In Celebration: The Life of
8
Richard Selden Eaton, Sr.
July 14, 1943 – October 4, 2005
Descendant of John Eaton of Dedham
President of The Eaton Families Association 2002-2005
Richard Selden Eaton, Sr., 62, of Guilford, former 12th District senator from Connecticut and communication executive, died peacefully on October 4, 2005. He had valiantly battled Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) for over 11 months. On October 5, 2005, we received an email from his wife, Sharon Noble-Eaton, who reported:"Rick finished his journey on earth, peacefully in my arms, at 8:25 am at Hospice in Branford, CT. My mind has no doubt that Rick entered heaven or another dimension that pleased him. His face tells this story. Rick has also specified good causes to honor his life, and we are one in heart to help others. My sister, Kate, reminded me today that the dates that bracket Rick's time on earth are not important. One must look at the hyphen between those dates to know the story of how a person has lived their life. Rick's hyphen is thick and long, intricately filled with good works, humor (often wryly zany), love for his family and friends, compassion, a zest for life and his work, and those "Rick" stories. He was so REAL in any relationship."
And shortly before in another email Sharon said:"A good friend of ours, Eric von Bostel, took a photo of Rick that I love. Eric did the impossible on August 27 by making a round-trip journey from Washington, DC just for a special visit."
"You also have done the impossible by giving a long-term outpouring of support, prayers, love, good humor and much more. As Rick would say, 'It's Christmas every day in this house.' Thank you! Everything you have done has lifted our spirits and souls."
Sharon Noble-Eaton asks that we celebrate Rick's life, and in so honoring her request, what follows is only a minutia of all that represents the best that is Richard Seldon Eaton, some in his own words:
Rick was born in Northford, CT, son of the late Frederik Selden and Mary Beckwith Bean Eaton. He was raised in the 18th century home of Theophilus Jones, the grandson of Theophilus Eaton, first Governor of the New Haven Colony, and noted:"I grew up in a [circa] 1700 house in Wallingford, Connecticut. While you couldn’t pay me to live in an antique house today, that home provided many lures for a growing boy. One of them was a cedar closet on the second floor. Here was preserved the dress uniform, plumed dress hat, field cap, and epaulets of General Amos Beebe Eaton, my great-great grandfather. From time to time, I would try on the dress hat or wear the field cap while playing soldier, a sacrilege as I see it now, but fun then. I don’t know what happened to these historic artifacts, but the General’s portrait and dress sword remain in my family’s possession and hang over the fireplace in our living room, already given to our son (as they were given to me by my father and mother).
[Being an Eaton] came to signify much more than just a name, but, rather, an unbreakable standard of moral erectness. . . .I have become an avid member of the faith of Eatonism, a faith supported by the two parables (in which George [Francis] Eaton [Rick's grandfather] was the central figure). From these tales, and what they have taught me, I know all I need to know about goodness, love, sacrifice and moral turpitude."
Rick learned his lessons well and thrived admirably in his ancestor's footsteps. As a young man, he worked as a summer employee of the late U. S. Senators Prescott Bush, R-CT (grandfather and father of Presidents), and Russell Long, D-LA, and the late U.S. Sen. Thomas J. Dodd, father of U. S. Sen. Christopher Dodd. In 1963, Rick's work and volunteer activities in Washington brought an invitation from President Lyndon B. Johnson to serve as youth director at the White House. Rick also served as District Representative to U.S. Congressman Lawrence J. DeNardis, CT-3, 1980-82 and was appointed by Governor Thomas J. Meskill to be the first chair of the Governor's Council on Voluntary Action.
