Rosalie Sellar Brainard

1939 - 2014

Rosalie Sellar Brainard
Bloomfield, CT - Rosalie Sellar Brainard of Bloomfield CT, daughter of Norrie Sherman Sellar and Rita Dolan Sellar, died September 6, 2014 at age 75 after sustaining injuries in a horseback riding accident. She was born April 30, 1939 in Bryn Mawr, PA. The third of five children, she was raised in Unionville, PA.
She attended the Tower Hill School in Wilmington, DE through ninth grade and was in the class of 1957 at the Foxcroft School in Middleburg Va. At Foxcroft, she was a proud member of the Hound team. She loved marching and marched for the school's 100th anniversary this past April.
Through her entire life, Rosalie was fiercely independent and adventuresome and she displayed a wicked sense of humor. One of her proudest accomplishments at Foxcroft was the illicit climbing of the school's water tower. And so while she was loved by Foxcroft, she graduated from the Greer school in Tyrone, PA.
Rosalie was devoted to horseback riding, showing, and fox hunting. She grew up riding in Unionville, PA. She was a member of the Green Boundary Club in Aiken, SC. She rode with the Bull Run Hunt in Central Virginia. And she was a member of the Fairfield County Hounds in Bridgewater, CT.
She was also deeply attached to Newport, RI where her ancestors, the Wetmores, built and resided in `Chateau Sur Mer,` now a museum run by the Preservation Society of New-port County. Her great grandfather, Thomas Dolan, also established a summer house "Seaweed," which was the family's summer home in Newport for 102 years. Rosalie was a lifelong member of the Spouting Rock Beach Association, adjacent to Seaweed.
In 1959 Rosalie married E. Ennalls Berl II of Wilmington, DE, and the two had seven children (the youngest of which, Elliott, died as an infant.) The family lived in Rosemont, PA and then West Hartford CT. After her divorce, she married Peter B. Brainard (Wigs) of West Hartford, CT in 1979. Wigs' three children and Rosalie's six were very close and created enough trouble to keep the two very, very busy. Rosalie and Wigs were always very involved and supportive of their nine children and twelve grandchildren's lives, attending every sporting event, play and ceremony. It was almost impossible to see out of the rear window of the family Suburban as it was covered with so many college and other school stickers.
Rosalie and Wigs loved each other tremendously. They shared an interest not only in their large extended family, their large group of friends, but also in polo and fox hunting. Rosalie was a uniquely supportive individual. She stood by all of her family and friends in their most difficult times.
She passed away peacefully and surrounded by her family at the Danbury Hospital on September 6th, 2014 after a fall from her horse in Bridgewater, CT.
She is survived by her husband, Peter B. Brainard, her six children, Andrea S.M. Berl of Newport RI, Rita B. Thomson of Novato, CA, E. Ennalls Berl IV of West Palm Beach, FL, Alexandra S. Berl of Jamestown, RI, Charles Waggaman Berl of Middle-town, RI, and Christopher N. Berl of Lexington, MA; her three step-children, Peter B. Brainard Jr. of Fenwick, CT, Newton C. Brainard III of Lyme CT and Pamela B. Greenho of Old Lyme, CT; her six grandchildren, Lili, Jasper, Charlotte, Wilder, Allaire and Alix; her 6 step-grandchildren, Lucy, Tenley, Georgia, Petey, Morgan and Schuyler; and her four siblings, Daphne Thornton, of Newport, RI, Norrie W. Sellar of Madrid, Spain, Alexandra S. Sadron of Aspen, CO and Owen Sellar of Unionville, PA.
Funeral services will be held at Trinity Episcopal Church, 141 Spring St, Newport, RI on Saturday, September 13th at 11:00 AM followed by burial and reception.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to one of three non-profit organizations: Foxcroft School, 22407 Foxhound Ln, Middleburg, VA 20117 (www.foxcroft.org); High Hopes Therapeutic Riding, Lyme CT (http://high hopestr.org/) or Bridgewater Volunteer Fire Department, PO Box 9, Bridgewater CT 06752.

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