Category: Members (Page 12 of 27)

Barry Silver was born and raised in the Philadelphia suburbs and doesn’t fully understand why you don’t love Philly too. Following Cheltenham High School he attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, graduating in 1982, and began a career in the fixed income markets side of Wall Street. After stops at Merrill Lynch and two other firms, for the last 28 years before retirement Barry was a Managing Director at MUFG Bank, Ltd., based in New York and leading the corporate client team for the interest rate derivatives business.

Barry married Akiko, a classical violinist, in late 1986 and they spent the following three magical years living in Tokyo, Japan. Moving to Darien in January 1990, they raised a son now based in New Haven and a daughter who currently lives in Nashville. Both are the most rabid Philadelphia Eagles fans in their respective zip codes. Akiko teaches violin and performs regularly in Darien, founded and directs the youth music program Chamber Music Institute, and was for many years a member of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, where Barry served as a Board Member. Barry also spent years as a volunteer swim referee and meet director for the New Canaan YMCA and at the state level for Connecticut Swimming, Inc. where he served as a Board Member, committee chair and Vice Chairman. He has also volunteered in the Darien Little League and Cub Scouts. In the distant past Barry wandered through Darien town politics, including serving on the RTM for six years.

Barry spends as much as possible of his time immersed in music and books, and enjoys lots of skiing, some biking, and limitless eating and drinking.

John Del Col was born in 1961 in Vineland, New Jersey, and grew up in Haworth, New Jersey. In 1984 he graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College with a A.B. degree in history.  While at Dartmouth, he was a member of the Alpine Ski Team and the Casque and Gauntlet senior society.  After graduation, he worked several years marketing telex services for RCA Communications in New York, N.Y., where he met his future wife (Kathleen).  Recognizing the imminent demise of the telex machine, John returned to school, graduating from Harvard Law School cum laude in 1989. He worked in private law practice in New York City at Sullivan & Cromwell and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Leiby & MacRae, as Assistant General Counsel at MeesPierson (a Dutch merchant bank) and as General Counsel at Chartwell Re Corporation and Trenwick Group Inc.  John’s spent the last 19 years of his career working as General Counsel at Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd., an international insurance company headquartered in Bermuda.  He retired in 2022.

John and Kathleen were married in 1989, have been Darien residents since 1996 and have four adult children. They belong to Woodway Country Club and the Killington Ski Club. For hobbies, John enjoys skiing, water skiing, running, cycling and golf.

Sponsored by Charles Hurty

I was born and raised in Flushing, NY (where Tom Seaver lived around the corner!). And yes, I am still a NY
Mets fan. I went to Fordham Prep for high school and liked the campus, staying on to attend the College of
Business Administration School at Fordham – now called the Gabelli School of Business – receiving my BSBA.
During my college days I worked part-time for IBM installing typewriters, which led to a full-time position after
graduating Fordham.

I spent 16 years at IBM – 8 years in sales and 8 years in several different positions inside headquarters,
including management and executive assistant roles. After IBM, I assumed various sales and marketing roles
for smaller hardware companies across the US, until I retired in the summer of 2022.

As a Darien resident for almost 30 years, volunteering has been important to me. I was one of the founding
members of the Darien Professionals Networking Group, helping people understand the new processes of
networking with others to find their next assignments. I also served as Chair of the St. Thomas More Parish
Council.

Additionally for 12 years, I was the State of CT Harbor Master for Darien. Having recently retired from this
role, I am currently the Commodore of the Darien Boat Club. I have two grown daughters and enjoy boating
with my wife.

Donald E. Chiarello D.D.S. 

Born 1932.  Attended Brooklyn Technical High School, Queens College and New York University College of  Dentistry. Served in U.S.Navy as a Lt. in DentalCorps. 

Resided in Cold Spring Harbor from 1969 until 2022. I now reside in Stamford CT. Private Practice 1960-1990.  Asst and Clinical Coordinator Post Graduate Program Nassau University Medical Center  1990-2010.  Asst Clinical Professor Stony Brook School of Dentistry 2010-2018. 

Member of Whaler’s Cove Y.C. and Past Commodore ..Spent cruising under sail and later
under power with my wife and three daughters from 1974 until 2005.

