Ann Beisel     MacNaughton

Fundamental In

Creation Of Fairfield Bridle Trail System

Ann Beisel MacNaughton, 83, of Newtown, formerly of Fairfield, died March 7. Mrs MacNaughton was born in Burlington, Wash., in 1924, daughter of Eunice and Rex B. Beisel. Her father was the designer of the World War II Corsair fighter plane.

Mrs MacNaughton is survived by her beloved husband of 61 years, James Hiram MacNaughton, Jr; three daughters, Susan Canelli and husband, Bill, of Orange, Wendy McMurtry and husband, Callen, of Colchester, and Jamie Schroder and husband, Peter, of Pittsburgh; a brother, Rex Beisel and wife, Mary, of Branford; and niece, Kim Proctor of South Britain.

She graduated from Syracuse University with a fine arts degree. She and James met each other at Syracuse in their freshman year and married in 1945 when he returned from the war. They lived in Fairfield.

Mrs MacNaughton became a sporting artist, painting dogs, horses, and foxes. She also sculpted many animals and her paintings and bronzes are in many private collections. She was represented by three galleries, The Sportsman’s Edge in Middlebury, Va., The Cavalier Gallery in Greenwich, and The Cavalier Gallery in Nantucket.

The MacNaughtons were members of the Fairfield County Hunt Club in Westport for 13 years. During that time, Mrs MacNaughton ran the Fairfield Bridle Trail System on Greenfield Hill. This was before developers began buying the open land available. By working with the town of Fairfield, she was able to set aside a large network of miles of trails, which the town was willing to designate as open space, never to be changed. Riders today can still use all of them.

They moved to Newtown in 1987, after building a new home. They often remarked to friends that Newtown was the prettiest and friendliest town in New England, and how they loved living in it.

A memorial service will be held at Newtown Congregational Church, 14 West Street, at 11 am, on Saturday, March 31.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the upkeep of the Newtown Dog Pound, c/o Canine Control, Town of Newtown, 3 Main Street, Newtown CT 06470.

The Newtown Bee        March 16, 2007