- Details
- Category: Current Issue
Darlene (Woods) Stubbe
PUTNAM — Darlene E. (Woods) Downie Stubbe died Jan. 5, 2023.
She was born on March 2, 1944, in Waterville, Maine, and was raised there by her parents Ralph and Laura (Bernier) Woods. In 1962, she attended secretarial school in Boston and worked as a legal secretary for Paul A. Carbone, Esq. on Tremont Street for the next eight years.
Upon her marriage to John P. Downie, they lived in several locations east of the Mississippi River, including Asheville, N.C., where her two daughters were born. The children were raised in Titusville, Penn., and thereafter Darlene returned to New England. Besides the law office, her favorite career was hospitality, serving as a tour guide at the Breakers in Newport, R.I., and a concierge for Marriott Hotels. She married Robert P. Stubbe in 2004 and was predeceased by both of her husbands and sister, Sharon W. Parent.
Darlene was involved in volunteer work throughout her life, including local women’s clubs, hospitals, churches and community organizations. Likewise, music was always a part of her life from piano and French horn to singing in choirs.
She leaves two daughters, Adrienne D. Fournier and her husband Robert of Putnam, and Michelle D. Kranes and her husband Michael of Austin; four grandchildren, Simone and Gilbert Fournier of Putnam and Sidney and Cecelia Kranes of Austin; and two sisters, Debbie Woods of Putnam and Nancy Roy of Kittery, Maine.
The Mass of Christian Burial was Jan. 9 at St. Joseph’s Church, 18 Main St., N. Grosvenordale with burial will follow at the parish cemetery. Donations: Matulaitis Nursing Home, 10 Thurber Rd., Putnam, CT 06260. Valade Funeral Home and Crematory, 23 Main St., N. Grosvenordale.
William ‘Bill’ Kelleher
COVENTRY — William (Bill) Paul Kelleher of Coventry died Jan. 2, 2023, at the age of 91. Bill died peacefully with his family by his side.
Bill was born in Goodyear (now Killingly) Connecticut, to father William Leo Kelleher and mother Pauline (Trudeau) Kelleher. The oldest of two sons, Bill was an avid athlete and lifelong learner who valued exercising the mind and the body. After attending Putnam High School where he was an outstanding football hero and held multiple long-standing track and field records, he attended Brown University and then the University of Connecticut, graduating with a master’s in education. He played football at Brown and ran track at UConn, solidifying his lifelong love for the sport. After graduation, he taught biology and coached at East Hartford High School before starting a long and storied career as Track and Field Coach and Assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut.
Despite multiple championships and undefeated seasons over a 22 year career at UConn and then a seven-year career at Trinity College after “retiring”, Coach Kelleher’s contribution to UConn and the sport of track and field can’t be measured in wins and losses alone. A true educator, his unyielding adherence to a principled coaching philosophy produced four All Americans, one Olympian, and the Big East’s first ever Team Champion. His philosophy produced not just great teams and individuals, but grounded, educated young men and women who are better people for having been coached by him.
Bill also had a large and loving family. He married his high school sweetheart Joy (Wilde) Kelleher in 1950, and they enjoyed 72 years together raising a family, running a successful business, and traveling. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Jim Kelleher, and by his daughter Ellen (Kelleher) Marrotte. He leaves his wife Joy; sons Bruce and his wife Jean, Brian and his wife Cherie, and Barry; grandchildren Jennifer, Alyssa, Candice, Brenna, Jocelyn, Chelsea, Vanessa, and Charlotte; great-grandchildren. He was also a lifelong member of the Coventry Lions Club.
Bill’s family will be remembering and celebrating his life privately at his favorite places. People wishing to honor Bill’s lifelong commitment to family and community can make donations in his memory to the Covenant Soup Kitchen in Willimantic, which Bill supported and delivered food to for more than 20 years. Please make all donations in his name on their website at www.covenantsoupkitchen.org
“This is a world of action, and not moping or droning in…..” – Charles Dickens
Shaye B. Rosenfield
STAMFORD — Shaye B. Rosenfield, 102, died peacefully on Dec. 31, 2022, at Stamford Hospital.
Born in Hartford in 1920, Shaye was the ninth of 10 children of Saul and Ettie Bernstein, and the last to survive. Shaye graduated from Weaver High School in 1938, and attended secretarial school prior to working for the state of Connecticut.
She married Norman Rosenfield in 1944, and together they moved to Woodstock before settling in Putnam where they raised their family. Shaye spent nearly 80 summers at Stannard Beach in Westbrook, where she and Norman built a home, and where, in recent years, she welcomed lifelong friends and family for daily visits in her garden. In 2015, Shaye moved to Stamford, residing independently at Edgehill until her death.
Throughout her long and happy life, Shaye formed extraordinary friendships wherever she went, and enjoyed an array of interests including music (jazz), crossword puzzles (NYT), baseball (Red Sox), and politics (Democrats). But her greatest joy was her family, and she was devoted to her parents, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, children, and grandchildren.
Shaye was predeceased by her husband Norman, son Paul, son-in-law Lewis Schwartz, and siblings: Leo, Eve, Fred, Rose, Simon, Ruth, Beatrice, Ann, and Irving. She leaves a son Daniel (Mary), daughter Marjorie Schwartz, and daughter-in-law Lisa Rosenfield; six beloved grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and a great-grandson. For those wishing to honor her memory, please consider a donation to Stamford Hospital, a sliced radish with a pat of butter, or an Ella Fitzgerald melody.
.