Memorial Services Planned for Longtime Ridgefield resident Sidney Gladstone

On February 5th, longtime Ridgefield resident Sidney Gladstone passed away with his family by his side. His death was the result of a long-term illness.

Sid was born November 23rd, 1930 in Brooklyn, NY. His father David was a school principal and his mother Minna was a passionate pianist. Sid graduated from James Madison High School, received a full Naval ROTC scholarship to attend Columbia University, receiving his degree in 1953. While in the Navy, Sid served on aircraft carriers in an extended enlistment as a communications specialist. Sid had originally been interested in being a pilot after witnessing Howard Hughes’s completion of a 1938 round the world flight that started and ended at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York.

After his naval service, Sid had a job at the American Airlines reservation desk. It was here that he met his future wife, Marie (Noonan) Gladstone.  American Airlines was starting a computer reservation system. Any interested employees could test for available training. Sid showed promise in early programing and thus began a new chapter of his life. He found programing work with Univac in Australia for the next three years. This was followed by work for Honeywell, who sent Sid and Marie to Sweden and then Denmark. They returned to New Jersey in 1967. The Gladstone’s moved with their daughter, Claire to Ridgefield in 1969. Their son David was born in 1971.

Sid was an avid New York sports fan particularly all things Brooklyn. Sid was an intrepid traveler both with his family and independently. Late in life he even visited Jerusalem and Egypt by himself out of general curiosity. He along with Marie have been longtime patrons of the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra. Sid was also proud of 33 years of sobriety and helped others achieve similar recoveries.

After retirement from G.E. Credit Corp, Sid did substitute teaching locally. Sid had a love of fife and drum corps, traveling to The Deep River Fife and Drum Muster in Deep River, Connecticut annually. His survivors include his wife of 54 years, Marie, his children, Claire and David along with their spouses David and Jen and his two grandsons, Troy and Zane. Sid was predeceased by his brother Ralph and his grandson, Nicholas.

Memorial services will take place on Tuesday, April 5, 2015 in the Kane Funeral Home; 25 Catoonah St., Ridgefield at a time to be announced. Donations can be made in Sid’s memory to the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra at Ridgefieldsymphony.org and the Ridgefield RVNA at RidgefieldRVNA.org.