Richard Charles Paddock
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In Appreciation: Richard Paddock
Jan 14, 2026
SALISBURY — Richard Paddock, a longtime Salisbury resident whose deep curiosity and generosity of spirit helped preserve and share the town’s history, died last week. He was 78.
Paddock was widely known as a gifted storyteller and local historian, equally comfortable leading bus tours, researching railroads or patiently helping others navigate new technology. His passion for learning — and for passing that knowledge along — made him a central figure in the Salisbury Association’s Historical Society and other preservation efforts throughout the Northwest Corner.
“He was an incredible storyteller,” said Salisbury Association Executive Assistant and Historian Lou Bucceri, who co-chaired the association’s historical society with Paddock. He remembered the bus tour of Twin Lakes that Paddock led that was so popular a second one had to be scheduled. He also was instrumental, along with Bill Morrill, in obtaining a Revolutionary War cannon for the association.
The Twin Lakes neighborhood was central to Paddock’s life, where he spent summers as a young boy. His family’s ties to the area stretched back generations. His grandfather, Charles Paddock, lost his wife and three of his four children during the influenza epidemic of 1917, leaving him to raise an 8-year-old son — Paddock’s father.
Charles Paddock later found work as a chauffeur for the family of Herbert Scoville Jr., who maintained a mansion in Taconic. Scoville, a trained scientist, spent years working for the CIA before serving with the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and became a tireless advocate for nuclear disarmament in the latter part of his life.
In a 2016 interview with Jean McMillen, who recorded more than 400 oral histories of Salisbury residents, Paddock reflected on the Scoville family’s generosity, noting that several longtime employees — including his grandfather — were granted an acre of land after 25 years of service.
“You hear a lot of stories about brutality between the householder and the employees. That is just not the way it was here with the Scoville family. I have done some research. I know several of the current generation of the Scoville family. I got interested in the family and they played a big role in my grandfather’s life and my father’s life and certainly I live now on that piece of land that they gave my grandfather, so they steered my life as well,” Paddock said.
Peter Wick, a longtime friend of Paddock, said their relationship began when they were both young boys — Paddock visiting his grandfather in Twin Lakes and Wick visiting his own family in the area. Both of their grandfathers worked for wealthy residents in Taconic.
Wick, now of Granby, called his friend “an inspiration. He was definitely one of my best friends. I think I need to ask Dick something and then realize he’s not there. He was so smart, especially when it came to technology.”
Paddock’s family lived winters in East Hartford and he graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in electrical engineering. He spent his career at IBM, where he developed a deep interest in computers and became highly proficient in the field.
McMillen, who became close with Paddock and his wife, Fran, said he was so very helpful in teaching her how to use computers for her oral histories.
“He was so knowledgeable and gifted; he never made me feel dumb. He always showed kindness and generosity.” McMillen said.
She added that Paddock had wide-ranging interests, including history and railroads.
Paddock’s passion for history led him to become active in the Salisbury Association’s Historical Society, and, later, the Friends of Beckley Furnace. The East Canaan furnace produced iron ore back in the 1800s, bringing a flourishing industry to the Northwest Corner. In his oral history, Paddock explained the members decided to help the state make some use of the furnace, which it had purchased in 1945. Spearheaded by the late Ed Kirby and Fred Hall, the committee was able to get some money to stabilize the structure.
“They wanted to turn it into a real asset in the park system,” he told McMillan. “Times have not changed much; the state of Connecticut had the inclination but not the resources to really operate that. We formed a non-profit and a bunch of us old gray-haired guys take care of that site.”
For many years, Paddock and several others spent Saturday mornings at the site, interpreting its history for visitors and often surprising them by explaining that railroad car wheels were made from iron produced at the furnace.
“Think about the time frame between 1830 and 1900,” he said in the oral history. “Westward expansion is being carried out on top of wheels made in Connecticut. Certainly not exclusively, but the best wheels that went the farthest were made here in northwest Connecticut. This silly little town had a lot of impact on the development of the country.”
Christian Allyn joined the group as a young docent, working alongside the older volunteers on those Saturday mornings. He recalls many fond memories from that time, including a surprise visit from former First Lady Laura Bush in 2014 and selling iron ingot paperweights to visitors.
Allyn said he learned a great deal from the men “who would dive deep into both the business and personality sides of the iron industry. Those lessons were foundational in establishing my life in the Northwest hills.”
