning to finally receive its due recognition on a statewide level. Coach Jason Chiavaras’ Panthers cracked both the New Haven Register and Hartford Courant Top 10 polls last week.
Following victories over then #1 Waterford and #10 Montville, the Panthers vaulted over both Eastern Connecticut Conference rivals moving into seventh place in the New Haven Register poll and fifth place in the Hartford Courant poll. Waterford, which has fallen on tough times losing twice to Montville is likely to fall out of the Top 10 this coming week, while Montville, 9th in the Courant is likely to move up also.
It’s all very interesting to watch these statewide polls when local teams are involved. Plainfield has been receiving some great pitching from Mike Esposito, Jordan Federer and Kyle Boarman. Esposito and Federer along with Garet Griffin and Steve Jankowski have also been providing the lumber in producing timely runs as the Panthers are also playing solid defense.
With six games remaining on the regular schedule it will be interesting to watch Plainfield and see how they react under pressure. Following the 20-game schedule they enter the rugged and highly competitive Eastern Connecticut Tournament before turning their attention to the CIAC Tournament.
Run For Fun
The warm weather has returned and so have Bob Mayer and Jimi Gothreau. This dynamic duo gets energized at this time of the year and begins to promote healthy running for local individuals even as it gets more difficult for the two of them to get past the aches and pains associated with aging.
Gothreau and Mayer are encouraging local residents to drop by the West Thompson Dam or West Thompson Lake if you prefer, and get in a little “Fun Run” each Wednesday evening. The festivities, which started on May 14 and continue through Sept. 17, begin promptly at 6:15 p.m. People from the very young to the very mature are welcome to join and jog, walk, run or race over the scenic rolling “traffic free” 1.44 or 3.1 mile loops.
“Make every Wednesday your ‘dam fun runs’ night,” said Mayer and Gothreau simultaneously. Anyone who completes three or more runs over the summer will receive their very own “Dam Fun Runs” T-shirt. And the nice part of all this activity is that everything is free, including the T-shirt.
College Season Ends Abruptly
It’s been a great spring for college baseball but like all good things, they have to come to an end, just ask the Boston Bruins. That’s another subject for another time.
Back to college baseball, UConn-Avery Point and Eastern Connecticut State University enjoyed successful springs, winning their conference regular season crowns. Unfortunately both were bounced from NCAA competition in an unruly fashion, losing the first two games of their respective playoffs.
Avery Point went out with a whimper losing to Westchester Community College and Mercyhust, two teams they had beaten during the season. ECSU, ranked #1 in the region was beaten by its neighbor down in New London, Mitchell College 4-3. The Mariners were ranked #8 in the region. Adding insult to injury the Warriors were beaten by MIT in the loser’s bracket contest, sending them packing back to Willimantic.
One good note out of the season and tournament, former Plainfield Panther Nick Ververis ended his stellar career at Eastern with a 15-game hitting streak.
RPC’s Closing thought For The Day: Over tip your breakfast waitress.
(If you have sports news worthy of publication please e-mail RPC at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
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