When Bill Childs stood to leave a restaurant after a laughter-filled meal with his family or friends, he would turn to the nearest table and say, “I’m leaving you in charge now.” William Prescott Childs, 90, of Dorset, Vermont left the rest of us in charge on March 10, 2026.

Bill was born in Berlin, Germany in 1935 to Roberta Lewis Childs and Prescott Childs while Prescott was stationed at the U.S. Consulate there. Bill’s early years, side-by-side with his older brother David, included posts in Barbados, Rio de Janeiro, Wellington, Havana, and Washington, D.C., which provided Bill with a great collection of stories to share with his children and grandchildren. In school and during summers, he was introduced to a variety of sports, including football, field hockey, cricket, tennis, skiing, swimming, and diving. Sports and games would factor prominently in Bill’s life, as would a taste for interesting excursions and global cuisine. Following his high school years at The Westminster School and Williston Academy, Bill attended Washington and Lee University for a year, which included R.O.T.C, then signed on for a four-year stint in the Navy. He joined Aerography training, where he learned “everything about the weather except how to control it.” Following his enlistment as an Aerographer’s Mate, he attended and graduated from Yale in 1963.

In that same year, Bill married Sheila Hoyt Scranton, and they embarked on 63 years of adventures together. Some included working at the Eaglebrook School, owning and operating the 1811 House inn in Manchester, Vermont, and refurbishing a mid-conversion carriage house when they settled outside Baltimore in 1980. They eagerly supported the cultural offerings wherever they lived, and they traveled extensively with family and friends. Their most significant collaborative project was raising three daughters, Tina, Elizabeth, and Jennifer, cheering them on at their various artistic, sporting, and life events, then doing the same for their seven grandchildren.

Bill had many hobbies, but number one was racquet sports, with an eventual focus on platform (paddle) tennis. He and his brother David, in their 50s and 60s, won the National Championships in their age group eleven times in fourteen years. In 2005, they were both inducted into the Platform Tennis Hall of Fame, where they were celebrated for being “gentlemen,” who possessed “competitiveness…combined with unquestionable sportsmanship, and unwavering friendliness, both on and off the court.” Having lived and traveled all over the world, it was small town life that might have suited Bill most.

When he retired from his job as an executive recruiter in 2000, he and Sheila returned to Dorset, Vermont, where he lived out the rest of his 26 years in their ideal spot overlooking the village green. Friends and neighbors have referred to him as “a wonderful, kind man,” “a true gentleman,” and “a great friend for many, many years.” We will miss Bill every day and always remember his wit, kindness, humility, and appreciation of life’s small pleasures.

Bill was preceded in death by his brother David Childs and great-granddaughter Charlotte Gunning, and is survived by his wife Sheila, daughters Christina Cutler (Greg), Elizabeth Childs, and Jennifer Pelletier (Steve), his grandchildren Paige (Kaitlyn Litten) and Alexander Gunning (Katie), Carson Cutler, Mollie and Eli Caguin, and Madeleine and Henry Pelletier, and his great-grandchildren Erin and Hazel Gunning. A celebration of Bill’s life will be held in Dorset, Vermont in late spring.

Ray Jenness, 93, of Rockport, MA, died March 12, 2026 surrounded by his children. Ray taught English and theater at Brattleboro High School for many years. He founded the Vermont Theatre Company and acted and directed in productions all around Brattleboro for many years.

He grew up in Hatfield, MA. and graduated from Williston Academy, Brown University, and the University of Connecticut.

Steven Matthew David was the man who put the Top of the Hill on the map.

A ubiquitous presence on TV and the radio during the 60s, 70s and 80s, David founded the first store in the San Francisco Bay Area to sell discount electronics. During its 25 years in business, Matthews approached retail uniquely: the store often had lines around the block while customers waited to be escorted around the store by a salesperson. In addition to campaigns featuring everyone from Davy Jones to Jerry Rice, Matthews became known for offering champagne and popcorn to customers as they waited.

David’s legendary bicycle promotion-offering a free bike with the purchase of almost any product costing $150-became part of local lore and his tag line “Top of the Hill, Daly City” still remains known today. Matthews became the largest single store retailer of home electronics in the country and David among the first business owners to personally appear in his own ads.

