George Curtis Church

George Curtis Church, husband of the late Dorothy Squire Church, died Tuesday, March 13, 2007, at Connecticut Hospice in Branford.

George Church was born March 29, 1911, in New York City to William Bowen Church and Agnes Mansfield Curtis, both of Meriden. He attended schools in Meriden, including the German-American School, was graduated from the Choate School, Wallingford, in 1929 and from Yale University with honors in 1933, where was a member of the Elizabethan Club. He returned to Meriden and was employed in sales at the International Silver Company until he joined the Army as a private in 1939.

During World War II, after being assigned to the Intelligence Corps, he was stationed in England at Bletchley Park, where code breakers were working with the Enigma machine to decipher German radio transmissions. His duties were with the translation section, preparing English versions of messages intercepted from the German High Command, especially concerning Yugoslavia.

Although he had studied German during his years at Choate, he was largely self-taught through listening to short-wave radio, and it was an interest which he retained throughout his long life.

Following the Normandy invasion, he was attached the staff of General George Patton as an intelligence officer and remained with the Army during the closing stages of the war. He was discharged from service in 1945, with the rank of captain.

Upon returning to Meriden, he joined the Meriden Trust and Safe Deposit Company where he served as a trust officer and held various offices in the company before serving as president from 1964 to 1968, and, briefly, chairman of the board. He thereafter became a vice president and trust officer of the Home Bank, where he remained until his retirement in 1976.

During his years of employment Church served in numerous civic capacities.

He was appointed to the board of the Curtis Memorial Library in 1938 by Mayor Francis A. Danaher, serving as president in 1951, and remained on that board for decades. He was active in the United Fund and was elected its president in 1971-72.

Church served as treasurer of the Meriden Boys Club, and spent a term as president of the Meriden-Wallingford Yale Club in 1970. He was a member, all his life, of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church and served on the Vestry and as Senior Warden. He was on the Rector Selection Committee which called the late Rev. Allan House O'Neil to St. Andrew's and to Meriden.

In the Meriden mayoral election of 1961, voters faced a bitter three-way contest among Abraham G. Grossman, the Democrat, John Ivers, the incumbent Republican, and Howard Houston, who had served two terms as mayor from 1947 to '51. Houston came in first but the Republican majority on the Board of Aldermen was split between his supporters and those of former Mayor Ivers.

In January of 1961 it was necessary to fill the position of Alderman Ralph Lukens (later the city's Probate Judge) who had also served as Mayor Pro-tem. Houston nominated Church and at the Court of Common Council meeting of January 1, 1962, Church was elected as both alderman and Mayor Pro-Tem on a 13 to 6 vote supported by the Democrats and the Houston adherents. Church served the term on the board but was not reelected in 1963 when Democrats elected William Shea as Mayor and won a majority.

After his retirement in 1976 Church remained active in his family's life, nurturing and reading to his grandchildren and later debating politics with them. He traveled as long as he was able to with his wife, visiting the Greek Isles, Spain, England, Ireland, and, several times, Austria, where he loved nothing better than to sit in an outdoor Viennese café and be mistaken for a native. He continued to read the Record-Journal daily and enjoyed "This Week in History" particularly.

He is survived by his daughter, Margaret Agnes Church of Meriden; two sons and their spouses, Curtis Wolcott Church and Elisabeth Karp Church, of New York City, and Allan Southworth Church and Lois Lake Church of Meriden; seven grandchildren, Allan Hixson Church and his spouse, Janine Waclawski of Pound Ridge, N.Y., Joseph Curtis Berenguel and his wife, Corey Needels, of Meriden, Justin Allan Berenguel and his spouse Sarah Nicole Holland, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, Sophie Curtis Church and Thomas Wolcott Church of New York City, and Juliane Laura Southworth Church and Victoria Margaret Emily Church of Meriden; two step-grandchildren: Nathaniel Damien Raabe and his spouse, Melinda Pease Raabe, of Clearwater, Fla., and Josiah Benton Raabe and his partner, Leila Walker, of Meriden; one great-granddaughter, Amber Diadema Gotoma Berenguel; three step great-grandchildren, Max Damien Raabe, Zoe Iona Raabe, and Declan Day Raabe, all of Clearwater; one brother, Thomas Trowbridge Church of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a brother-in-law, Robert Wolcott Squire and his spouse, Rae Zavaglia Squire, of Meriden; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, extended family and friends. He was predeceased by his brother, William Bowen Church, Jr. and by her granddaughter, Emily Southworth Church.

He was a gentleman of lively intellect and warm intelligence, who will be missed by all who knew him. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in George's memory be sent to St. Andrew's Church, 20 Catlin St., Meriden 06451 or the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, Finch Ave., Meriden 06451. A memorial service will be held at St. Andrew's Church, 20 Catlin St., Meriden, on Saturday, March 17 at 1:00 p.m. There are no calling hours. Arrangements are under the direction of the John J. Ferry and Sons Funeral Home, 88 East Main St., Meriden, CT 06450.