Kevin Elliott Booth

Niantic — It is with profound sadness that the family of Kevin Elliott Booth announces his death from complications of cancer Feb. 27, 2021. Kevin was born in New London on Aug. 28, 1942, to Mary

Elliott Booth and Bertrand Kenneth Booth. His early education was at St. Joseph School in New London and St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Bloomfield.

Kevin married Gayle Foote Booth June 18, 1966. They celebrated 54 years of marriage in 2020. She survives him. He is also survived by two daughters and their families: Leah Langford Booth and her son, Elliott Langford Booth, both of Madison; and Julia Williams Booth and husband Albert Francis Bernatavicius and their two children, John Elliott and Nora Gayle Bernatavicius of Hingham, Mass. Kevin also leaves a sister, Marylyn Langford Booth of Crescent Beach, Niantic.

Kevin played golf and was an enthusiastic supporter of UConn women’s basketball, the New England Patriots and the Boston Red Sox. Kevin loved the beach, having grown up in Crescent Beach within walking distance of the water. In his younger days, Kevin was a sailor and a lifeguard at McCook’s.

Kevin received a degree in economics from the College of the Holy Cross in 1964. At Holy Cross, he was a member of the Air Force ROTC, serving as commander of the Arnold Air Society and graduating as a distinguished military graduate. Kevin remained a lifelong supporter of Holy Cross. In later years, he was appointed a member of the Order of Purple Knights for having completed 50 years of service to the college. Kevin entered Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., on a full tuition merit scholarship. While in law school, Kevin was a law clerk for the international law firm of Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. Kevin served as editor-in-chief of the Catholic University Law Review and graduated first in his class in 1967. He received both the Dean’s Award and the Faculty Award for academic excellence. He later did postdoctoral work in tax law at the University of Missouri in Kansas City.

Following law school, Kevin entered the U.S. Air Force as a judge advocate. He was first stationed at McCord Air Force Base in the State of Washington and then transferred to Richards-Gabaur AFB in Kansas City, where he was director of military justice worldwide for the U.S. Air Force Communication Service. Kevin was a certified military judge attaining the rank of captain at the time of his discharge.

In 1972, Kevin and his family returned to live in his hometown of Niantic, where he joined the New London law firm of Conway, Londregan, Leuba & McNamara. In 1980, he opened the Law Office of Booth and Mattern in Niantic. While in private practice, Kevin was president of the New London County Bar Association and the New London County Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

Kevin was an enthusiastic supporter of any undertaking in which he was engaged, and he was engaged in many activities. Kevin served on the East Lyme Board of Selectmen; he was chairman of the East Lyme Zoning Commission and chairman of the Charter Revision Commission. Kevin was chairman of the East Lyme Republican Town Committee from 1978 until 1984. Kevin was a director of the East Lyme Chamber of Commerce and was a member of the Kiwanis and Rotary clubs and the American Legion. He was a member of the New England Board of Higher Education and the Parish Council of St. Agnes Church. Kevin served as a Director of Care and Share of East Lyme.

In 1992, Kevin was appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut. As a judge, he heard primarily jury and nonjury civil actions as well as state and municipal appeals. Kevin served in the Hartford and New Haven judicial districts. During his tenure, he presided over an experimental program for land-use cases. In that program, he decided the majority of land-use cases in his district. Following his retirement in 2008, Kevin continued to practice law as a consultant and mediator.

Kevin was devoted to his Roman Catholic faith and was a member of Christ the King in Old Lyme. He read extensively the works of authors dealing with religion and scripture and participated in and frequently facilitated Bible study discussions. He was particularly fond of his Bible study group from St. Ann’s Episcopal Church also in Old Lyme.

Kevin was loved and cherished. His death will leave a void in our family that will never be filled, but we take heart in the certainty that he is now at peace and free of all earthly constraints.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 6, at Christ the King Church, 1 McCurdy Road, Old Lyme. Interment will be in Union Cemetery, Niantic.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Kevin’s name to Care and Share of East Lyme, Box 114, East Lyme, 06333.

Please visit www.neilanfuneralhome.com to leave an online condolence for the Booth family.