Whitton A. Raila

RAILA Whitton A. Raila, a lifetime resident of East Norwalk, died on Wednesday, January 19, 2005, hours shy of his 82nd birthday, at a Cape Coral, Fla., Hospice after a short illness. Mr. Raila was born on January 20, 1923, in Norwalk to Stanley and Barbara (Bessie) Raila, a well-known local seamstress. He graduated from Norwalk High School in 1941 and joined the Army in 1942. He was stationed at Camp Shanks in Orangeburg, N.Y., where he met his wife, Lenore Scales, a resident of Haverstraw, N.Y. After leaving the Army, he moved his new bride to his hometown of East Norwalk, and took a position with Alcoa in Fairfield, and subsequently with the mechanical engineering lab at the University of Bridgeport, where he put in more than 20 years of service before retiring. After his retirement, they purchased a winter home in Cape Coral and recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Whit was a member of St. Thomas the Apostle Church, the Knights of Columbus, and the American Legion in Norwalk. He was also a member of the Westport Striped Bass Club, a former member of the South Norwalk Boat Club, the East Norwalk Yacht Club and an avid fisherman. He actively participated in the children's flounder derby held annually at Calf Pasture Beach, and was often mentioned in Len Harris' fishing column in The Norwalk Hour. He was predeceased by a brother, Edward Raila of Norwalk. He is survived by his wife, Lenore; four daughters and a son, Sheila Hughes and her husband, Michael, of Guilford, her children, Chris Hungerford and Lorrie Mirizio of Norwalk, Meaghan Jacobsen of Westville, and Kathryn Taub of Guilford; Beverlee Monahan of Cape Coral, and her children, Michael, Daniel and Matthew Monahan and Colleen Johnson, all of Florida; Thomas Raila and his wife, Jeanne, and their children, Samantha and Dylan of East Norwalk, Marylee Raila of East Norwalk; Amy DeVaux and her husband, Kevin, and their children, Daniel, Whitton and Evelyn of Wethersfield. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Elizabeth; two nephews; a niece; and 15 great-grandchildren. Friends may call on Monday, from 4 to 8 at Collins Funeral Home, 92 East Avenue, Norwalk. Due to construction at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, a funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the Church of the Assumption, 98 Riverside Avenue, Westport. Interment will be private. Contributions can be made to the St. Thomas the Apostle Reconstruction Fund, 203 East Avenue, East Norwalk, CT 06855 or Hope Hospice of Cape Coral, 2430 Diplomat Parkway East, Cape Coral, FL 33909.