Category: Members (Page 18 of 27)

Roy Thompson

Roy Thompson was born in Corning, N.Y., in 1946 and grew up in Marietta, Ohio. He spent the summers on Nantucket Island. He attended The Taft School and graduated from the Sterling School in Vermont in 1964. Roy graduated from the University of Denver in 1968 with a B.A. in mathematics.

He served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Korea.

He spent 15 years, mostly with Wang Laboratories, selling computers and office automation equipment followed by 13 years as a general contractor for high-end homes in the Darien/Rowayton area. For the last 11 years (and counting), he has been selling real estate in this area in partnership with his spouse. Roy lives in Rowayton with his wife Christine and has two children and four grandchildren. He is a member of the Rowayton Yacht Club and the Darien YMCA. He enjoys spending his free time sailing and powerboating, skiing and woodworking. Sponsored by Bud Bain

Michael Wheeler was born in Oak Park, Ill., in 1949 and grew up in Greenwich (CT.). He graduated from Brunswick School in 1967. He earned a bachelor’s and M.A. degree both from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

He began his broadcasting career at WGCH Radio in 1965. From 1977 to 1982, he was station manager for WGST in Atlanta, Georgia. Next, he was with MTV Networks as regional vice president, Affiliate and Ad Sales. Other positions followed, including senior vice president, National Accounts at Showtime; president of the Financial News Network; executive vice president at NBC New Media; and president of CNBC/Dow Jones Desktop Video. From 2001 to the present, Mike has been founder and managing director of Westerly Partners, where he invests and advises early-stage technology companies.

Mike and his wife Ann live in Darien and have three children and five grandchildren. He is a member of the Darien RTM, chair of Board of Advisors of the Darien TV79, member of the Weekapaug Golf Club, head coach of the Westerly Wildcats Special Olympics Golf Team, and an ESL teacher at Literacy Volunteers. His hobbies include golf, reading, travel, and babysitting.

Sponsored by Bob McGroarty and Dan Benton

Peter Jaques was born in London in 1951 and grew up in Wembley/Harrow. He graduated from Kingsbury High School and received a degree in town planning and economics from the University of East Anglia, where he was active in rugby, football and athletics. Peter’s work history is with Hilton International in London as vice president of Global Business Travel at the British Consulate in New York and CityLife Hotel Group in New York as chief financial officer and vice president, Asset Management. Peter and his wife Susan live in Rowayton and have four children and two (soon to be three) grandchildren. He belongs to De Laune Cycling Club in London. He enjoys cycling, football, rugby, winter sports, cooking, wine, reading and travel. Sponsored by Patrick Steele

Douglas Goodman was born in Bethlehem, in 1944, where he grew up and graduated from Liberty High School. In 1967, he received a B.S. degree in marketing from Pennsylvania State University, where he was active in Delta Tau Delta and the university choir.

After graduation, Doug joined Armstrong Cork Company and worked in the Packaging Materials Division. He moved to Richardson-Vicks in Wilton and worked for eight years in the TLB Plastics Division. He then started his own sales and marketing company in Fairfield, selling plastic components primarily in the cosmetic industry. After 39 years, he dissolved the company last July.

Doug and his wife Katie live in Fairfield and have three daughters and seven grandchildren living in Darien. He belongs to the Institute of Packaging Professionals, Cosmetic Industry Buyers and Suppliers, Penn State Southern Connecticut Alumni Chapter and the Gaelic American Club. For leisure, Doug likes pickleball, paddle tennis and choral singing. He is a volunteer at the Connecticut Food Bank, the Bridgeport Rescue Mission and the Carousel Thrift Shop. He is a member of the Southport Congregational Church. His favorite pastime is cheering for the grandkids at Darien sporting events. Sponsored by Frank Zaino

Patrick Gentile was born in Flushing, Queens, N.Y., and grew up in Middle Village, Queens. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School and Queens College, City University of N.Y., in 1982 with B.A. in accounting.

From 1982 to 1986, he worked at BDO as a senior auditor. From 1986 to 2013, he worked at American Banknote Corporation as executive vice president, chief financial officer and chief operating officer. From 2014 to 2017, he operated as Patrick Gentile CPA (consulting).

Patrick and his wife Teresa live in Darien and have two children. He belongs to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of CPAs. He is a board member of the Andrew Shaw Memorial Trust. He volunteers as an income tax program coordinator and is an AARP tax aide coordinator for seniors. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, cycling and travel. He is a diehard Mets fan and watches the games on TV. Sponsored by Harry Bergen

John Feldman was born in Morges, Canton de Vaud, Switzerland, in 1955 and grew up in the French- and German-speaking areas of Switzerland. He completed his primary education in 1971. John studied at l’Ecole Technique du Sentier and became a journeyman tool and die maker. He worked in Switzerland at Looser Presses.

He came to the United States and studied at Bridgeport and Fairfield universities. John’s area of expertise is mechanical engineering. He worked as a contract engineer in research and development, sales and project management for local branches of companies such as Microtech, Color Film Corporation, Perkin-Elmer, Pitney Bowes, Clairol, AMF, Bendix Corporation and IBM.

John lives in Darien and has a daughter and granddaughter living in Florida and a son in Switzerland. Sponsored by Hendrik Vriesen

Dennis Leibowitz was born in 1941 in Indianapolis and grew up there.  He graduated from North Central High School in Indianapolis and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Finance with a BS in Science in Economics in 1963. At Penn, he joined Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity. On graduation, Dennis joined Merrill Lynch until 1967. From 1967-1977 he worked at various boutique firms and E.F. Hutton.  In 1077 Dennis joined Donaldson Lufkin and Jenrette as research analyst specializing in Media and Telecom stocks. In 2000 Credit Suisse acquired DLJ and he was there until 2001 as head of media analysis group. He retired as 2001 as managing partner. In 2002 Dennis started and managed a hedge fund specializing in investments in the Telecom, Media; and Technology Industries where he is working at the present time.

