Christopher Walters ‘90, died Sunday, (July 3, 2011). He was born Feb. 22, 1975, son of Lee Gallagher of Wethersfield and the late Gary Walters. Chris was a lifelong resident of Wethersfield. He graduated from Mooreland Hill School and attended Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. He worked as a lineman for AT&T for 16 years. He leaves three children, Thea Ashlyn, 10, Aidan Blane, 8, and Tess Lauren, 5 and his former wife, Natalie. He also leaves his sister Lizean and her husband Lou Messina and their two children Michael and Emily of Wethersfield, his brothers, Matthew Walters and his wife Heather and their two children Cathryn and Christopher Patrick of Washington, D.C and Patrick Walters of Jacksonville, FL. Christopher was an avid fisherman, hunter, and golfer. He will be missed by his many friends and neighbors. He was a wonderful father, whose most cherished time was spent with his three children, whom he loved dearly.
Funeral procession will be Friday, July 8, 2011 at 9:15 a.m. from the Farley-Sullivan Funeral Home, 34 Beaver Rd., Wethersfield, with a Mass of Christian Burial celebrating Chris’ life at 10 a.m. in Corpus Christi Church, 601 Silas Deane Highway, Wethersfield. Interment will follow in Village Cemetery, (Hart Section) Marsh St., Old Wethersfield. Chris’ family will receive relatives and friends at the funeral home, Thursday, July 7 from 4-7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Corpus Christi Church, 84 Somerset St., Wethersfield, CT 06109 or the Mooreland Hill School, 166 Lincoln St., Kensington, CT 06037. To extend online condolences or for further information please visit farleysullivan.com.

Donald R. “Pete” Hart, Jr. ’33, 1918 – 2011, A Mooreland Treasure – The oldest Mooreland Hill School alumnus, Donald R, “Pete” Hart, Jr. ’33, April 17, 2011. One of the first four students in the little school founded by his mother and friends, Pete Hart began a 78-year history with Mooreland Hill School (nee Shuttle Meadow School, from which he graduated in 1933. He prepped at Avon Old Farms School (classmate and dear friend of folksinger Pete Seeger), spent his college days at Amherst College, studied at la Sorbonne in Paris, master 13 languages, taught French, German, Spanish and Latin and headed the Language Department at Avon Old Farms.

Pete was truly a man for all seasons. Drafted early in World War II, he was one of a select group of individuals who founded the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) now the C.I.A. During his time of service, he handled French sabotage operations in France, ran a spy transit station and captured Nazi collaborators in Paris after its liberation, all for which he received the prestigious and coveted Legion of Honor medal from the French Government. From 1983 to 1999, he and his wife Vera volunteered fro the disaster program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), working at more than 30 disaster sites.

His Mooreland Hill connections were also legion: student, graduate, alumnus, parent, Board member and volunteer extraordinary. During his Mooreland years he often rode his horse to school “parking” him in the school’s red barn, now the site of the Robert C. Vance Center. For as long as can be remembered he annually attended Mooreland graduations along with his sister Mary Jane Hart Clark ’35 and was often a guest speaker for special campus events. During the school’s 75th anniversary celebration he was unanimously selected for the Volunteer of The Century Award.

A Special note is Pete’s stint as an editor. With the help of Mooreland friend and cousin Norman Eddy ’34, Pete created a neighborhood mimeographed weekly Current Events of the Week, while he was a Mooreland student. The paper was filled with gossip, school news, creative writing and sold for five cents a copy. It was a total moneymaker; all of the proceeds paid for a cruise to Bermuda for the young boys, all by themselves. In the 1980’s Pete resurrected the newspaper as Current Events of the World, compiling news from a cadre of 200 family members and friends for over 20 years.

In addition to his wife Vera and sister Mary Jane, Pete leaves behind a wealth of family and friends including his brother Dr. David L. Hart “33, and his children Peter R. Hart, Christine H. Hart ’68, and Philip D. Hart.

