Occupation: I am the bank manager for Union Savings Bank, the Stony Hill office. I am thrilled to be here. USB provides me a challenging, stimulating work environment, as well as many opportunities to give back to the community.
Occupation: I am the bank manager for Union Savings Bank, the Stony Hill office. I am thrilled to be here. USB provides me a challenging, stimulating work environment, as well as many opportunities to give back to the community.
Family: My son Jonathan is grown and out of the house. He is an insurance agent by day, and rocks and rolls in a band at night. Iâm originally from New Jersey, and most of my large family is still there.
Pets: I have two German shepherd dogs. Dex, a rescue pup, is approximately 15 years old now, and Finn is almost 2 years old. They are both just great.
How long have you lived in Newtown? Iâve lived here since 1981.
What do you like to do in your free time? I like to walk my dogs, swim, read, and promote the Stony Hill Four Corners Association. There is tremendous growth in this area, and we want to bring awareness to all that we have to offer. I also very much enjoy spending time with my friend and former neighbor Russell Stiles. We both love the Botsford Drive-In hot dogs. Yum!
Do you have a favorite book? I love to read and will consider everything. However, Maeve Bincheyâs books are always a joy to read and reread.
Do you have a favorite travel destination? Ireland. It is my North Star. Iâve been there five or six times, pretty much everywhere from Dublin to Dingle. I love the quote from William Butler Yeats: âI am of Ireland and the Holy Land of Ireland, and time runs on, cried she. Come out of charity and dance with me in Ireland.â
What is the best thing about Newtown? There are two best things, actually. One is after the tree lighting ceremony, driving or walking along the luminaries. One feels peace and the promise of Christmas. And two, my dear friends the DiNotosâ backyard and pool. Itâs a beautiful, bucolic, parklike setting. They generously allow me to enjoy myself there anytime. I always come away feeling like I have been on a retreat. I love it, and them.
What is the biggest change you have seen in Newtown? I hate to say it, because it sounds kind of negative, but itâs the rude drivers, speeding, on their cellphones, and driving over the center line on these narrow roads.
Do you have a hero? My father. His grandchildren call him âGrumps.â He is a member of the Greatest Generation. He couldâve been in a chapter of Tom Brokawâs book. He graduated from high school on his 18th birthday in the morning, and enlisted in the Navy that afternoon. My dad dodged bullets on an aircraft carrier during World War II. He went to Villanova on the GI Bill, and worked all the way through, and went on for his masterâs. He worked on Wall Street as a financial analyst, even with Henry Kissinger, and Peter Lynch from Fidelity. He went from very impoverished to a self-made man. He is one of the most honest, kind people. His word is his bond, from minute one in my life to now. All of my friends love him, too.
Do you have a personal philosophy? William Shakespeareâs âTo thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.â At the end of the day, when I put my head on my pillow, I like to believe that I have tried to live my day in the truest way possible, with the best of intentions for all whom I encountered.
Do you have a guilty pleasure? Staying up all night to read. It is blissful to finish a book as dawn arrives. Unfortunately, I donât have enough opportunities to indulge.