STEPHEN W. PALUMBO, 62, the owner of Po Gallery in Providence, R.I., died Dec. 22, 2009. He served two tours in Vietnam and worked at several libraries before starting the gallery. Among those who survive are his wife, Anne Huntington, and six siblings.
LLOYD E. PORTER, 76, a pharmacist for more than 50 years, died Sept. 14, 2011. He received his pharmaceutical degree from Ohio State University and was associated with the Rite-Aid Corporation. He is survived by his wife, Nancy Lyons Porter, two children, a granddaughter, and a sister.
P. MICHAEL PHELPS, 77, a retired securities attorney, died Feb. 10, 2011. He was a member of Psi Upsilon, received his degree with high honors, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After receiving a law degree from Harvard University, he practiced law privately before spending four years in the U.S. Army in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He later became a securities attorney for several divisions of American Home Products, R.R. Donnelley & Sons, and March and McLennan. The majority of his career was with Morton International. He was actively involved in the American Society of Corporate Secretaries through his career, including serving as president of the national organization. He is survived by his wife, Laura Pepe Phelps, three stepchildren, two grandchildren, and a brother.
WILLIAM T. PRYCE, a Foreign Service officer who served as ambassador to Honduras and as senior director for Latin America at the National Security Council, died July 11, 2006 at age 73. A member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, he received his degree with honors and with distinction in economics. He received a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, after which he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy and then entered the Foreign Service. His posts included Mexico, the Soviet Union, and, Bolivia. In addition, he worked closely on developing and implementing U.S. policies toward Panama and Nicaragua. At the National Security Council, he was also involved in the resolution of the civil war in El Salvador. He retired in 1966 but continued to be involved in the North American Free Trade Agreement and other free-trade issues as vice president and head of Washington operations of the Council of the Americas. Among those who survive are his wife, Joan MacClurg Pryce; two sons, Jeffrey F. Pryce ’82 and Scott F. Pryce ’87; a daughter; five grandchildren; and a sister.
HECTOR F. PHELPS JR., an analyst and underwriter at The Hartford Insurance Group for 30 years, who was also an accomplished artist, singer, actor, director, and writer, died Nov. 18, 2010, at age 79. He received his degree with honors and with distinction in theater. A member of Gamma Psi, he served in the U.S. Army. He performed with the Simsbury (Conn.) Light Opera Company, was a soloist with the Hartford Choral Club, a member of the Mark Twain Masquers, and in 1971 helped to found the Trinity Episcopal Church theater group. He donated his extensive theater and film library to Wesleyan. Survivors include an aunt, several cousins, and many friends.
Sybil B. Paton, Library Trustee and Arts Activist
Sybil B. Paton died June 5th at Wadsworth Glen in Middletown, Conn, at the age of 84. A Middletown resident for more than 50 years, Mrs. Paton was notable for her leadership in many community organizations, including the Russell Library, the Connecticut State Library, the Wesleyan Potters, the Middletown Commission on the Arts, and Middletown’s Bicentennial celebration. Her efforts created a large number of innovations that took on a life of their own, and continue to enrich the life of the community.
She served as a member of the Russell Library Board of Trustees for more than three decades, from 1966 until 2007, serving twice as the President of the Board. She also served on the Board of Trustees for the Connecticut State Library in Hartford from 1976 to 1981. She was named Friend of the Year by the Friends of Connecticut Libraries in 2002, and Outstanding Library Trustee of 2004 by the Association of Connecticut Library Boards.
Mrs. Paton delighted in the inclusiveness of the library. She championed the expansion of children’s programs at Russell Library and chaired the building committees during two major library renovations that gracefully merged a former bank building with the library’s existing building, a former church. She chaired the search committee that brought the current Director of the Library, Arthur Meyers, to Middletown in 1997. She helped establish the Friends of the Russell Library and founded the John W. Paton Storytelling Contest in memory of her husband. Since 1997, the contest has showcased the writing of unpublished adult writers in the community.
