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Estelle Seely (born Rochlin)

Personal

Gender: Female

Date of Birth: January 1, 1920

Date of Death: September 15, 2008

Birth Place: Stamford, CT

Death Place: Norwalk, CT

Estelle Seely

Estelle Seely of New Canaan, an icon within the real estate industry, died Monday, Sept. 15, at Norwalk Hospital. Mrs. Seely, 88, was the wife of Holly Seely, a founding member of the Country Club of Darien.

Mrs. Seely was born Jan. 1, 1920, in Stamford, the daughter of Samuel and Rose Rochlin. She grew up on Summer Street, spent summers in a house at Compo Beach, graduated from Stamford High School and attended Syracuse University. She played the cello. Her childhood home was filled with classical music, which was her lifelong love, as was Frank Sinatra. She grew up during the Great Depression, and her parents owned a small grocery store in Stamford. She talked with pride about them providing food for many neighbors.

Mrs. Seely and her first husband, Raymond Rossi, lived in Wilton, where they raised their two children, Johna and Jorn. In 1976, she married Holly Seely, a founding member of the Country Club of Darien. She moved to New Canaan in 1998 after he died.

Mrs. Seely was well-known in the real estate industry, respected and loved by the members of the Board of Realtors in New Canaan, where for more than 40 years her voice answered the telephone: “New Canaan Board of Realtors, Estelle.” She retired in 2005 as the executive officer of the board. She won many local and national awards during her career, but was most proud of having mentored five members of the board to the position of president of the Connecticut Association of Realtors.

The “Grande Dame” of the Real Estate Association Directors in Connecticut, her knowledge, opinion and advice were often sought after by her peers, in the state and in the National Association of Realtors.

She loved traveling, the beach and reading. “Dreams From my Father” by Barack Obama was the last book she read. She enjoyed being “one of the few Democrats in New Canaan.” She went to her first basketball game on a family weekend at Duke University and got to talk with the parents of some of the players. That began a love affair with Duke basketball; she watched every game on TV, cheered and cried and wore her Duke basketball cap. She even flew up to Syracuse in the middle of winter to cheer her team on. Next to Duke basketball or even ahead of it, she loved Nick, Johna and Arnold’s golden doodle.

Mrs. Seely is survived by daughter Johna and her husband, Dr. Arnold Benton, of Weston; son Jorn Rossi and his wife, Connie, of Murrieta, Calif; three granddaughters, Alison and Diana Benton, and Randoll Fischer; and two nephews, Peter and Richard Mezan, and their families.

There will be a memorial gathering from 11 to 12:30 on Friday, Sept. 19, at Collins Funeral Home, 92 East Avenue, Norwalk, followed by a reception at the Country Club of Darien at 1.

Memorial donations may be sent to the American Cancer Society.

Published in The Darien Times, (CT) – September 18, 2008

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