A high school valedictorian who scored an 800 on his math SAT, David attended Harvard College, where he graduated magna cum laude. Though accepted at Harvard Business School, he opted instead to start and grow Matthews.

After a long illness, Steven Matthew David died peacefully on January 18, 2026. He is survived by his two children, Ned and Anna, brother Anthony David ’60, and sisters Barbara Dali and Linda Williams, as well as the many who remember him as an integral part of Bay Area history.

Edward (Ed) Augustine Lonergan, of Old Saybrook, CT, passed away peacefully on December 29, 2023, after a short hospital stay and a long battle with Parkinsons, which, like most things, he was too stubborn to allow to disrupt his life unduly. He is predeceased by his sister, Marilyn Fowler.

He was born on St Patrick’s Day in 1935 to Edward J and Lillian Lonergan of Hartford, CT. He was a survivor of the Great Hartford Circus Fire of 1944. God clearly had plans for young Edward. The Lonergan’s spent summers at the beach in Knollwood, Old Saybrook, CT, where he met his future wife, the former Nancy Dunn, and married in 1958.

Ed graduated from Williston Academy and pursued an engineering degree at Union College in Schenectady NY. He would tell you with a chuckle he had “struggled to live up to his potential” in his younger years and was forever grateful for the education he received at Union College. He remained a generous supporter of Union his entire lifetime, culminating with the “Edward A Lonergan scholarship for students of promise,” but not necessarily the best incoming GPA score.

He was recruited to the General Dynamics Electric Boat Division upon graduation and served nearly 50 years across a long and successful career there. He loved submarines and EB. He was extremely proud of his work and thankful for the friendships he built over those years.

He and Nancy settled in Old Saybrook where they raised their two children, Edward F (Laura) and Tammy Lonergan and embedded in the community. Ed was a long time Cub Scout Master and Parks & Recs T-Ball coach. He was particularly fond of crafting speedy Pinewood Derby cars in his home workshop. In his later years, he devoted his attention to St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Essex, CT, where he volunteered for many years.

Ed and Nancy were avid boaters and enjoyed the communities they came to know at Terra Mar and Ferry Point Marinas in Old Saybrook and Townsend Manor in Greenport NY. When not found there, they could be seen cruising to Dairy Queen in one of a series of Corvette’s owned over the last 40+ years, all of which bore the name “Creampuff.” He purchased his last new Corvette in 2023, likely cementing his fame as “the oldest man to ever purchase one of these things.”

They loved their Fenwood neighborhood, moving multiple times within a few blocks over the years, primarily to provide Ed with more projects to do around the house and yard. Sitting, even in his later years, was simply not a part of his DNA. His workshop, various cars and boats, home projects and especially his rose and vegetable gardens absorbed his free time. He much enjoyed sitting on the front porch with the view across Long Island Sound and chatting with various friends who stopped by – it was his sole pause in activity most days, except for UConn Basketball, the Red Sox, music at the Kate or a good Western movie. He was most grateful for the many wonderful people he came to know in Old Saybrook, and the friendships he and Nancy built there over 70+ years.

Ed found the silver lining in most things in life, including the total loss of his home in the “Great Old Saybrook Explosion & Fire of 2023.” He and his aptly named cat Lucky survived and recovered thanks to the luck of the Irish, the help of first responders, friends, and community. Clearly, God was still not done with him, as we were given the gift of 6 more months of wry wit and poignant moments with his wife Nancy, extended family and friends. He was also quite sure Haagen Dazs appreciated the 6-month reprieve on the loss of their best customer. Ed ascribed his long life to the love of family and friends, hard work, and to ice cream, jellybeans and wint-o-green Lifesavers.

In addition to his wife of 65 years and his children, he is survived by his granddaughters Taryn, Cara, Viktorija and Taylor as well as his great grandsons, Maxwell, Theodore and Bennett.

Calling hours will be held on Friday January 5, 2024 from 4:00 to 6:30 PM at the Swan Funeral Home, 1224 Boston Post Rd, Old Saybrook, CT. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday January 6th at 11am at St. Teresa of Calcutta, 14 Prospect St, Essex CT followed by a burial at Cyprus Cemetery, College St, Old Saybrook, CT.

In lieu of flowers, Ed would appreciate donations be made to St Teresa of Calcutta Church in Essex, CT.