Mrs. Paton was also notable for longstanding contributions to arts in the community. She was appointed in 1972 as one of the founding members of the Middletown Commission on the Arts and served on the commission until 1975. In that role, she worked to expand awareness of local art resources by helping to create a series of music and theater performances, an annual Showcase of the Arts, and a monthly arts calendar for the city. She also helped launch the city art collection and establish the grants programs which supported the start of The Oddfellows Playhouse and many other arts programs. Mayor Sebastian Guiliano declared March 12, 2007, Arts Advocacy Day in Middletown, in honor of “the standard for advocacy and volunteerism” she set for the city.
Her passion for the arts included active involvement in pottery, photography and Bonsai cultivation. She was a charter member of the Wesleyan Potters. She taught pottery classes, was active in the development of the Wesleyan Potters teaching facility, organized the first of many annual sales and won numerous awards in statewide exhibitions. She was a longtime member of the Castle Craig Photography Club in Middletown and the Bonsai Society of Greater Hartford.
Mrs. Paton took on many special challenges for the city of Middletown and community organizations. During the racial tensions of the late 1960s, she served as a Board Member in the TOPS (Teens Organized to Protect Society) organization, working with African-American teenagers to solve community problems. From 1975 to 1977, Mrs. Paton was the Bicentennial Coordinator for the City of Middletown and then from 1977 to 1979 she was Coordinator of Special Events. In both of these roles, she helped showcase Middletown’s rich multi-cultural heritage. She served from 1979 to 1988 as Coordinator of the Building Program for the Idella W. Howell Child Development Center on William Street, and as Coordinator of the Renovation Program for the Green Street School.
Before coming to Middletown, Mrs. Paton was employed as a secretary for the National Council of the YMCA in New York City and from 1950 to 1952, served as coordinator for one of the nation’s first pollution control campaigns to protect the Raritan River in New Jersey.
She first came to Middletown when her husband enrolled as a student at Wesleyan University in January 1946. She moved to Middletown permanently with her family in 1952. While raising three children, Mrs. Paton volunteered for a wide range of community activities. She served as a Brownie and Girl Scout Leader from 1958 to 1963. She was also a founding member of the Wesleyan University Monday Club, a group of faculty wives who originated many ideas for local improvements to the City of Middletown.
Mrs. Paton graduated from The Katherine Gibbs School in New York in 1943, and earned a Bachelor of Arts at Wesleyan University in 1970, in the first graduating class that included women. She later earned a Masters of Arts degree in Anthropology from Wesleyan.
She was married to the late John W. (Jack) Paton for 50 years. She is survived by three children: Laura P. Arnold of Middletown, Bruce Paton of Sunnyvale, CA, and Douglas Paton of Piedmont, CA, as well as five grandchildren. She was born Sybil Lorraine Busch in Yonkers, New York. A private memorial service will be held later this year. Contributions in her memory may be made to the Russell Library, 123 Broad Street Middletown, CT 06457.
ROBERT C. ORESKO, an editor, publisher, and private scholar, died Feb. 15, 2010. He was 63. A member of EQV, he received his degree cum laude. After studying at Columbia University, he moved to England, where he began his research, particularly on the Savoy–Piedmont region of Italy. Interdisciplinary in nature, his studies crossed the boundaries between political, social, and cultural history, and his seminars in London attracted distinguished scholars. His civil partner, Roger Clark, survives.
PETER W. ODELL, 66, who worked in college admissions and in real estate, died Jan. 15, 2005. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon and received a master’s degree from Middlebury College. He was the former dean of admissions at New College in Sarasota, Fla. Survivors include two sons, two sisters, and several nieces and nephews.
LEON S. OLSON, 70, a retired human resources executive, died June 29, 2003. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta and served in the U.S. Marines. Survivors include his wife, Joan, three children, and two grandchildren.
KENNETH G. ORVIS, 74, an attorney, died June 9, 2005. He was a member of Sigma Nu and received a law degree from Cornell University. A member of the law firm of Orvis and Orvis in Albany, N.Y., he later became counsel for the Rensselaer County Department of Social Services and did pro bono representation of court-appointed clients. He is survived by his wife, Caroline Comly Orvis, three children, six grandchildren, and a large extended family.
