Category: Members (Page 16 of 27)

James A. Tulacro was born in 1943 in Waterbury, CT and attended Long Is-land University where he graduated with an accounting degree. After working at major companies such as Pitney Bowes and ITT, he decided on a career change at age 42 and returned to school at Truro College and Charter Oak College to achieve a BS as Physicians Assistant and also in Human Services Health Science. His occupation is as a physician assistant and he still works part time.

Jim and his wife Arlene have lived in Darien for 32 years and have two grown children and four grandchildren.

Thomas M. Brayton attended Eaglebrook School and Phillips Academy and graduated from Princeton in ‘65 with a degree in Classical Languages (Latin & Greek). After Princeton there was a Teaching Fellowship at Phillips from 1965-66, Gilman School in Baltimore 1966-68, and St. Paul’s School in Concord NH from 1968-69. At these schools Thomas taught Latin and Greek, coached soccer, basketball, base-ball, and was dorm advisor.

In 1969 Thomas joined Robert Bliss Inc in New York as account executive specializing in public relations and advertising for Fortune 500 Companies.

His next move was to Petroleum Heat and Power in Stamford as manag-er of supply and distribution in 1970, Jayco Petroleum in Greenwich in 1978 at Senior VP for brokering and supervision of billing and collections. Tom’s next move was to PVM Oil Association in Teaneck, NJ from 1991-94 as products broker and then back to Connecticut to take a position at AE Bruggemann & Co in Rowayton doing oil brokerage.

Thomas left the oil business to return to teaching at Rippowan Cisqua School in Bedford in 1996 teaching Latin, Humanities, English Lit and American History as well as coaching varsity soccer, basketball, and soccer. He left Rippowam in 2002 for a short stint at Brunswick School before retiring.

Tom was born in Bath, NY in 1942 and lives in Darien with his wife Frida. They have two daughters and five grandchildren. He enjoys playing trumpet, classical music, tennis, paddle, toy soldiers, and reading.

Russ Peppet was born and raised in Chicago and graduated from Michigan State with a BS in Mathematics and from Northwestern with an MBA. In 1962 he joined KPMG (Peat Marwick) in Management Consulting practice.

Russ and family moved to Paris in 1972 where he headed up the Continental Europe Consulting practice and in 1978 moved to Darien and ran the New York office. After a move to California, he retired from KPMG in 1990.

After retiring, Russ has been a partner in three private equity firms and is still with Park Avenue Partners. Russ is a member of the Country Club of Darien, Bonita Bay Club, Noroton Presbyterian Church and is deeply involved in microenterprise lending through Fairfield County Microenterprise Investors Council. He travels to Senegal several times each year for this program.

Russ and his wife, Sandy, have 5 children and 12 grandchildren and spend much of the year visiting their offspring and residing during winter months in Bonita Springs. Russ is involved with golf, singing in choir, microlending and his love for France.

Over 25 years, Taylor Strubinger is not only one of our longest-standing but also one of our most active members. Taylor has led many of our Wanderings in New York City, including to the Hall of Fame of Great Americans at the Stanford White-designed buildings of what is now Bronx Community College, as well as to the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, including a visit to The Cloisters. He has been active in tennis and hiking and for four years was responsible for the DMA newsletter.

Taylor received a degree in engineering from Washington University in St. Louis and had a long career with two of the nation’s great engineering firms, Bechtel and Fuller Construction. At Bechtel he was manager of operations for projects, including Intercontinental Hotels in Saudi Arabia and China (shortly after the country opened to the West). At Fuller, he was responsible for major construction projects in Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Spain.

Taylor remains active in the Book Group, writes the profiles of new members for the DMA newsletter and recently helped with the DMA’s annual volunteer effort to assure the town’s holiday wreath lights were shining bright.

Frederick Conze was born in 1944 in New York City. He grew up in Greenwich and graduated from Kent School in 1962. He received a B.A. degree in journalism in 1966 from Rutgers University. He then joined the U.S. Navy and served as a lieutenant in the Assault Craft Division in California and Vietnam from 1966-1970.

Conze began his business career with Chase Manhattan Bank in 1970 in corporate finance and later joined Citibank in real estate finance. In 1980, Conze formed Royle Associates, Inc. in Darien, which provides real-estate related services, including construction, project management, legal and regulatory entitlement, and property management. He has been a member of the Daren Planning and Zoning Commission for 19 years, serving as chairman since 2006.  Conze and his wife Carol live in Darien. They have two children and four grandchildren who live in Darien and Kensington, Md. His interests include golf and clocks.

Vagn Fausing was born in 1944 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He graduated from the Copenhagen School of International Business specializing in ocean transportation, logistics and operations. He then served 24 months in the Royal Danish Air Force as a sergeant in a radar and missile squadron that included training in Texas and New Mexico.

Following military service, Vagn spent 17 years in ocean transportation working in Denmark, the U.S., the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Greece that involved bulk carriers, oil tankers and container vessels. For the past 14 years he worked in Liquefied Petroleum Gas transportation with frequent travel to the Middle East. Today he is a consultant for transportation and distribution to a Malaysian food company.

Vagn lives in Stamford with his wife, May. They have two daughters and four grandchildren. His interests include golf, history, reading, and travel.

Gehr Brown was born in 1946, Norwalk, graduating from Brien McMahon High School in 1964. He received a B.B.A. degree in accountancy practice from Pace University in 1968 and an M.B.A. in financial management from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in 1970.

Gehr joined Haskins & Sells in 1970 and in 1975 became a senior financial analyst with Warnaco, Inc. He later joined Cadbury Schweppes, USA, and served in several financial management positions before being named chief financial officer for Peter Paul Cadbury, Naugatuck, Conn.

He also was chief financial officer, Mona Industries, Inc., Paterson, New Jersey. In 2001, he joined Fuji Film Medical Systems U.S.A., Stamford, Conn., as a consultant, retiring in 2012.  Gehr is a member of the Financial Executives International, the American Institute of CPAs and the New York State Society of CPAs.

He and his wife Joanne live in Darien and have one adult daughter. His interests include sports, sports memorabilia collecting, music and jazz guitar in particular.