Delano (Del) Wood Ladd Jr. of Greenwich, Conn. and Vero Beach, Fla., passed away peacefully at his home in Vero Beach on November 2, 2018. He was 93.
Born on September 23, 1925, in Plainfield, N.J., he was the son of Delano Wood and Caroline Heminway Ladd.
After attending elementary school in Plainfield, N.J., Del as he was known graduated from Taft School, where he served as Head Monitor, the Merchant Marine Academy, and Yale University.
During World War II, he served as an ensign in the Merchant Marine, and as a Lieutenant, JG in the US Naval Reserve.
Upon graduation from Yale after the war, he began a successful business career at Owens-Corning Fiberglass where he rose to vice-president, and then became chairman and CEO of Edwin Bird Wilson, a marketing and advertising firm in New York City.
He also participated in a number of industry associations, serving as treasurer of the American Advertising Association, and was a member of the board of trustees of several private schools: Taft, Rye Country Day, Madeira, Westminster, and Oldfields.
Mr. Ladd met his future wife, Mariette (Sis) Walker, in Madison, Conn. where they summered for many years. They both enjoyed tennis and were avid sailors, sailing on Long Island Sound as well as cruising up and down the New England Coast on his boat, the <Aladdin>. They spent many happy years in Rye, N.Y., where they raised their six children, and later in Greenwich, before retiring to Vero Beach.
An accomplished athlete, he played collegiate basketball and baseball. In addition to sailing, he was an avid ?rackets? man, playing squash, tennis, and paddle tennis throughout much of his life. He competed successfully in numerous club sailing races and tennis tournaments, particularly in Madison, where his name appears often on the Club?s walls as a tournament winner. Del Ladd was a fierce competitor who took great pleasure in being undefeated by his children in tennis.
His family said, ?Del believed passionately in the importance of commitment, leadership, and setting an example by one?s actions. He was steadfastly devoted to his family and his friends. He strongly believed in helping others, particularly young adults starting out in professional life. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him and many whose lives he touched.?
He was predeceased by his beloved wife of 64 years, Sis, his beautiful granddaughter, Emily Prescott Rogers, and his sister, Caroline Ladd McCullagh.
Del Ladd is survived by his two sons, Delano W. Ladd III (Nancy), of Rye, and Willard F.W. Ladd (Katarina) of Riverside, Conn., and four daughters, Cynthia Ladd of Guilford, Conn., Marcy Champagne (Chip) of Northfield, Ill., Susan Rogers (Will) of Dover, Mass., and Margot Brady (Sean) of Riverside, Conn. He is also survived by seventeen grandchildren, and thirteen great-grandchildren and by his sister, Cornelia Ladd O?Grady (Robert).
Memorial services will held at Christ?s Church in Rye on Saturday, November 17, at 11 a.m. and at The Community Church of Vero Beach on January 10 at 1 p.m.
Donations may be given in Delano Ladd?s name to The Taft School, for the ?Civics Initiative? curriculum, 110 Woodbury Road, Watertown, CT 06795.
An online guestbook is available at?www.strunkfuneralhome.com.
