Stephen Patrick Dell

Stephen Patrick Dell

SALISBURY — Stephen Patrick Dell, 70, of Salisbury passed away in the evening hours of Monday, July 21, 2025, at Noble Horizons after a three year long struggle with metastasized lung cancer.

Throughout his illness, Stephen had always managed to remain upbeat and positive and was forever grateful to the family and loved ones that had driven him to appointments and stayed with him throughout the countless procedures that he had endured.

Stephen was born on April 14, 1955 in Sharon, was raised in the Northwest corner and attended the Region 1 Schools.

While growing up on the family farm in Sharon, Stephen developed a strong love of plant and wildlife conservation and a very deep appreciation for the outdoors.

Most of his youth was spent outside, studying watching and wandering about in the acres of backyard fields, rivers and forests.

A lifelong gardener by trade and as a true labor of love, Stephen started working in perennial flower and vegetable gardens at fifteen years old and continued that love for the rest of his lifeworking on various gardens and estates in Wyoming and Connecticut.

Stephen was always the person that could answer the questions about particular plants or problems in the garden or identify mysterious wildflowers or birdcalls or odd tracks left in the snow.

A gifted, selftaught, watercolor artist his numerous paintings of landscapes and wildlife truly reflected that deep love and knowledge he had for the outdoors.

Stephen had a second place finish one year, in the highly competitive State of Wyoming Duck and Wildlife Art stamp contest. A very personal recognition and accomplishment for him.

The original “ Quiet Man” he was a sensitive, introverted soul who went about his quiet life, steady and strong fueled with a razor sharp mind and a memory that could remember the minutest of details from childhood. He could recount the tiniest things from long ago that no one else could.

He was a talented guitar player, having studied classical guitar as a teenager, although he never, ever would of dared play in public, unless really prodded.

He also had a competitive side that did not like to lose. He was a good scrabble player that didn’t like to leave any loose tiles on the rack and was very hard to beat at weekly card games.

On the first Tuesday of Nov., Stephen could be found at the absentee ballot counter table in Salisbury Town Hall where he had worked every election since 1999 right up until the year of his cancer diagnosis.

Stephen leaves behind his Mum, Myra Dell of Lakeville, his sisters, Catherine Dunham and her husband Phil of East Canaan, Patricia Walsh and Maureen Dell of Lakeville and his brother Stirling Dell of Salisbury.

As well as numerous cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews in the US, Canada, UK and South Africa.

He was predeceased by his dad, John, of Salisbury in 2011, a brother Scott of Ontario, Canada in 1995 and a brother Richard of Salisbury in 2021.

Donations may be made if desired to:The Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Service, PO box 582, Salisbury, CT 06068

The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.

All services are private.

Latest News

2025 Jubilee Luncheon
   We look forward to seeing you!

Ruth Franklin discusses ‘The Many Lives of Anne Frank’ at Beth David

Ruth Franklin and Ileene Smith in conversation at Congregation Beth David in Amenia.

Natalia Zukerman

Congregation Beth David in Amenia hosted a conversation on the enduring legacy of Anne Frank, one of the 20th century’s most iconic figures. Ruth Franklin, award-winning biographer and critic, shared insights from her highly acclaimed book “The Many Lives of Anne Frank” with thought-provoking questions from Ileene Smith, Editorial Director of the Jewish Lives series. This event, held on July 23 — the date Anne Frank would have turned 96 — invited the large audience to reconsider Anne Frank not just as the young writer of a world-famous diary, but as a cultural symbol shaped by decades of representation and misrepresentation.

Franklin and Smith dove right in; Franklin reading a passage from the book that exemplified her approach to Anne’s life. She described her work as both a biography of Anne Frank and a cultural history of the diary itself, a document that has resonated across the world.

Keep ReadingShow less
Prokofiev, piano and perfection: Yuja Wang at Tanglewood

Yuja Wang performs with the TMCO and Andris Nelsons.

Hilary Scott

Sunday, July 20 was sunny and warm. Nic Mayorga, son of American concert pianist, the late Lincoln Mayorga, joined me at Tanglewood to hear Yuja Wang play Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16. I first saw Wang on July 8, 2022, when she filled in for Jean-Yves Thibaudet on the opening night of Tanglewood’s summer season. She virtually blew the shed down with her powerful and dynamic playing of Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Nic was my guest last season on July 13, when Wang wowed us with her delicate interpretation of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. We made plans on the spot to return for her next date in Lenox.

Keep ReadingShow less