Mike Kadish was born in 1954 in Northern New Jersey.  He got his B.S. in Economics from U. Penn’s Wharton Business School and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.  Mike started his career in the Legal Division of the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, then practiced law with various law firms in California, moved to Darien in 1989, returned to practice law with some friends in California in 1996, then came back to Darien where he has remained since 2002.  After returning to Connecticut, he served as in-house bank regulatory counsel for Citibank, Deutsche Bank, and Royal Bank of Scotland/Citizens Bank, then joined a fintech firm, Total Bank Solutions, in 2017, where he was general counsel until TBS was acquired in 2022.  He was of counsel to the law firm of Joseph Cohen & Del Vecchio but became self-employed January 1, 2026, working on banking law matters from the comfort of his home office.

Mike’s maternal grandfather was a sportswriter in NJ, and imbued Mike with a love for baseball that still endures six decades later, although he annoyed his family by becoming a Yankee fan.  He has three adult children, all of whom attended school in Darien for some part of their education, but are now scattered across the country, and two young grandsons.  Mike’s wife, Sadae, grew up in Taipei and Tokyo, and they enjoy occasional trips to those cities to visit her family.

David Xu was born 1962 in Wuhu, China.  I graduated from High School when I was 17. Then I went to Fudan University in Shanghai in 1979.  I start worked in Wuhan University in 1983 and met my wife and have first son Charles in 1988.  I also got Master degree in economics in Wuhan University. I came to Brandeis University as visiting scholar in January 1989, I studied and worked 31 years in Boston area, I got MS in Computer Science from UMASS at Lowell.  I started as Senior System Analyst in the Boston Company in 1993, I joined Fidelity Investments in 1997 and worked there for 24 years.  Fidelity relocated me from east coast to Salt Lake City in UT 2020,  I stayed 18 months until I retired from there June 2021.     

My wife and I moved to Darien to live with my elder son,  daughter-in-law to welcome our  first grandson Ethan last summer.

   My young son just graduated from UMASS/Amherst this Spring. he works for Meta in California currently.

I am just learning to play Pickleball and enjoy playing. I also play some poker games with my Chinese friends almost every weekend.

Tom Dempsey was born in East Orange, New Jersey, in 1956.  He grew up in Stratford, CT., and graduated in 1975, from St. Joseph’s High School in Trumbull, CT. He was the captain of the swimming and football teams.  Tom received a B.S. degree in Computer Science and a Masters degree in Education at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT.

Upon completing his Computer Science degree, he worked in Telecommunications for General Electric Capital in Stamford, CT.  While working for GE, he met his lovely wife, Marie.

After a career change, Tom worked as an educator for the New Canaan Public Schools for 27 years, teaching first grade, third grade and fourth grade.  He has recently retired, but looks forward to going back to substitute when help is needed.

Tom and his wife Marie, reside in Darien where they have lived for the past 40 years. They have two adult children (a son and daughter).

He is a member of the Mather’s Center in Darien.  Tom enjoys playing the piano, guitar, Mah Jongg, and Cribbage. He also enjoys woodworking, whittling, stained glass making, hiking, bowling, baseball and football.

Jody Hotchkiss was born in New Haven in 1955 and grew up in Greenwich. He went to St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire. After failing his first pre-med course at Colby College he eventually graduated with a degree in art history.

He first eked out a living at the art book publisher Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House which became profitable only in later years when Potter published the first lifestyle books of little-known Westport resident Martha Stewart.

Jody left New York to volunteer in the Peace Corps building schools on the equator in Gabon, West Africa (and not a single day of his two years in Africa felt hotter than August in NYC).

Returning to New York Jody worked for studio boss Alan Ladd Jr. at MGM Studios, eventually becoming the VP of East Coast Production.  With the sale of MGM to Ted Turner, Jody sensed that regime change was coming when the Academy Award winning producer Richard Zanuck and his wife Lilly waltzed into Jody’s office at 1350 Avenue of the Americas and started to measure for drapes (Really!). Jody then worked as a literary agent at Sterling Lord finding articles, books and plays to sell for TV and movies such as THE DAY AFTER and GOODFELLAS. After his Darien next door neighbor from Kanter Fitzgerald died on 9/11, Jody questioned his own life/career and opened Hotchkiss & Associates Literary Agency in New York. Now with the name Hotchkiss Daily & Associates the company has celebrated its 22^nd anniversary, representing movies such as THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES, AMERICAN UNDERDOG: KURT WARNER,  AMERICAN GANGSTER and THE WIZARD OF LIES: BERNIE MADOFF. 

Jody has been married to his wife Kris for thirty four years (and friends still mix up their gender neutral names). He has three children—Sophie in Copenhagen, Graham in New York and Leah in Brooklyn. His grandchildren (so far) are Bjørn (7) and Ada (4).  Jody especially loves cycling in Switzerland and France, sailing in Michigan, and kayaking in Long Island Sound.

