Month: November 2025

Stephen (Steve) Gruppo was born in East Orange, N.J. When he was five years old, his parents moved their family of six children to Buenos Aires, Argentina, then to Sao Paulo, Brazil. When he was a teenager, his family settled in Greenwich, where he met his future wife Allison. Steve and Alli have lived in Darien since 1990, where they raised their son Will and daughter Emy. They currently split their time between Darien and Edgartown, Mass.

Steve graduated from Greenwich High School in 1977 and received a B.A. in economics from Hobart College in 1981. He kicked off his career in the credit training program at Chase Manhattan Bank, which was his introduction to a career in risk management in banking, investment banking, capital markets and asset management. He was employed by Chase, Kidder Peabody, CS First Boston, Lehman Brothers and financial services firm TIAA. Steve retired from full time work in 2018, following 10 years as the chief risk officer and Executive Committee member at TIAA. He has remained engaged in board work, investments and advisory assignments.

Steve’s interests include travel, reading, cooking and spending quality time with family, including his toddler grandchild. He likes to stay active playing golf, tennis (really, any sport with a racquet or paddle), biking and skiing. He is a member of the Country Club of Darien and the Boathouse and Field Club in Edgartown.

Chris Trompeter was born in Rochester, N.Y., and grew up in the Rochester and Syracuse suburbs. He earned a B.A. degree from St. Lawrence University in 1978 with a double major in economics and government and a chartered financial analyst designation in 1985.

His career was in the asset management industry as an equity analyst and portfolio manager, beginning at Bankers Trust Company and then Citibank and Brundage, Story & Rose. In 2000, Chris and two colleagues founded Tradition Capital Management, a registered investment advisor focused on equity and fixed income separately managed accounts, which were merged into Cary Street Partners in 2019. He retired from Cary Street Partners in October 2025.

Chris moved to Darien from Manhattan with his wife Rosie and son Dan in 1997. Rosie is an active member of the Darien Community Association Greenhouse Group, avid pickleball player and yoga enthusiast. Their son Dan works for a private equity firm in Manhattan. Chris coached flag and tackle football, basketball, baseball and lacrosse in Darien. His personal athletic interests are currently centered on tennis and paddle.

Jay Baker grew up in Darien. He attended Darien High School (class of 1969) and returned to town later in his life. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University and received his M.B.A. from Pace University.

He has worked for more than 40 years in the financial services sector, with a specialty in exchange traded funds (ETF). He was involved in the development and marketing of the first ETF, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust. He continued his ETF career at Spear, Leeds & Kellogg and Goldman Sachs. In 2011, he co-founded Exchange Traded Concepts, a white label ETF provider that helps clients create, launch and manage ETFs.

Jay lives in Darien with his wife Robin. They are parents of two adult children. He is an active follower of financial markets and enjoys playing pickleball and golf in his free time.

Reed Nolte was primarily raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and has resided in Darien since 1985.  He graduated from Denison University with a degree in economics in 1977 and received an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1979.  He retired in 2020 after a forty-year career in corporate financial management, including over two decades working for Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and 21st Century Fox.

He and his wife Leslie raised three children in Darien. All three having attended the Darien public school system and were active members of Post 53.  His older daughter lives in Huntsville, Ala., with her husband and seven-month-old son, and Reed’s other daughter and son live in New York City.

Reed and family spend a fair amount of the summer on Martha’s Vineyard, where Reed enjoys his passion of saltwater fly fishing as well as hiking and biking.  Other interests include traveling, skiing, cooking, and staying abreast of financial and political news.  He is a member of the The Country Club of Darien, the Darien Boat Club, and the Ocean Club of Florida in Ocean Ridge, Florida.

Jim Tweedy grew up on Nearwater Lane in Darien with his parents and three brothers in the house he lives in today. He attended Hindley and Mather Junior High in Darien and graduated from The Taft School in 1973. He graduated from Colorado College in 1978 and Columbia Business School in 1981. In 1987, Jim and a partner purchased a manufacturing business in Milford, Conn., which they operated for 35 years.

In 1985, Jim married Meg McGoldrick, who grew up in Darien and graduated from Darien High School in 1975. They raised two boys in Darien who attended Hindley and Middlesex Middle School and who currently live and work in New York City.

Jim likes to play tennis, paddle tennis, golf, pickleball and guitar. He also likes to ski and boat. He is a member of the Tokeneke Club, the Silvermine Golf Club and the Darien Boat Club.

George Reilly was born in Norwalk and graduated from King School in Stamford, Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., and Fordham Law School. George married Darien native Lynn Oakford and raised his three sons in Darien.  He now has three grandchildren.

George has practiced law in and around Darien for more than 40 years. His first years were with McAnerney & Millar and Rucci Burnham in Darien. In 2009, he co-founded Siegel Reilly & Conlon in Stamford, which was a boutique family law firm concentrating on matrimonial matters. In 2019 George retired from matrimonial litigation and rejoined the Rucci firm, now known as Rucci Law Group. He continues working with the attorneys in the firm in real estate, estate planning and small business matters.

George has made pro bono work part of his career since he started practicing law. He was a longtime member of Darien’s Kiwanis Club. He served as a trustee of King School, his high school alma mater, as well as board president. He was a member of Darien’s Charter Revision Commission in 1999, and then he served as a selectman. He joined the Board of Education in 2002, where he served until 2011. He also chaired the Police Headquarters Building Committee in 2008 – 2010.  Soon after leaving the Board of Education, George joined the Norwalk Community College Foundation, where he became chairman and is now a director emeritus.