Everett F. "Whitey" Wright

Everett "Whitey" F. Wright passed away on Saturday, July 19, 2014, at his home on the farm, surrounded by family and friends.

He was born in Coventry on Sept. 19, 1926, to Edwin H. Wright and Helen Cooley Fletcher Wright. He joins his late parents; three late siblings, Henry Wright, Elizabeth "Betty" Romano, and Marilyn Townsend; and his late wife, Bernice Galbraith.

Everett was a 1944 Hartford circus fire survivor, an experience on account of which he adopted his signature quote: "You have to know when to run!" He graduated from Rockville High School in 1944 and served in the United States Army Air Force as a military policeman during World War II; he left as a sergeant. He went on to own and operate a garage on Route 83 in Somers from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s, and then he worked as a Somers rural carrier for 25 years. Whitey farmed his land with the greatest of care from youth on up to the day he passed. He was a Legionnaire and past post commander of the American Legion Post 101, Somers. He founded the Somers Sportsmen's Association and was a member of the Forty & Eight and the Somers Historical Society. A longtime member of both the American Motorcycle Association and the Connecticut Ramblers Motorcycle Club, Whitey won countless Enduro competitions across the United States, including the Daytona Beach Endurance Motorcycle Competition. He has granted the local Enduro access to race through his land for several years counting. Whitey was a true cowboy, a skilled rifleman, an expert coon and deer tracker and hunter, a charcoal barbeque master, an avid Kentucky Derby and PBR Rodeo fan, a Somers coffee shop regular, and the best storyteller ever. He was a contributor to the Northern Connecticut Land Trust. On his property, he enjoyed hosting the full gamut of Connecticut wildlife, even the beavers with which he perpetually warred over their flooding of his roads.

Everett goes on before his devoted, loving partner of 20 years, Gay Marie Lehrer, with whom he shared many of the passions detailed in this writing. He goes on before seven nieces and nephews, JoLinda Viets, Charles Romano, Roger Townsend, Karen Townsend, Thomas Romano, Larry Townsend, and Jeffery Townsend. Whitey was a cherished, revered father figure to Clay and Christina Johnson, Alan and Leigh Ann Ricci, Lucio and Allison Bolognani, and Joe Guay. He was idolized by grandsons, Adam, Joshua, Lucio Jr., and Jesse. His granddaughters, Belen, Rose, Lily, and Saydra delighted in him. Two more baby grandsons, Benjamin and Joey Jr., will hear the stories he handed down as they grow.

Whitey knew when to run, and he knew when to stay. He stays in every quiet forest nook and in the winds that blow through every tree, every leaf. He stays in the sunlight on ripened hay, and in the autumn rain, and in the diamond glints on snow. He stays in every star that shines and in every heart and mind that he touched. He will stay forever.

Calling hours will be held at Somers Funeral Home, 354 Main St. (Route 190), Somers, on Friday, July 25, from 5 to 8 p.m.

A graveside service will be held at the Old West Cemetery, Route 190, Somers, on Saturday, July 26, at 11 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Northern Connecticut Land Trust.

For online expressions of sympathy or directions please visit

www.somersfuneralhome.com