Preston Bealle was born in 1951 in Pelham Manor, NY. During school years, he moved to New Canaan and Los Angeles, with influential lessons from each. His father was vice president of the Los Angeles Dodgers, so he went to every game, often sitting in their box with Cary Grant, Annette Funicello, Jack Benny or other stars. After University of Arizona, he entered advertising in New York City with Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, working on Skippy, Hellman’s, Clorox, Hewlett Packard and many other accounts.

When the internet hit around 1997, Preston converted and became the first head of online advertising at any agency. He left the agency business and became founder and/or CEO at Jumbo.com, Babygear.com and Gorp.com, later merging each with larger companies. Retired, he is an active trader of weekly stock options. He decided in 15 minutes on their first date that he hoped to marry his wife, Kim. They had a large formal wedding on their 7th date and have been married for 43 years raising 3 kids who went K-12 in Darien.

A music buff, Preston has a lifelong fascination with the Everly Brothers, and his 12 year-old
face is still often seen on Ed Sullivan clips from the famous Beatles broadcast in 1964.

Samuel (Sam) Bird, Jr. was born in Stevens Pont, Wisconsin in 1937 and was raised in Dallas and New Orleans. He attended high school and college in Wisconsin, graduating from Marquette University in 1957 with a bachelor of mechanical engineering degree. He then received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1966. Before graduating, he served for two years in the U.S. Army in Germany.

Early in his career Sam worked for IBM as a Systems Engineer, as a management consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton, as a security analyst for Laird and Company, and as President of United Systems, a computer services firm. In 1980 he founded Bird Automotive, a designer and manufacturer of automotive accessories, headquartered in California and now in Connecticut. He continues the business on a reduced basis. Sam has served on the boards of San Francisco University High School, Wayfarer Church Foundation and Hadco Corporation.

Sam was married in 1987 to Cynthia Danieson Bird, who retired from teaching at Middlesex School in Darien in 2000. The Birds then moved to California for 11 years, returning to Connecticut in 2021. They have four sons, seven grandchildren, and attend St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Darien.

Daniel Lew was born in the Bronx, N.Y. in 1963 and is a first generation Chinese American. He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1981, from Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science with a B.S. degree in computer science engineering in 1985 and from New York University School Stern School of Business with an MBA in finance in 1989. He earned his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1997.

Dan enjoyed a 30-year career in investments working at Equitable in NYC, Rogers Casey in Darien, William M. Mercer in NYC, Strong Funds in NYC, Citizens Advisers in Portsmouth, American International Group in Jersey City, and John Hsu Capital in NYC. He had a myriad of roles including portfolio analysis computer programming, performance measurement, client servicing, asset allocation, institutional investment consulting, security analysis, and portfolio management.

After leaving the Wall Street world in 2015, Dan decided to became a Main Street entrepreneur and was the first Connecticut franchisee for uBreakiFix, now the largest consumer electronics repair franchise in Fairfield County. In 2018, he sold the business and decided to “retire”.  Dan and his wife Fiona, a hemodialysis senior nurse clinician at NYU Langone, have lived in Darien since getting married in 1991 and have three daughters.  Dan is oftentimes found at the Darien YMCA swimming laps, playing pickle ball or in boxing fitness class. He is a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, Stamford flotilla, and continues to be an active public and private equity investor. He enjoys cooking, fishing, golf, and playing craps.

Eugene (Gene) Luciana was born in 1941 and grew up in Steubenville, Ohio. He graduated from Franciscan University in 1963 with a B.S. degree in finance and accounting. He joined the Deloitte accounting firm and upon attaining his CPA certificate, he taught accounting at Franciscan University as well as at Kent State University. Gene subsequently became the chief financial officer and a Board member of Heritage industries in Chattanooga, Tenn. Through an acquisition, he became executive vice president, chief financial officer and a Board member of Chase Paper and Packaging in Greenwich, CT. After sale of the company to International Paper, he became the executive vice president, chief financial officer of Sunbelt Beverage Company, a leading wine and spirits distributor, which took him to Baltimore. 3 Mergers and acquisitions transactions were the main driver of Gene’s career. His most recent transactions involved the wine and spirits companies of the Wirtz family of Chicago, Illinois, creating Breakthru Beverage. He retired in 2021 as executive vice president, chief financial officer of Breakthru but remains on the Board of its majority owner.

Gene and his wife Betty Ann have lived in New Canaan as well as Darien for 35 years. They have six children. His interests include politics, the stock market, St. Thomas More Church, the New York Yankees, the NFL and Notre Dame football.