Railroads were another of Paddock’s passions. He was particularly interested in the long-gone Central New England line since, as a child, he discovered tracks that crossed a causeway at Twin Lakes. As he did with every subject of interest, he did extensive research on local trains and would present programs on the topic.
Bucceri echoed the sentiments of many: “If you didn’t know Dick, I’m sorry. I miss him so much.”
— Ruth Epstein
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Edward Ashton Nickerson
Jan 14, 2026
LAKEVILLE — Edward Ashton “Nick” Nickerson died on Jan. 1, 2026, in Sharon, Connecticut. The cause of death was congestive heart failure following a heart attack. He was 100.
Nick was born July 1, 1925, in Wilmington, Delaware, the son of a DuPont Company executive, Elgin Nickerson, and his wife, Margaret Pattison Nickerson. He spent most of his boyhood in Fairfield, Connecticut, and Newburgh, New York.
He grew up with his older sister, Roma, and attended the local public elementary schools. Because Nick suffered from asthma, his parents sent him to boarding schools in the mountains in his teenage years. For one year, he had the unusual experience of going to a boys’ school at Mohonk Mountain House, a grand hotel on a mountain lake in New Paltz, New York. The owners, the Smiley family, taught classes and housed the boys in the hotel rooms. In the afternoons, the boys would swim, hike, ski, skate, or work around the property. He loved the school and talked about it for the rest of his life.
Nick went on to graduate from Northwood School in Lake Placid, New York, near the site of the 1932 Winter Olympics. He was on the ski team and ski jumped (the latter of which left him with nightmares!).
In 1943, Nick joined the 10th Mountain Division—the first American ski troops—and fought in the Apennine Mountains of Italy in 1945. He was awarded the Silver Star for, in the words of the Army, “gallant conduct under fire” and “disregard for his own safety to save the lives of his comrades.”
After the war, he attended Dartmouth College, where he wrote for the student paper, helped edit the literary magazine, and graduated with an English degree in 1949. He landed a job as a reporter for the Rutland Daily Herald in Vermont, then was hired by the Associated Press wire service. While assigned to the AP’s Baltimore bureau, he met Liselotte “Bee” Davis, a college student and native of Baltimore. After her graduation, they married on Sept. 16, 1955, and moved to New York City when he was transferred to AP’s headquarters there.
After spending the 1950s in journalism, he switched to teaching. He said that the first time he set foot in a classroom, he knew he was in the right place. In the 1960s, he taught English at three boarding schools. He became chair of the English department at the Emma Willard School in Troy, New York, a girls’ school that his mother and many other family members attended.
In the mid-1960s, Nick became interested in teaching at the university level and earned a Ph.D. in English at the State University of New York in Albany. He combined his English teaching and newspaper reporting to become the first director of the University of Delaware’s journalism program, which was part of the English department. He led the journalism program for 21 years, teaching everything from basic reporting to radio writing. He also taught English and American literature classes, including a popular detective fiction class.
He retired as a university professor in 1991. He and Bee moved to Lakeville in the Northwest Corner of Connecticut. He taught extension classes on literature through the Taconic Learning Center, joined book clubs, sang with the HousaTonics men’s barbershop group, swam (including across Lake Wononscopomuc), and cross-country skied for years. He endowed a lecture fund at the University of Delaware to bring reporters to speak on campus.
He and Bee lived on Belgo Road in Lakeville. After nearly 52 years of marriage, she died of cancer in 2007. He moved to the Noble Horizons retirement community, where he was a friendly fixture for years.
He celebrated Christmas with his family in 2025 then, days later, entered Sharon Hospital with pneumonia that led to a heart attack and congestive heart failure. On New Year’s Day 2026, at age 100 years, six months, he died as his daughter read him a poem by John Keats, “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer.”
Nick loved chatting up strangers, savoring a good meal with wine, reading, playing chess, learning new things, skiing, traveling, concertgoing, wordplay, spending time with friends and family, and almost anything Italian. Days before his death, he asked his son to take him out to his favorite restaurant—the Woodland in Lakeville—for dinner.
Survivors include his daughter, Louisa, of Bethesda, Maryland, and her partner, David Shelton; his son, Matthew, daughter-in-law, Elizabeth, and grandchildren, John and Julia, all of Chicago; a niece, Anne Hockmeyer Brown; a nephew, Brian Hockmeyer, and Brian’s wife, Ann. Nick’s sister, Roma Nickerson Hockmeyer, died in 1981.
