Christopher Vivian Hawthorne Fay

FAY, Christopher Vivian Hawthorne Christopher Vivian Hawthorne Fay of Preston, known to family and friends as Tiff, died at the William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich on Saturday, (April 17, 2004) after a short illness. He was 67. At the time he worked at Mystic Seaport as an interpreter of ships, boats and other exhibits and lectured at the Seaport's planetarium. Tiff's youth and much of his adult life centered on the water and boating. He won numerous cups as a member of the Duck Island Yacht Club in Clinton, was a noted yacht helmsman in yacht racing, and was an antique and wooden boat enthusiast. He was the owner of the yacht, "Klang," (which had participated in the Dunkirk evacuation) and participated in many schooner races, including the inaugural Mayor's Cup in New York Harbor aboard the schooner "Madrigal." Tiff was born in London, England, son of Ruth Hawthorne Fay and noted illustrator Clark Fay who both predeceased him. He was raised in New York City and Clinton, and graduated from Clinton High School in 1955. Prior to college he attended the U.S. Army Language School at the Presidio in Monterey, CA, where he graduated fluent in Russian and served in the Army Security Agency at the Heilbronn, Germany, post monitoring Russian troop activities at the height of the Cold War. He left the service in 1961 to finish his college education, eventually graduating from University of Connecticut. Before moving to Preston, he resided for several years in Essex, and Provincetown and Nantucket Island, MA. While in Nantucket, he was associated with the Nantucket Boat Works. He is survived by his son, Slade Hawthorne Fay, of Preston; his brother, Stephen D. Fay of Chappaqua, NY; his sister-in-law, Helen Fay of Chappaqua, NY; and his nieces, Stephanie Coburn of Bonita Springs, FL, and Sally Fay, of Mount Kisco, NY. A memorial service is being planned for a future date. In the meantime, gifts can be donated in the name of Christopher Fay to the Kushi Institute, P.O. Box 7, Beckett, MA 01223, or to Mystic Seaport for Support of the Boat Livery and/or Planetarium, 75 Greenmanville Avenue, P.O. Box 6000, Mystic, CT 06355-0990.