A vigorous campaigner, Rick became Connecticut State Senator in 1985-1986, winning against a three-term incumbent. He was elected assistant majority leader and Senate chairman of both the Banks, and Program Review & Investigations Committees. Rick served on the Finance Committee and its Bonding Subcommittee and was the principal sponsor of pioneering legislation in consumer banking, orphan bridge and state highway funding, elimination of tolls, excellence in education, tax reduction and, farmland preservation. Rick was considered a leading advocate of women's rights and was successful in convincing the Reagan administration's Department of Justice to use federal anti-racketeering (RICO) laws to protect women's health clinics. He was a member of the Republican State Central Committee, created the GOP's Republican Key Committee and served as a state leader in the presidential campaigns of the late Governor Nelson Rockefeller, R-NY, and George H. W. Bush. He was also a member and officer of the Republican Town Committees in Wallingford and Guilford, a member of the Guilford Economic Development Commission and chair of the Commission's Planning Committee.
Rick was vice chair of the Small Business Administration in Connecticut and a director of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, elected as first president and, then, chairman of the Central Connecticut chapter of the Leukemia Society of America. He served as a United Way, American Cancer Society and Leukemia Society fundraising volunteer. He was a Director of the Wallingford Historical Society and the Guilford Keeping Society, and was a trustee of the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation. Rick was also a church school teacher in Wallingford and wrote a history of the First Congregational Church at the time of Wallingford's Tercentenary. In Old Lyme, he was a church youth group leader and served as vice chair of the Stewardship Committee of the First Congregational Church in Guilford.
A former employee of the New Haven Journal-Courier, the New Haven Register and the Hartford Courant, Rick was also a Connecticut correspondent for UPI International and New York's Daily News. Rick then held marketing, advertising and public relations positions prior to becoming public affairs director for the Pace Corporation, a consulting and lobbying firm. He provided creative and strategic services to political, corporate and professional clients in Connecticut and throughout the U.S. His campaign management and creative work contributed to the election victories of such State political figures as the late U.S. Rep. Stewart McKinney, R-4; and Larry DeNardis, R-3; Bridgeport Mayors Nicholas Panuzio and Leonard Paoletta; and Hamden Mayor Lucien DiMeo; and many other successful candidates for state and local office.
In 1975, Rick became president of Pace's newly created advertising and public relations division and, in 1978, became its president. During his 20 years with Pace, Rick was part of the team that created CONNECTICUT magazine, and he and his colleagues won dozens of state and national marketing, advertising and public relations awards.
In 1990, Rick founded his own consulting firm, Eaton & Noble Marketing Communications of Guilford, and served as an executive for organizations in New York and Iowa. As a volunteer, Rick created a newsletter for the Connecticut National Guard to serve families of soldiers serving in Operation Desert Storm.
Rick most recently was director of public affairs for the University of New Haven, his cherished alma mater where he studied journalism. He was honored by the University in May 2005, when a high-tech "smart classroom" serving students in the Communication Department was dedicated in honor of his service to the University.
In 2001, Rick became the motivating force and one of the founders of the newly revised Eaton Families Association, following the lead of his grandfather, Daniel Cady Eaton, an original member and Secretary of our association during the 1880s. In 2002, Rick became its newest President, holding that position until 2005 when he became President Emeritus, a position created to honor his dedication and zeal. Many of his genealogical articles and historical research have been published through the Association web site, the first having been written for the EFA newsletter in June 2002.
Rick was a loving husband to Sharon Noble for over 40 years, celebrating their anniversary this past summer. He was the treasured brother of Ariana van der Heyden Eaton of Old Lyme and Elizabeth Randolph Eaton-Irwin of Arlington, MA, and half-brother to the late Jonathan Thomas (Hart) Eaton and Peter Francisco (Hart) Eaton, leaving 21 nieces and nephews and 19 grand-nieces and nephews. Rick was the most devoted father for 37 years to his beloved son, Military Intelligence Special Agent Richard S. Eaton, Jr., who tragically preceded him from this world on August 12, 2003 during his duty in Ar Ramadi, Iraq. Prior to his death, Rick wrote a memoir about his son, "Rising Son," which has not yet been published.
