2022 -- H 8046

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LC005477

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

EXPRESSING DEEPEST CONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF DONALD ARTHUR

LITTLEFIELD

     

     Introduced By: Representatives Filippi, Blazejewski, and McLaughlin

     Date Introduced: March 24, 2022

     Referred To: House read and passed

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     WHEREAS, It is with deep sadness that this House has learned of the passing of Donald

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Arthur Littlefield, born in Wakefield to Captain Oswald and Isobel Littlefield. He was a 10th

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generation Block Islander, and the devoted husband of Lydia Rathbun Littlefield for 63 years;

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and

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     WHEREAS, As a youngster, Mr. Littlefield spent his summers at the tip of Sandy Point

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in the Commander of the U.S. Saving Service cottage, and later at his grandfather Captain

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Amazon Littlefield’s home on Corn Neck Road; and

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     WHEREAS, Mr. Littlefield graduated from Old Lyme High School in Connecticut, and

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received a Bachelor's degree from the University of Connecticut. After graduation, he served with

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distinction as a Lieutenant in the United States Army, where he was stationed in France and

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served as a comptroller at an aerial re-support center during the Korean War; and

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     WHEREAS, Mr. Littlefield was employed for most of his life within the insurance

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industry. He began his distinguished professional career with the Aetna Insurance Company in

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Hartford, before transferring to Boston. In 1959, he joined the J.R. Tallman Insurance Company,

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serving as Vice President and General Manager; and

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     WHEREAS, For his entire life, Mr. Littlefield was a very civic-minded person who

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strived daily to make the community around him a better place to reside within. He served as the

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President of Morton Hospital, President of Rotary International, and as a Paul A. Fellow. He was

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also a member of the Taunton Savings Bank Board of Directors, Pilgrim Congregational Church

 

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Board of Managers, a United Way Business Division Chairman, Commissioner of the Old

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Colony Historical Society and as a Lifetime Member of the Block Island Historical Society.

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While living in Old Lyme, Mr. Littlefield joined the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons,

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Pythagoras Lodge #45, and was later a member of the King David Lodge in Taunton; and

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     WHEREAS, While residing in Raynham, Mr. Littlefield served as the President of the

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Edgewood Swim and Tennis Club, on the Board of Directors of the Raynham Public Library, and

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as President of the Attleboro Ski Club; and

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     WHEREAS, Upon retiring in 1994, Mr. Littlefield and his wife moved to their summer

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home on Block Island. He served on the Original North Light Commission for twenty years, on

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the Block Island Conservancy Board of Directors, Harbor Church Board of Directors, Town of

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New Shoreham Conservation Commission, and on the Double Ender Committee. He was honored

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as Grand Marshal of the Block Island Fourth of July Parade for his twenty years of enthusiastic

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participation, as Vice Commander of American Legion Post 36, where he was known for his

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expertise on flag etiquette, and as a member of the Block Island Gardeners. He also enjoyed

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sailing his Pearson day-sailor, Eagle, in Great Salt Pond; and

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     WHEREAS, In addition to his wife Lydia, Mr. Littlefield leaves his children, Laura

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Bourne, Pamela Gasner and her husband, John, Lynn Lucier and her husband, Rob, and Betsy

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Littlefield, as well as nine grandchildren, William, Noah, and Julia Gasner, Kelsey and Jonathan

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Bourne, and Nancy, David, Keith and Kimberly Lucier. He was predeceased by his brothers,

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James, William, Richard and Bradford Littlefield, and is survived by his sister, Isobel Shapleigh

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and her husband, Donald, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins; now, therefore be it

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     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

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expresses its condolences on the passing of Donald Arthur Littlefield; and be it further

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     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

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transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mrs. Lydia Rathbun Littlefield.

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LC005477

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