The obituary of Donald R. “Pete” Hart, Jr. closed with” a direct quote from a ‘self obit’ he wrote a few years ago: ‘Now you have read quite enough, and so I bid you all adieu.’”

Nathaniel Sawyer “Bud” Howe ‘37, passed away on Sunday, January 16, 2011 at the age of 87. While born and raised in New Britain, he spent most of his life in Farmington. He graduated from Mooreland Hill in 1937. Following Mooreland, Bud attended Pomfret School and Yale University (1944). He served as a photo topographer in WWII in the South Pacific and in Japan. Upon returning to the States, he became an administrative trainee at the New Britain Machine company and then received an award for a one-year fellowship at the Sloan School of Management at MIT. He received his master of science, and returned to New Britain Machine, eventually becoming its president. Following its acquisition by Litton Industries, he became senior vice president of Litton’s Machine Tool Group. In 1984 he established QUAMCO Inc with the purchase of six machine tool companies from Litton.

Bud was deeply committed to helping those in the immediate Hartford community. His involvement ranged from supporting the arts to health care to initiating career programs. In the arts, he not only pursued oil portraiture as a hobby and enjoyed classical music, but also served on the board of the Hillstead Museum and as a consultant for the Hartford Conservatory of Music. His health care concerns led him to serve on the board of the New Britain and Hartford hospitals, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Connecticut and the Hartford Physician Hospital Organization. Lastly, he became interested in the STRIVE program which helps the less fortunate members of society become employable. His work for the Hartford area was featured on the CBS show, 60 Minutes. He spent his summer vacations with his family Little Compton, Rhode Island, where he enjoyed sailing, tennis, fishing and walking. He and his brother, Ralph ‘Ted’ Howe ’41, won the New Britain tennis doubles championships in the early 1950’s. He was predeceased by his loving wife of 60 years, Alison Gilman Howe, and by his brother Ted Howe ‘41. He is survived by his four children, Susan Howe of Falmouth, Maine; Edith Howe and her husband Ralph Hill of Amherst, MA; Nathaniel ‘Ty’ Howe Jr. and his wife Abby of Dover, MA; and Robin Howe of Signal Mountain, TN. He leaves 11 grandchildren.

Dr. George Henry Bray, MD, 87, of New Britain, CT died after a long illness on May 21, 2010. He was a leading surgeon in the New Britain medical establishment from 1952 until his retirement 1991. The son of Anna A. Murphy and Dr. Henry T. Bray, he was born on September 8, 1922. After the untimely death of his father at the young age of 44, George never considered any other profession than medicine. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame, then received his medical degree in 1947 from University of Vermont. He interned at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, fulfilled the first year of his surgical residency at Long Island College Hospital, spent three years as a flight surgeon at Otis Air Force Base in Falmouth, MA, and finished his residency at New Britain General Hospital. He began his practice in New Britain in 1956, being honored in 1997 for 40 years of membership in the Connecticut State Medical Society. He was a well-respected surgeon who joined with three other physicians to create the New Britain Surgical Group in 1960. Read more…

Katherine “Casey” Conway Beaupre ’05, Kensington, CT March 10, 2010. Casey’s courageous fight against Leukemia, the strength and support she gave to fellow cancer patients throughout the United States and the love she felt for family and friends leave a legacy of a young life well-lived. A gifted athlete at Mooreland and Miss Porter’s School, Casey left no stone unturned on the athletic fields and courts and in the great outdoors, excelling in all of her athletic pursuits: field hockey, basketball, softball, snowboarding, rock climbing, kayaking and surfing. She was also a talented filmmaker and pursued that passion at Emerson College. During her classes, she co-produced a book with her mother describing the lessons she learned through the challenges she was presented. During her illness, Casey attended High Mountain Institute in Colorado, Big Sky Cancer Camp in Montana and First Descents Cancer Camp in Idaho where she received support while giving special inspiration to others. She is survived by her parents, Rosemary and Robert Beaupre, a sister Elizabeth Beaupre ’02, a twin brother Tim Beaupre ’05 and a wide circle of friends and family.