Samuel Robert Jelley ’52

Samuel Robert Jelley ’52 died at home in Guilford, Connecticut, on January 3. Bob was born in Newark, New Jersey, on October 11, 1930, and grew up in Orange, New Jersey. He graduated from Orange (New Jersey) High School and Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth, where he received a master’s from Thayer School of Engineering in 1953. He attended officer candidate school and served from 1953 to 1957 as an officer in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps in Morocco. Bob lived for several years in New York City, working for the engineering firm Howard Needles and spending winter weekends skiing with friends. On one fateful ski trip he met his future wife, Elizabeth “Betsy” Brown. They soon married and relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts, so Bob could attend Harvard Law School. Upon graduation he joined the law firm of Wiggin and Dana in New Haven, Connecticut, retiring in 1995. In 1963 Bob and Betsy settled in Guilford, where they raised three children. He was involved in the founding of the Guilford Land Conservation Trust and served on the boards of a variety of local organizations. He loved New York City, maintaining an apartment there for more than 20 years, and Bob and Betsy traveled extensively in Europe. Bob is survived by children Sarah, William, and Peter and their spouses; grandsons Samuel and Caleb; and stepgranddaughters Megan and Sydney. Bob was predeceased by Betsy in 2018.