Rodney Mark Jaros, 85, of Southbury, CT and longtime resident of Danbury, CT and Chappaqua, NY died peacefully on Friday, June 28, 2024 while surrounded by his family. Mr. Jaros was the loving husband of the late Mary (Raedy) Jaros.

Mr. Jaros was born on June 13, 1939 in Waterbury, CT; a son of the late Kasmir and Helen (Rupp) Jaros, they lived in Waterbury, CT until he was nine and then moved to Terryville, CT where his father, a chemical engineer, worked at Eagle Lock for a short stint until he started his own electroplating business. From a young age, Rod (his preferred nickname) understood the value of working a job to make his own money. From shoveling snow off his neighbors walkways to working at the local bowling alley, his most challenging job was becoming a newspaper delivery boy in which he would deliver the Hartford Courant on his bike, which was particularly time consuming. A mischievous pre-teen, he decided to take the old family Chevy on his route one day. Stopped at an intersection, a police cruiser who knows him tells him to take the car home immediately! Rod was an avid writer as well as reader and he documented this and many other stories of growing up in Terryville in his autobiography entitled Learning Curves–An Early Years Memoir.

At fifteen, Rod was sent to Williston Northampton School (formerly Williston Academy) for high school. He would spend the next four years there engaged in activities such as Baseball, Basketball, and Glee Club. He then went on to study at Fairfield University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science in 1961. Rod also obtained his Masters in English at Trinity College in Hartford and his Masters in Library Science from University of Hartford.

On February 17, 1962, Rod would marry his hometown crush, Mary Raedy, in Terryville. She was the love of his life. Rod and Mary raised three children together. Initially in West Covina, CA for just one year where their eldest was born, they moved back east to Chappaqua, NY in Westchester County where their children called home and attended primary and high school. After the children graduated college, Rod and Mary moved to Danbury, CT where they lived until Mary’s passing in November 2022 where Rod lovingly cared for her during her difficult struggle with dementia. Rod and Mary enjoyed sixty years of marriage.

An English teacher turned librarian, Mr. Jaros worked over 30 years at Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua, NY where he also lived and raised his family. Upon retirement, Rod worked several years in the library at The Wooster School in Danbury, CT. During summer months, Rod and his late wife, Mary and children summered in Cape Cod for decades. During some of this time they owned and operated a small inn in Eastham until they built a home near Nauset Beach in East Orleans where they would spend most of their summers, until eventually moving to Osterville. When he and his wife were not on the Cape or at their home in Danbury, they spent their winter months at their home in Saint Lucie West, FL where Rod enjoyed many a day walking out their backdoor to play his hand at golf, where he admittedly was not so good at! When not playing golf, Rod created a successful online golf newsletter called ‘Different Strokes’ in which there were many thousands of subscribers. He also found tremendous joy in spending time with his grandchildren especially attending their soccer, lacrosse, and track meets over the years.

He truly embodied the idea of a “renaissance man,” mastering hobbies from furniture making; sailing the family boat on Pleasant Bay in Cape Cod; reading voraciously books of all genres but especially classic westerns; becoming a licensed pilot; playing the flute, clarinet, saxophone, guitar, ukulele, and even the harmonica. If you needed a deck put on your house, Rod was the man to design and build it – with or without a hot tub! Known as a car guy, a lover of sports cars, he also enjoyed restoring a 1954 Chevy pickup with his son Matthew.

Mr. Jaros is survived by his three children: Kristin Boylan and her husband, Timothy; Mattew Jaros and his wife, Emily Wong; and Mark Jaros. Mr. Jaros is also survived by four grandchildren: Hannah, Luke & Finn Boylan and Tyler Jaros, as well as his sister Melanie Donnelly and brother-in-law Andrew, sisters-in-law Stephania Dedman, Margaret Butler and her husband Dennis, and 11 nieces and nephews.

Family and friends will be received on Thursday, July 25, 2024 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Kane Funeral Home; 25 Catoonah Street, Ridgefield. A funeral mass will be celebrated on Friday, July 26, 2024 at 10:00 AM at Saint Mary’s Church; 55 Catoonah Street, Ridgefield. Interment will take place privately.

Torrey Arnold Welch, age 84, of Lincoln, California passed away on Saturday, August 12, 2023.