In lieu of flowers, those wishing to contribute in his memory may choose from among the Richard S. Eaton Sr. Endowed Scholarship Fund, University of New Haven, 300 Boston Post Rd., West Haven, CT 06516; the SSG Richard S. Eaton Jr. Collection of Guilford Public Library, Park St., Guilford, CT 06437; the Medical Oncology Patient Care Fund, c/o Bonnie Indeck LCSW, Yale-New Haven Hospital - EP 10, 20 York Street, New Haven, CT 06510; or to a favorite charity.
Personally, I met Rick five (5) short years ago as many of us did through the Internet. We began simply enough with chats about our family and what we could do to further their memory and honor our Eaton birthright. As I was to call Rick so often in the years to come, he became my "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," and I treasured the time we spent daily discussing and discovering the multitude of layers that comprised our family heritage. Although living in the New York area near his home in Connecticut, I did not actually meet Rick face-to-face until the summer of 2001 after I moved to Seattle. Rick's wit and intelligence were ever in evidence at our dinner table. His deep and abiding love for his wife, Sharon, and his son, were worn as banners for all to see, and his gentleness and humor were never out of sight. For the next four years, I felt honored to be a comrade and considered myself his friend, included in the fringes of his and Sharon's lives. Don Eaton recently sent me a picture of Rick that I too had received, but not appreciating its true value at the time, tucked away in a box with other Eaton memorabilia. Seeing this picture once again has ingrained in my mind how I will remember Rick, with such strength of character and dignity not often our privilege to witness.
Rick's earthly remains will lie in peace next to his beloved son and his revered ancestors on Friday, October 14, 2005 at the Grove Street Cemetery abutting the Yale Campus in New Haven. Rick will forever remain a true testament to this Eaton legacy.
Sharon Noble-Eaton recently offered these words of comfort to his extended family:. . . after telling him to go to God and those he loves, he whooshed out of the room. . .perhaps now, Rick knows the answers to the genealogical questions you all have. I know he'll find a way to share those answers.
I leave you finally with one of Sharon's favorite reminders of Rick:Birches
by: Robert Frost
When I see birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy's been swinging them.
But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay.
Ice-storms do that. Often you must have seen them
Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning
After a rain. They click upon themselves
As the breeze rises, and turn many-coloured
As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.
Soon the sun's warmth makes them shed crystal shells
Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust
Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away
You'd think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.
They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load,
And they seem not to break; though once they are bowed
So low for long, they never right themselves:
You may see their trunks arching in the woods
Years afterwards, trailing their leaves on the ground,
Like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair
Before them over their heads to dry in the sun.
But I was going to say when Truth broke in
With all her matter-of-fact about the ice-storm,
I should prefer to have some boy bend them
As he went out and in to fetch the cows--
Some boy too far from town to learn baseball,
Whose only play was what he found himself,
Summer or winter, and could play alone.
One by one he subdued his father's trees
By riding them down over and over again
Until he took the stiffness out of them,
And not one but hung limp, not one was left
For him to conquer. He learned all there was
To learn about not launching out too soon
And so not carrying the tree away
Clear to the ground. He always kept his poise
To the top branches, climbing carefully
With the same pains you use to fill a cup
Up to the brim, and even above the brim.
Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish,
Kicking his way down through the air to the ground.
So was I once myself a swinger of birches.
And so I dream of going back to be.
It's when I'm weary of considerations,
And life is too much like a pathless wood
Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs
Broken across it, and one eye is weeping
From a twig's having lashed across it open.
I'd like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin over.
May no fate willfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return. Earth's the right place for love:
I don't know where it's likely to go better.
I'd like to go by climbing a birch tree
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.
We honor Rick's life and his service and offer our heartfelt condolences to his family."Rest in peace in the bosom of your family, my friend. We will continue to celebrate your life and remember you well!"
Barbara Lee Fitzsenry
His Friend
Member of his Eaton Family
Anyone wishing to sign his Guest Book should go to Hartford Courant
Sources: Richard Selden Eaton, Sr. from his writings on The Eaton Families Association web site, www.eatongenealogy.com; Sharon Noble-Eaton communications; and his official "OBITUARY: Richard S. "Rick" Eaton Sr.: Former State Senator, Communicator."