Dennis lives in Rowayton and has three children and almost six grandchildren. He belongs to the New Mountain Capital Advisory Board and Caron Treatment Centers Board.  His leisure time hobbies include tennis, Gyms, classical jazz and classic rock music and movies.

Sponsored by Bill Close  

William Tamme was born in St. Louis, MO in 1952. He grew up in South St. Louis and St. Louis County and graduated from Bayless High School. Bill graduated from Central Missouri University with a BS of Ed and also received his MBA from Arizona State University. At the University he was active in the drama club and intramural sports. His post-university career started with four years as a high school history teacher followed by 25 years in equipment and project finance with companies such as Greyhound Leasing & Financial Corp, Household Commercial Finance and GE Capital. This was followed by 13 years as the owner of Darien Doughnut starting in 2006.

Bill and his wife Carol live in Darien. They have two sons in Salt Lake City, UT and Fort Collins, CO and two granddaughters. Bill belongs to the Country Club of Darien and Roton Point Association. His leisure time interest is golf.

Sponsored by Russ Peppet

Hendrik Vriesen was born in 1939

Hendrik Vriesen was born in 1939 in Dinxperlo, The Netherlands.and grew up in De Heurne which is a suburb of Dinxperlo. He graduated from MULO High School (Meer Ultgebreil Lager Onderwijs) in Aalten, The Netherlands. He graduated from Webster’s of Saint Louis, MI at their Geneva Switzerland campus in 1975 with a BA while living and working in Geneva (thanks to Webster accepting credits earned while living in San Francisco. Hendrik’s work experience started in early 1960 with his initial exposure to the banking industry in Vancouver, BC. He relocated to San Francisco in 1964 and was employed there by Bank of America. He was recruited in 1974 by First National Bank of Chicago to work in their overseas offices. He handled assignments in Frankfurt, Geneva, Brussels and Paris. He started working as an independent financial consultant in 1980. He decided in 1997 to return to the USA where he has continued his work as a consultant to the present time.

Hendrik and his wife Margaretha live in Darien and have one daughter and four grandchildren.
His only current membership is with the DMA and in his spare time he enjoys swimming, tennis,
biking and reading.

Sponsored by Bryan Hooper

Scarby Smith was born in Hartford, CT in 1944. He grew up in Windsor and West Hartford, CT and graduated from Loomis Chaffee High School in Windsor. He graduated from St. Lawrence University in 1967 with a BA in History. At St. Lawrence he was active in Phi Sigma Kappa, Varsity Soccer and The Saints. On graduation he served 2 years as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and in 1969 joined Chemical Bank where he managed the Tokyo branch until 1985 when he became regional manager Japan and Korea. He left Chemical in 1991 as EVP and joined Sumitomo Bank as GM Human Resources and Advisor from 2014 to 2017.

Scarby and his wife Carol live in Norwalk and have 3 children and eight grandchildren. He belongs to the Tin Whistlers, Gulfstream Golf Course, St. Andrews Delray, Weeburn CC, Old Asian Hands. In his spare time he enjoys reading, walking and golf.

Sponsored by Jan Selkowitz

Milan Chilla was born in Berwyn, IL in 1947 and grew up in Hinsdale, IL .He graduated from Hinsdale Township HS and the University of Kansas where he received a BS in Journalism in 1970. At Kansas he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi and was on the dean’s list in 1970. On graduation, Milan joined the Tribune Company in Chicago working for the Chicago Tribune. He was with the Tribune Company for 35 years, 25 of which entailed working in Tribune Company’s New York media sales office in various sales and management positions.

Milan and his wife Kristine, a psychotherapist live in Rowayton and have no children. He is a former Vice Commodore of Wilson Cove Yacht Club, member of the Rex Boat club and Oak Hills golf club. He is an exhibiting member of the Rowayton Arts Center and Carriage Barn Art Gallery in New Canaan. His hobbies consist of golf, painting and boating
Sponsored by Bob McGroarty

Jeremiah (Jerry) Crowley was born in Providence, RI and grew up in East Providence. He graduated from LaSalle Academy High School in Providence in 1961. Jerry graduated from Providence College in 1965 with a BS degree in Business Management After graduation, he served in the US Coast Guard Aviation Reserve. From 1971 to 1985 he worked for Health-tex, Inc as Director, Operations Planning. From 1985 to 1990 Jerry was a consultant with The Holly Group in Norwalk for small businesses. He co-owned  an automated payroll and bookkeeping company. From 1990 to 2000 he was a Senior Sales Executive with MicroAge Technical Services. Then, from 2001 through 2017 with Acumenic Associates in Norwalk, Jerry served as Principal providing web-based solutions to various organizations.

Jerry and his wife, Nancy, have lived in Norwalk since 1980.  They have two children, ten grandsons, one great-grandson and another on the way.   He is past president of a Lions Club (RI) chapter; President of the Harbor View HOA; Chairman of the Oak Hills Park Authority (2003-6, and 2014-19); Vice-Chair Norwalk Neighborhood HOA (2003-9).  Jerry’s leisure time activities consist of golf, pickleball, travel and personal computing, plus lots of time with the grandchildren and their activities.

Sponsored by Bryan Hooper