Robert Salisbury Birch, 83, died peacefully in Lake Wales, FL on February 7, 2022. He was born in Boonton, NJ on March 13, 1938 to Elizabeth and Foster F. Birch III. He grew up in Boonton and spent his summers in Cape Cod, MA where he was a wicked backyard croquet player and a crafty tennis competitor. He had a lifelong love for the stock market, even though his first investment, at age nine, was in a worthless penny stock sold by a slicker over the phone. His father made him follow through on the purchase because he had given his word, and he gained an enduring lesson. He started as a runner on Wall Street as a teenager, became an intern in his college years, and an analyst and broker before rising to Managing Director at Oppenheimer and Company in a career there that spanned 55 years. He attended Brown University, where as president of his fraternity, Sigma Chi, he is remembered for his ability to run it with a profit without cutting out the fun. After graduating with a degree in Political Science, he pursued an MBA from Cornell University and then moved to his first job at A.G. Becker in New York City. There, he learned the business, having the pioneering Jane Brett, one of the first female stock analysts in a world of men, and the legendary Bob Wilson, as mentors. Over the years, his colleagues laughed at his many pithy sayings (“The advice is free, but it could be very costly,” “Patience can be rewarded as long as you’re not sitting on stone eggs,” or “Buy straw hats in the winter”) which they enjoyed so much they eventually compiled and circulated in a little red booklet entitled, “The Sayings of Chairman Birch.” All the while, they celebrated his shrewd market wisdom and admired his daring and unconventional investment style. He loved his many friends and dogs, especially Berry, a gift one Christmas. And his friends loved him for his jovial nature, loyalty, and generous spirit. He was thoughtful, remembering birthdays, sending flowers for all occasions (but candies on sale to his wife on February 15th), delighting in Christmas caroling, and applauding others’ accomplishments far and wide. He was a tremendous father and grandfather, always present, loving, and patient. He enjoyed giving advice, loved bargains and auctions, and delighted in a good joke with a merry twinkle in his eye. He had a grand tradition of presenting house guests with hats, bags, or shirts – all adorned with his made-up family motto, “Melius suspendi est ut lupum quam ovem.” (Better be hung for a wolf than a sheep.) He was a generous and engaged member in the communities where he lived in New York and Cape Cod, serving on the boards of The Bridge Fund of New York, Dancing Classrooms NYC and the Bourne Conservation Trust. He was an Elder, Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, a Trustee, Brick Church, both in New York City and served on his coop board for years. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Eugenie L. Birch, his children and their spouses: Foster (Aileen Kim), Rebecca (Mark Pankoff), and Victoria (Yves Vandeplas), and his seven grandchildren: Robert, Lawrence, and Elizabeth Birch; Hugo, Augusta, Phebe, and Fredericka Pankoff. A memorial will be held in the spring. Those wishing to celebrate his memory, please send donations to the Bourne Conservation Trust: (https://www.bourne conservationtrust.org/) or The Bridge Fund Inc of New York for Preventing Homelessness https://thebridgefund.org/

Aldo Orlando Cipriano, of Waterbury, Connecticut; husband of T. Brenda (Stamates) Cipriano; father to Heather DeLorenzo, Brenda Cipriano, Jill Cipriano and Milly Bourdeau; father-in-law to Joseph DeLorenzo and John Bourdeau; and grandfather to Leah, Lindsey, Alexa, Joey, and Dylan DeLorenzo, died Sunday, October 31, 2021.

Aldo was born in Waterbury, September 24, 1937, son of the late Carmine and Ann Marie (Orlando) Cipriano. He was a graduate of Crosby High School, Williston Academy and Colgate University and was a teacher at Wilby High School in Waterbury.

He was an All-American athlete, holding records in the backstroke. He enjoyed fishing, camping, and nature.

Services are private.

Hugh P. Gilman passed away peacefully from medical complications on August 24, 2021, aged 81 years. Dearly loved husband of Margaret (Peg) Gilman, married for 53 years. Brother to Emily Hayden ’61 of Wilbraham, MA; father of Andrew, Nathaniel, and Christian, and grandfather to Phoenix, Lakota, Samantha and Michael. Before moving to New Zealand in 1985, Hugh and his family resided in W. Brookfield and Westminster, MA. In his time he was a race car driver, a NASA physicist, a science teacher, an IT guy, an AA sponsor, a hospital chaplain, a puzzle enthusiast, a church sexton, and the greatest of all pancake chefs. Messages to the family may be posted to c/-PO Box 44-176, Lower Hutt 5040. In accordance with Hugh’s wishes a private cremation has taken place.

Robert Louis Byers, 82, of Chalfont, PA died peacefully at home with his family at his side on December 21, 2020. The cause was idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Bob graduated from Drexel University in 1965, where he met his beloved wife and lifelong partner in business and philanthropy, Joyce Fritz Byers. An active alumnus throughout his life, Bob later served as a trustee of the university.
Bob was thankful for the opportunity to lead a fulfilling and fascinating life. In 1978, he and Joyce founded Byers’ Choice Ltd., which still makes the famous Caroler Christmas figurines in Chalfont, PA.
Bob worked tirelessly to make the world a better place and served on myriad charitable boards and foundations during his life. In Doylestown, PA, he was a co-founder of Bucks Beautiful, the James A. Michener Art Museum, and the Bucks-Mont Katrina Relief Project. On the national level, Bob was a member of the board of the Salvation Army for 18 years. In his final years, he was active in the leadership of Care In Action, a Fort Lauderdale-based homeless charity.
In 2000, Bob and Joyce received the Caring Institute’s National Caring Award in recognition of their commitment to being “values driven entrepreneurs”, their support for countless philanthropic organizations, and their habit of practicing random acts of kindness in their community. Previously, they were chosen by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Greater Philadelphia Chapter, as Philanthropists of the Year for 1993.
Known to his friends and family for his playful sense of humor, relentless pursuit of adventure, and zest for life, Bob enjoyed extensive world travel, fine wines, antique cars, hunting, and target shooting.
A man of deep faith and member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Bob appreciated at the end of his life that God had played the defining role in all of his accomplishments. He read the essay “How to Know God” that positively changed his life. He hopes you will to. https://howtoknowgod.us
Bob is survived by his wife of 57 years, Joyce; their two sons, Robert Leslie Byers and Jeffery David Byers; their daughters-in-law, Pamela and Dawn; and four grandchildren: Samuel, George, Ashlyn, and Jacob.
A private service is planned.
In memory of Bob’s charitable spirit and penchant for improving the lives of others, the family asks that those who wish to honor Bob make a donation to the Salvation Army or another helping organization of their choice.

Edward “Mac” Harper, of Glastonbury, CT, passed away on June 27, 2020. He leaves his wife, Marilyn and two children, John and Melissa.