Thomas Pease Cutler

Thomas Pease Cutler, 73, passed away, Oct 23, 2018, at Avon Health Center after a long illness. He was the son of the late Ralph Dennis Cutler Jr. and Prudence Pease Cutler of Farmington, CT. His grandparents were Ralph Dennis Cutler and his wife Ruth Brainard Cutler and Herbert Hoyt Pease and his wife, Mary Curtiss Pease. Tom leaves his sisters, Carolyn Dennis Cutler and Ruth Brainard Cutler, numerous cousins on both sides of the family and his aunts, Penny Pease and Patricia Pease. Tom attended the Junior School and the Kingswood School in West Harford and graduated from The Pomfret School. An excellent athlete he lettered in crew, wrestling and football. After Pomfret he worked for the summer for the Grenfell Project on a ship that provided assistance to the native people of Labrador. With the intent to become fluent in French he attended a school in Switzerland and then worked as a bar tender in Paris arriving home to attend Yale for the next 4 years where he majored in political science. He subsequently received a master's degree from John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. At the height of the Vietnam War his proficiency in languages earned him a place in the Army Language School where he learned Russian and was fortunate to spend 3 years stationed in Bavaria along the Czechoslovakia border to monitor the Warsaw Pact military communications. He returned to work as a night watchman while getting his law degree at George Washington University School of Law. Tom worked for a law firm in Washington, D.C. and wrote an article published in a law journal before starting his own practice in international law focusing on contracts. Sailing was a passion and as a kid solo raced the "Grey Ghost, a frustratingly slow boat, in Edgartown harbor. With a friend Tom taught sailing in Menemsha Pond on the Vineyard while watching his sisters' consistently poor performances in the weekly Sunfish races. He crewed for friends on several Bermuda Races and in 1968 on the yawl, Ondine, who won the Atlantic Race from Bermuda to Travemuende, Germany. Tom used the arrival in Germany as an opportunity to travel around Europe and to work on a kibbitz in Israel before returning to the US in time to sign up for the Army. Tom's family would like to thank Avon Health Center, Brian Hartley, BrightStar Care and Attorney Maureen Lovejoy for their help in making Tom happier during his long illness and for their friendship. There will be a celebration of Tom's life at the Sarah Porter Memorial, First Church of Christ Congregational Church, Dec. 12, Farmington CT at 11 AM. Donations in lieu of flowers, can be made to CT Forest and Park Assoc. in Middlefield, CT or Sheriffs Meadow in Edgartown, Mass. Arrangements are being handled by The Ahern Funeral Homes, Inc., www.ahernfuneralhome.com.