James E. Gay Sr., 95, arborist

James Edwin Gay Sr., a Ridgefield native and an arborist, died on Wednesday, March 9, 2005, at Marathon Health Care Center of Norwalk. Affectionately known as “Uncle Ed,” he was 95 years old.

Mr. Gay was a longtime resident of Ridgefield and in later years made his home in Bethel. His wife, Ruthamae Finney Gay, died on Nov. 2, 1989. They had been married on Nov. 27, 1934 in Greenburgh, N.Y.

Mr. Gay was born on Nov. 25, 1909 at the Gay family homestead on Spectacle Lane and Gay Road. He was the son of the late Ulysses Simpson Grant Gay and Olive Bertha Gilbert Gay, a Putnam County, N.Y., native who had purchased the farm in 1900.

Mr. Gay was an arborist and a pioneer in the tree business in this area. He had managed the former Pawley’s Tree Company in New Canaan for several years, and held the same position with the former Richdale Tree Service in Wilton until the death of Walter Richdale, and then he took over the business for himself.

Mr. Gay did a lot of subcontracting work for the State of Connecticut during snow and ice storms and would travel to Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine to assist with restoring power outages and clearing the roads. His last employment was at Silver Spring Country Club in Ridgefield where he maintained the grounds.

In his youth, Mr. Gay would go to Lake Kitchawan in Lewisboro, N.Y., to saw chunks of ice and transport it to homes with ice boxes, and also taught horseback riding at summer camp in Ridgefield.

Surviving are his three grandchildren: James E. Gay III and his wife, Karen of Danbury, Jill Sousa and her husband John, of Danbury, and Joy Steinmiller and her husband Fred, of Bethel; one great-granddaughter, Samantha Sousa of Danbury; daughter-in-law Jean Gay of Bethel; and several nieces and nephews.

His only child, James E. Gay Jr., died on Oct. 6, 2003. All his brothers and sisters Ñ Oliver, J. Henry, Charles, Fred, Lewis, Julia Lancaster and Mary Broadhurst Ñ died before him.

Services took place March 11 at the Bouton Funeral Home, 31 West Church Street, Georgetown.