Richard B. Elsberry

Richard B. Elsberry, passed away on August 7, 2010 at the age of 77 after a lengthy illness at Danbury Hospital. He was a 33-year resident of Wilton, where he lived with his wife, Patricia. Born on October 21, 1932 to parents George and Jeanette Elsberry, Richard grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with his sister younger Bobbi. He is survived by his wife, Patricia Elsberry, his son Christopher, sports columnist for the Connecticut Post, and his daughters, Victoria, Sheryl and Kathleen; grandchildren, Robyn, Lauren and Stephen. Richard and Patricia were married in Minneapolis on June 18, 1955 and recently celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary. While growing up in Minneapolis, Richard attended the University of Minnesota, majoring in journalism and engineering and was editor of the Ivory Tower, a supplement to the Minnesota Daily News. It was there that he met Patricia and the rest, as they say, is history. After graduating college in 1955, he was drafted into the Army and was stationed at Fort Smith, Arkansas, Fort Eustus, Virginia and finally, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada until being honorably discharged in 1957. Just before serving in the military, Richard had been hired by General Electric and that started a 31-year career in the company's News Bureau, where he did promotions, operations and sales. When GE closed down that division of the company in 1985, Richard took his retirement and spent the next decade traveling around the world with Patricia,visiting such places as London, Paris, Spain, Turkey, Thailand (where he rode an elephant), Puerto Rico, Alaska and Morocco.

One of his favorite hobbies was fishing and Richard spent many years honing that craft by hand-making many of his own fly fishing lures. Some of the places he went were, the White River in Arkansas for rainbow trout, salmon fishing in upsate New York and deep sea fishing in Florida. He also loved to vacation in the Wellfleet/Eastham area at Cape Cod, where he never met a book or a flea market he didn't like. He was an avid reader, especially science fiction, and collected many of the classic pulp magazines. He enjoyed listening to the Clancy Brothers, Rod McKuen, the Limeliters and Peter, Paul and Mary and loved watching Banacek, Gunsmoke and other Western TV shows, along with the Twilight Zone.

Friends may call on Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Bouton Funeral Home, West Church Street, Georgetown, CT. Funeral services will be held Thursday at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Wilton. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made tothe American Diabetes Association or the Intensive Care Unit at Danbury Hospital, 24 Hospital Avenue, Danbury, CT 06810.