S Steven Wernick

1921 - 2014
Dr. S. Steven Wernick, an orthodontist by profession and true Renaissance man who surrounded himself and his life with music as a seasoned violinist and art collector, passed away on Dec. 28, 2014 at the age of 93.

Dr. Wernick was born on Jan. 3, 1921 in Hartford, Conn. He was the son of Dr. Benjamin and Florence Wernick.

He was a graduate of Hall High School in 1939 and from the St. Louis University School of Dentistry in 1946, where he became the leader of the Company C Band and won many accolades.

Dr. Wernick had a successful orthodontics practice in West Hartford, Hartford and Bristol for more than 50 years; however, music was central to his soul. As a young teen, he won the Harold Berkley Scholarship to study privately with Mr. Berkley at the Hartt School of Music. Dr. Wernick later continued his violin studies with the famous pedagogue, Raphael Bronstein, in New York City.

A passion for the arts led Dr. Wernick to purchase and restore the William Sessions' Beleden House on Federal Hill in Bristol, where he lived for 32 years. He regularly held concerts in the magnificent brownstone's two-story music room, where the Estey pipe organ was the centerpiece.

Steve's involvement in the arts was extensive and vast. He played with the Hartford Symphony in the second violin section during the 1952-1953 Season, the Torrington Symphony, the Waterbury Symphony, the Hartford Festival Orchestra and even Harry Belafonte's orchestra in Bermuda, where, at one concert, Princess Margaret was in attendance. He also played with the Connecticut String Orchestra where he was a Concertmaster of the Orchestra and performed as a soloist. Dr. Wernick also performed as the second violinist with the Bucknell University String Quartet during one summer season. Steven was a member of the Violin Society of America and often wrote articles for their publications. He served on the Julius Hartt Foundation Board of Trustees from 1990-1996.

Dr. Wernick is survived by his daughter, Andrea Holcomb and husband Glenn of Oxford, New York, granddaughters Darcie Holcomb of New Fairfield, Conn. and Blythe Baeuchle and husband Andreas of Nantucket, Mass., as well as his beloved sister, Beverly W. Thomas of Bloomfield, Conn. and brother, Dr. Neil Wernick and wife Barbara of Old Lyme, Conn. Also, niece Candace Krause and husband Jim and family of Dallas, Texas; nephews Marc Green and wife Sheryl and family of Bloomfield, Conn., and John Green and wife Norma and family of West Hartford, Conn.; and nieces Nicky McGuire and Sahara Wernick, as well as many extended great nieces and nephews and his dear friends Gail Benson, Dorothy Beauregard, Lisa Laquidara, Carole Olefsky and Alice Rogers.

A memorial service is being planned in his honor at a later date.
Donations may be made to The Hartt School, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra or the Jascha Heifetz Symposium for aspiring young