David Weatherly Redfield

Old Lyme — David Weatherly Redfield, 87, of Old Lyme passed away Nov. 26, 2019, in New London. “Dave” was born in New York City to Dudley Wells Redfield and Ethel Weatherly Redfield, in 1932. He graduated Wesleyan University in Middletown in 1954, joined the Naval Air Cadet program that year, and accepted a commission in the Marine Air Corps.

As a Marine aviator, he conducted flight tests of jet aircraft, and served in Marine Attack Squadron 242 (the “Slashers”), flying the A-4D Skyhawk. He was later stationed in Japan and left the Marine Corps as a Captain.

Dave was a commercial airline pilot for over 35 years, first with Eastern Airlines and then with United Airlines from 1960 until he retired in 1998.

Dave was married to Mary-Leggett Browning from 1958 to 1990, with whom he had a daughter, Anne. The family moved to Connecticut in 1970, and built a house in Old Lyme, where Dave finished much of the interior. He was a member of the Old Lyme volunteer fire department and the town Shellfish Commission.

His passion for walking and exploring led him from the Milford Track in New Zealand, to the Scottish Highlands, to Midway Island for bird watching, to South Africa’s wildlife refuges, and to his beloved Dublin for Bloomsday celebration. Special times were spent at the cottage he built on Fire Island, or cruising and lobstering with friends around Long Island Sound. Dave was a reader, with three books going at a time. In later years, he was happiest spending time with family, having coffee and a laugh with friends, or doing a crossword puzzle, a cat on his lap.

Dave is survived by his daughter Anne Welles of Nyack, N.Y.; grandchildren, Alden and Hannah Welles; his nieces, Barbara Nose of Columbus, Ohio, Joann Nesbit of Bridgewater, N.J., and Nancy MacPherson of Fairfield; and cousins, Hugh Aldersey-Williams of Norfolk, England, and John Aldersey-Williams of Wiltshire, England.

The family would like to express their deep gratitude to Dave’s friends and neighbors for their support throughout his later years and during his illness, and to the nurses at Yale and Lawrence + Memorial hospitals for their kindness.

A celebration of Dave’s life will be held in the spring, announcement to follow. Memorial donations in his memory may be made to the Old Lyme Volunteer Fire Department, or the Old Lyme Land Trust.

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