A memorial service will be held at the Congregational Church of Salisbury, Connecticut, on Saturday, Feb. 14, at noon. A reception will follow.
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Steven Michael Willette
Jan 14, 2026
SHARON — Steven Michael “Bird” Willette, 76, of Silver Lake Shores, passed away on Dec. 25, 2025, at Vassar Brother Medical Center, with his family at his side.
Steve was born in New York City to Dorman Willette and Ann (Sabol) Willette.
He grew up in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York, where he fell in love with doowop, a cappella, and all things music.
As a teen he spent summers in Sharon, where he and his family built a cabin near Mudge Pond; he relocated here permanently in the early 90s to raise his children amid the strong community and natural beauty.
Steve was a vocalist, a genuine classic car lover, and a silversmith; he operated a jewelry business with his wife for a number of years, after which he worked as a bus driver, safely driving children for Connecticut Region 1 as well as the Webutuck School.
He is survived by his beloved wife of 32 years, Maureen; his son, Ryan; and his daughter, Desirée.
The family has chosen to temporarily hold off on memorial services to allow more time for loved ones to join us. Details will be made public as they are decided on.
The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
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Sarah M. Polhemus
Jan 14, 2026
SALISBURY — Sarah M. Polhemus, died peacefully on Dec. 23, 2025, at Noble Horizons in Salisbury, Connecticut where she had been a resident for the past four years. Born in Torrington, she was the daughter of A.H. “Hank” Mitchell and Orpha Brown Robinson. She lived in Stamford until 1941, at which time her family relocated to Salisbury, where she lived most of the balance of her life.
“Squeak” (A childhood nickname that stayed with her throughout her life) spent her youth in Salisbury until she left for boarding school at The Northfield School For Girls (Now Northfield Mount Herman School). After graduation, she followed in her mother’s footsteps to Connecticut College. Upon graduation, she headed to New York City where she worked and lived for a number of years, before moving to Wilton, where she started her family. But Salisbury was always home. In 1974, she returned to Salisbury with her family and began working for her family real estate firm, Robinson Real Estate. She worked alongside her mother and sister Louise (“Petie”), eventually partnering with her sister to form Robinson-Polhemus Real Estate. Here she remained for the next three decades, until she retired in 2007.
After retirement, she embarked on her “second career” with various board roles. She served on the board of The Corner Food Pantry and Taconic Learning Center, served as clerk of the Congregational Church for several years and even served as the Salisbury Town Treasurer from 2013-2015.
An outdoors and sports person, she loved her time on the tennis and platform tennis courts, participating in many local tournaments over the years. But her first love was golf – Playing and competing with her course partner and sister Petie and her large circle of golfing friends. In fact, in 1980, she beat her sister Petie just one time in the Sharon Country Club Women’s Golf Championship (Petie won the championship several times and flanked her before and after, but 1980 was “Squeak’s year”!). She continued at Sharon for many years, before calling the Hotchkiss course her home course in later years.
Always wearing a smile and always seeing the positive in everything, she was able to laugh at even the most unsettling situations and never let the negative stuff get her down. A loving, and loved, member of the Salisbury community, she was a family person, first and foremost and her “family” extended to countless people she touched in the community. She was a wealth of knowledge and true storehouse of time as it related to Salisbury and loved sharing funny stories about the old days in our quiet little corner. Some stories were actually hard to believe – by today’s standards – like sledding as a child all the way from the Erickson Farm up on Bunker Hill to Main Street Salisbury, right on the road! but, they were true nonetheless. She loved her home of Salisbury and the many good friends and family with whom she shared her native turf over the decades.
She was predeceased by her brother, Donald L. Mitchell and sisters, Ann R. Noble and Ann M. Van Deusen. She is survived by her sister, Louise W. Robinson of Salisbury, her daughter Sarah Bartle (Tom) and granddaughters, Sandy and Nicki Bartle, all of Wilmington, North Carolina. She is also survived by her son, Freddy Polhemus, of Lakeville, and granddaughters, Emily Polhemus (Conor) of Columbia Falls, Montana, and Katherine Polhemus (Jacob) of Rutland, Vermont.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial contribution to The Noble Horizons General Fund.
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