Robert W. Eadie

WINSTED — Robert W. Eadie, 92, of Winsted died Oct. 8, 2011, after a short illness. Bob was born in Manhattan on Nov. 28, 1918, to the late Sarah (OBrien) and Harold Eadie and was raised in Pearl River, N.Y.At age 18, Bob enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a messenger in the Fourth Signal Company, 16th Infantry at Fort Jay, N.Y. He completed a three-year enlistment in the Army and in June of 1940 enlisted into the U.S. Navy, the service branch that would become his lifelong passion. Bob served in the aviation unit on the light cruisers USS Montpelier and on the USS Miami, which participated in the Pacific campaigns for Saipan, the Philippines and Okinawa, where the ship endured nearly constant attack by kamikaze aircraft. Bob became a master aircraft mechanic and rose to the rank of aviation machinist mate first class. Bob later served in numerous air squadrons based out of Norfolk, Va., Jacksonville, Fla., with deployments on the carriers USS Wasp, Midway, Lake Champlain, Franklin Roosevelt and Wright. These deployments included service during the Korean War, where he excelled in the maintenance of the F4U Corsair and the F2H Banshee planes.  During a deployment with fighter squadron VF-42, Bob served as the plane captain for Alan Shepard Jr., who went on to become one of the original Mercury astronauts and who later landed on the moon in 1971 as commander of Apollo 14. They were friends who remained in contact until Shepard’s death in 1998. Bob’s final Navy achievement came in 1955-56 when he served in Antarctica as a member of Task Force 43. For his efforts, Bob received a commendation from the secretary of the navy and the award of Royal Order of the Deepfreeze. Bob completed 20 years of military service and retired from the Navy in March of 1958. Retirement did not last long. Bob settled in Rhode Island and briefly worked at the Electric Boat Shipyard. He later moved to South Glastonbury to take a position with the Hamilton Standard division of UTC, where he was a key technician in the development, installation and maintenance of fuel and environmental systems for both propeller-driven and jet-powered planes. Bob moved to Winsted in 1977 and shortly thereafter completed his second 20-year career with UTC.  Never one to slow down, Bob accepted a position as the crossing guard at the Hinsdale Elementary school, where for 22 years he safeguarded and guided several generations of young school children and their parents. Bob was active within the Winsted community and served for 24 years as a member of the Winsted Soldiers’ Monument Commission. In April of 2011, Bob was honored by a formal proclamation from the town, recognizing him as “an outstanding citizen and friend deserving the gratitude and appreciation of all citizens of the community.” Bob was a Master Mason with a 68-year affiliation with the Naurashank Lodge in Pearl River. He also was a Noble with the Manchester Shriners and was particularly proud of the organization’s childrens hospitals and burn centers. Bob was a Life Member of the American Legion Tuttle-Burns Post 43 as well as a Life Member of VFW Post 296 (Seicheprey Post).Bob was a member of the Second Congregational Church in Winsted and also attended the Faith Bible Church in Winsted.An avid sportsman, Bob was a fleet champion boxer while serving in the Navy as well as an excellent golfer and bowler. He was a passionate fan of the New York Yankees as well as the New York Giants (for whom his father had played). Bob was an extraordinary man who lived life to the fullest. He will be remembered for his zest for life, his humor, his kindness and charity to others. He will be sorely missed by his family, friends and the Winsted community. He is survived by his step-daughter, Linda Hinds of Salisbury, Md.; two grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; two nieces, LindaJeanne Grace and Joanne Gura of Wallkill, N.Y.; a nephew, James Raymond Partridge of Plano, Texas; and numerous extended family members. He also will be fondly remembered by his close friend, Jennifer Saylor of Chicago, Ill. Bob was predeceased by his beloved sister, Jeanne and her husband, Raymond Partridge.Calling hours will be held at Montano-Shea Funeral Home, Winsted, on Sunday, Oct. 16, starting at 1 p.m. followed by a funeral service at 2 p.m. Burial, with full military honors, will be at the Forest View Cemetery in Winsted on Monday, Oct. 17, at 11 a.m. Visit an online guestbook at Montano-shea.com.

Latest News

South Kent School’s unofficial March reunion

Elmarko Jackson was named a 2023 McDonald’s All American in his senior year at South Kent School. He helped lead the Cardinals to a New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) AAA title victory and was recruited to play at the University of Kansas. This March he will play point guard for the Jayhawks when they enter the tournament as a No. 4 seed against (13) Samford University.

Riley Klein

SOUTH KENT — March Madness will feature seven former South Kent Cardinals who now play on Division 1 NCAA teams.

The top-tier high school basketball program will be well represented with graduates from each of the past three years heading to “The Big Dance.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hotchkiss grads dancing with Yale

Nick Townsend helped Yale win the Ivy League.

Screenshot from ESPN+ Broadcast

LAKEVILLE — Yale University advanced to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament after a buzzer-beater win over Brown University in the Ivy League championship game Sunday, March 17.

On Yale’s roster this year are two graduates of The Hotchkiss School: Nick Townsend, class of ‘22, and Jack Molloy, class of ‘21. Townsend wears No. 42 and Molloy wears No. 33.

Keep ReadingShow less
Handbells of St. Andrew’s to ring out Easter morning

Anne Everett and Bonnie Rosborough wait their turn to sound notes as bell ringers practicing to take part in the Easter morning service at St. Andrew’s Church.

Kathryn Boughton

KENT—There will be a joyful noise in St. Andrew’s Church Easter morning when a set of handbells donated to the church some 40 years ago are used for the first time by a choir currently rehearsing with music director Susan Guse.

Guse said that the church got the valuable three-octave set when Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center closed in the late 1980s and the bells were donated to the church. “The center used the bells for music therapy for younger patients. Our priest then was chaplain there and when the center closed, he brought the bells here,” she explained.

Keep ReadingShow less
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Penguin Random House

‘Picasso’s War” by Foreign Affairs senior editor Hugh Eakin, who has written about the art world for publications like The New York Review of Books, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The New York Times, is not about Pablo Picasso’s time in Nazi-occupied Paris and being harassed by the Gestapo, nor about his 1937 oil painting “Guernica,” in response to the aerial bombing of civilians in the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War.

Instead, the Penguin Random House book’s subtitle makes a clearer statement of intent: “How Modern Art Came To America.” This war was not between military forces but a cultural war combating America’s distaste for the emerging modernism that had flourished in Europe in the early decades of the 20th century.

Keep ReadingShow less