Stephen J. Link, 76, of Norfolk, Conn., died March 16. He was born November 9, 1939, and was the son of Irene Koteles Link and John J. Link, Sr. He was married to Regina Thomas Link for 55 years.

A graduate of Unquowa School and Roger Ludlowe High School in Fairfield, Class of 1958, he was an outstanding athlete whose records stand to this date.

Mr Link was a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and guidance counselor at Newtown Middle and High Schools from 1963 to 1975. He went on to distinguish himself as an adolescent counseling psychologist, photojournalist, and youth expert in the field of drug education and rehabilitation, in the publication of instructional films and audiovisual programs.

In 1965, he was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to attend Virginia Union University, which had the distinction of being one of the oldest black universities in America. He then redirected his career to civil rights advocacy, determined to represent victims of abuse, prejudice, and discrimination “pro bono.”

An appointment to Yale University’s Drug Rehabilitation Program, sponsored by the Department of Psychiatry, enhanced his life’s ambition to prove that the best that man can give is that which he gives of himself.

As editor of the Connecticut Personnel and Guidance Journal (serving psychologists, guidance counselors, and educators at all academic levels), he advanced his profession as a staunch advocate of individual rights in national and international publications.

As an academic researcher, in his retirement, he championed the recognition of Connecticut’s pioneer aviator Gustave Whitehead, who achieved the first motorized flight, two years, four months, and three days before the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk.

Following his initiation into the Masonic Rite, Mr Link served as chaplain in the Corinthian Lodge in Bridgeport.

His wife; four children, Regina Lane, Trent Link, and wife Meghan, Stephen, and Christopher; grandchildren Kenneth, Courtney, Brandon, and Kendra; and a brother, Richard, survive Mr Link. His beloved parents and brother John J. Link, Jr, predeceased him.

Mr Link will be remembered and respected by his colleagues and friends, and loved eternally by his wife, daughter, and sons Stephen and Trent.

“To know him, was to love him.”

Funeral services in Fairfield County will be private. A celebration of his life will be commemorated in his hometown of Norfolk at a later date.