Category: Members (Page 4 of 27)

Glenn Ritch was raised in Greenwich, where his family has lived for more than eight generations. His great grandfather Heneri Ritch sold his farm in Stamford and moved to Greenwich in 1687. Glenn’s parents were both working people; while they helped with the cost of college, Glenn needed to work while attending school. He was fortunate to secure a position as caretaker on a large private estate in North Stamford, not far from his home. While his ambitions were to pursue a career in business, the experience of working on the estate would ultimately lead to his lifelong career in commercial real estate.

After graduating from Pace University with a B.B.A. and a major in marketing, he began working in sales. Glenn has worked for the estate owners for more than 30 years and still looks after one of their children in a minor way. After several successful years in sales, Glenn realized that he was not satisfied. He searched for a career that paralleled the work he did on the estate, which brought him to commercial property management. After returning to school, completing a certification in property management from New York University and securing a real estate broker license, he embarked on a 45-year career in commercial property management.

Glenn very much enjoyed his work, as it gave him a broad spectrum of skills and a variety of challenges to navigate. He managed multiple properties with responsibility for operations, budgeting, leasing and construction. He mastered the skills to help negotiate property sales and leases and other contracts, which sometimes led to him being accused of being a lawyer. He worked for CBRE Group, Hines Interests Limited Partnership, Galbreath, Lasalle Investment Management and, for the last 12 years of his career, The Ashforth Company. He retired in March 2025 and looks forward to pursuing his passions for travel and outdoor sports, including hunting, fishing and boating. He is also passionate about cooking and entertaining. Most important, he enjoys spending time with family and friends.

Glenn has lived in Darien for about 12 years. Influenced by his parents, He believes it is important to give back to the community. Toward that end, he serves as board president of Middlesex Commons and was just re-elected for a third term on the Darien Board of Assessment Appeals.

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.

Henry (Hank) J. Gioiella, Jr. was born in Mt. Vernon, N.Y., in 1948. He grew up in Crestwood, N.Y., and graduated from Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, N.Y., in 1966, where he played baseball and was active in drama. In 1970, he received a B.S. degree in finance from Fairfield University and was a member of Phi Kappa Theta fraternity. He received an M.B.A. degree in finance in 1973 from Iona College. Upon graduating, he served in the U.S. Army 42nd Military Police. Hank began his career on Wall Street in 1962 while still in high school, working part time in the summer at the Irving Trust Company. He went on to work as a senior trader at Kidder Peabody, Lehman Brothers and Cantor Fitzgerald. He currently is with Williams Capital.

He and his wife Joan live in Darien and have one son. Hank is a member of the Darien Boat Club, the Darien YMCA and the Connecticut Options Association. He is a board member of the Piedmont Club and Fairfield University Alumni Association. He enjoys painting, boating, photography and traveling, mostly to Italy. He also is an avid car collector, and his collection includes an automobile previously owned by John Lennon. His cars have won awards at the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance and the Porsche National Meet.

I have been a resident of Darien off and on since 1962.  I was born in 1951 in Minneapolis, MN and lived in Arkansas and Mississippi prior to moving to Darien.  I spent sixth grade in Tokeneke Elementary School, graduated from Mather Junior High School in 1966, and graduated from Darien Hih School in 1969.

I graduated from the U.S Naval Academy in 1973 with a B.S. in mathematics.  Then I spent five years on active duty and twenty-five years in the Reserves. My shipboard time was in Charleston, SC with approximately 50% of the time at sea. The last year of my active duty was at UCLA teaching Naval ROTC.

After leaving active duty, I attended Harvard Business School and graduated in 1980 with an MBA. I worked for Westvaco for two years and then IBM for the next 26 years primarily in financial functions.  My last assignment was with the IBM Pension Fund.

I took early retirement from IBM in 2008 and spent the next seventeen years as the Chief Financial Officer of three school districts – Ridgefield, Plymouth, and Trumbull. I retired from Trumbull on June 30, 2025, and currently do interim work for school districts.

In Darien I was a coach for youth basketball and baseball. I am currently a member of the Darien Board of Finance and in prior years was a member of the Board of Selectmen. My wife Joan is the Darien Town Treasurer. We have a son Robert who lives in Chicago.