45°
Pettee was born July 16, 1929, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Naval Cmdr. Everett Pettee and Mary Hartung Pettee, he grew up in Stillwater, Minn. He graduated from Shattuck School, Fairbault, Minn., in 1947 and attended Yale with the help of a “bursary job” scholarship and a Northwest alumni loan. He graduated with a BA in history in 1951
An ROTC officer at Yale, Pettee joined the USAF upon graduation and was assigned to counter-intelligence in the Office of Special Investigations as a 2nd lieutenant. After the USAF, he spent a short time back in Minnesota working for 3M then went to work in human resources for National Sugar Refinery Company in 1958. In 1966 he joined McGraw Hill in purchasing, and finished his career as purchasing agent for the Town of Fairfield from 1988 to 1998. A 55-year resident of Westport, with 43 of those years on Compo Parkway, he was deeply connected to his town.
Pettee is survived by sister, Mary Katherine Pettee; six children, Marianne Churchwell, Michael (Martha) Pettee, Timothy (Sheila) Pettee, Brian Pettee, David (Heidi) Pettee, and Amy (Jim) Dempsey, and 11 grandchildren. He was predeceased by his parents Cmdr. Everett Edward Pettee and Mary Hartung Pettee and wife, Nancie.
A Funeral Mass will be held Friday, March 15 at 10 a.m. at Saint Luke Catholic Church, 49 Turkey Hill Road South. There will be lunch at noon at Saugatuck Rowing Club, 521 Riverside Ave.
Memorial contributions may be made to Whittingham Cancer Center at Norwalk Hospital, Norwalk Hospital Foundation, or Smilow Cancer Center at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
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