Obituary of Gordon E. Lye

We celebrate the passing of Gordon E. Lye, late of East Haven, Connecticut. Gordon was born January 31, 1929 in New Haven to George and Frances (Travis) Lye. He passed away on November 13th, 2019 with his daughter Beth Anne and son Bruce in his room with him.

 Gordon and his wife Anne Lye lived and raised three children in East Haven, Connecticut. She was a nurse at Yale hospital and she and Gordon would split child care responsibilities when one or the other was at work. Anne preceded him in death by 12 years.

Gordon worked all his life as a printer and lithographer. When not working, he loved to spend time exploring in the woods. He loved to fish and hunt and to just walk about finding new and old unusual things. He also loved to play cards with friends, especially Pinochle.

He would buy old cameras that needed repair and then repair them and pass them on. He built 7 muzzle loading rifles and won awards for marksmanship. He had a passion for odd and unpopular cars, owning several strange European and Japanese models long before it was popular to do that.

Gordon loved animals of all kinds. He fed a raccoon outside the back door. He found an abandoned ferret and took it in to bring it back to health. He had an injured duck boarding in the basement until it was well enough to fly. At the end, he had a beautiful cat named Sammie who will now move to a good friends’ house to live.

He was tall, well over 6’, and considered gentle and patient by the kids around him.  He would bend down or kneel to address a 5 year old, in order to see them eye to eye. This made the kids feel safe around him, someone who they knew they could go to if they needed help. He treated them as if they were people.

Family will receive friends from 11:00 am until the time of service at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 16, 2019 at the Clancy-Palumbo Funeral Home, 43 Kirkham Ave., East Haven. Burial will be private at a later date.