Bruce Edgar Dillingham

1925 - 2017
Bruce Edgar Dillingham, formerly of Fairfield, CT, passed away peacefully on September 10, 2017. He was predeceased by his wife, Catherine K. Dillingham, in 2014 after they had moved to Brooksby Village in Peabody, MA.

Bruce was born on September 18, 1925, the son of Herman Louis Dillingham and Mary Perkins Dillingham. He entered Colgate University following his graduation from Theodore Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, N.Y. He suspended his college studies in 1943 to serve as a Sargent with the Army Corps of Engineers in the WW II European Theater of Operations. Among the last soldiers to leave Europe, he returned to receive his A.B. from Colgate University in 1947. He married Catherine Knight, on June 30, 1951. He went on to receive his L.L.B. from Yale University in 1957 after transferring from his first year at Columbia University.

He quickly rose to partnership and, ultimately, managing partner with the law firm of Marsh, Day and Calhoun in Bridgeport, CT. He devoted his practice to corporate, banking, public housing and real estate law. Many sought Bruce's sage counsel.

He served as President of the Bridgeport Bar Association, President and Board Member of Thirty Thirty Park, President of Bridgeport Rotary, and Director and Chairman of multiple committees of the Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport, where he helped to create the Interfaith Housing Corporation. In 2005, he was awarded the Council's Founders Award and in April 2012, the community room at Sullivan-McKinney Elder Housing in Fairfield, CT was named in his honor. Bruce spearheaded the Council's planned giving efforts and, true to form in all aspects of his life, he led by example.

Bruce was a life-long student of politics and international relations. He was active in local and state campaigns and held several elected and appointed positions, including as a member of Fairfield's Representative Town Meeting. He encouraged his beloved grandchildren to become involved in the political process, he voiced his concerns in many letters to editors, and he voted his conscience. He loved spending time at Lake George with his family. He is remembered for his fortitude, impeccable memory, quick humor, and genuine interest in and love for people.

Bruce is survived by his sister, Ruth Dillingham Cowan, and his daughters, Ruth Dillingham and her husband Robert Curran of Hyannis, MA; Laura Bibler and her husband Gregory of Salisbury, MA; and Sallie Bowling and her husband Stuart of Topsfield, MA; his grandchildren, Sean and Mary Curran, Ashley Johnston, Stephanie Rogers, Abigail Bowling and Ben, Sarah and Kathryn Bibler. He will be deeply missed by everyone in his devoted family.

ARRANGEMENTS: relatives and friends are invited to attend a Memorial Service at 2:00P.M. on Thursday, September 14 at The Congregational Church of Topsfield, 9 East Common St., Topsfield, MA. Assisting the family with the arrangements is the Peterson-O'Donnell Funeral Home, 167 Maple St., Danvers. In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be made in Bruce's memory to The Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport (www.ccgb.org/CCGB).