James Burroughs Lyon

Hartford lost one of its most esteemed citizens when James Burroughs Lyon died on February 11, 2020 at Duncaster in Bloomfield. Born May 11, 1930 in New York City, he lived most of his life on Bishop Road in West Hartford as the only child of Francis and Edith May (Strong) Lyon. He was a graduate of Kingswood School, and a 1952 graduate of Amherst College, Phi Beta Kappa. He captained the football team, playing both offense and defensive lineman for the Lord Jeffs. Jim then graduated from Yale Law School in 1955 where he was an assistant football coach for Yale. After joining the Connecticut Bar in 1955, Jim joined Shepard, Murtha & Merritt, now Murtha Cullina, a Hartford law firm, becoming a partner in 1961 and counsel in 1996, specializing in assisting tax exempt and charitable organizations. Jim became a John Woodruff Simpson of Law Fellow and was later designated one of the Best Lawyers in America. Jim was both a lecturer and a session leader at the NYU Institute on Federal Taxation and Chairman of its 13th taxation conference in 1982. He was a member of the IRS Northeast District’s Exempt Organizations Liaison Group and served on the U.S. Tax Court. He was a member of the editorial board for the Connecticut Law Tribune, an American Bar Association Fellow, a member of the Tax-Exempt Law Review and a member of the Connecticut Policy and Economic Commission. Over the course of his distinguished career, Jim contributed numerous articles to the Connecticut Law Tribune and to professional journals and magazines. He also was a frequent letter writer to the Hartford Courant and other publications. Jim’s contributions to the nonprofit community were enormous. He served the community and the organizations he loved with passion. A trustee of Kingswood-Oxford School for 30 years and Chairman of its Board from 1975-78, he became an Honorary Trustee in 1991. Kingswood-Oxford awarded him its Distinguished Alumnus award in 1998. He chaired the Executive Committee for the Amherst College Alumni Council, was an alumni trustee candidate in 1970, and the recipient of the Amherst Eminent Service medal. In 1965, along with Gordon Bennett, Jim founded the Noah Webster House Foundation in West Hartford. Jim served as a Wadsworth Atheneum trustee from 1968-93 and was President of the Board from 1981-84, named an Honorary Trustee in 1993, and chaired the Wadsworth’s Austin House Committee. Jim was a long serving trustee of the Bushnell Memorial Hall and its Secretary in 1996. He served on the University of Hartford’s Board of Visitors for many years. He was a trustee for the Connecticut River Museum in Essex and was a Hartford Hospital corporator for 45 years. He served St. Francis Hospital as a trustee and sat on the hospital’s Foundation board. Jim was a Hartford Public Library corporator and a Connecticut Public Radio and TV trustee. He served as trustee for the Hartford YMCA, the Ellen Burr McManus Trust in Hartford, the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Trust in Norwalk, and Trinity College Watkinson Library. He was a member of Who’s Who in America. Jim chaired the Old Sturbridge Village Board of Trustees and became an honorary trustee. He was on the Connecticut Historical Society Board and served as Secretary from 2002-2005, becoming an honorary trustee in 2006. He served on the membership advancement committee for the Florence Griswold Museum Board in Old Lyme. He was designated the recipient of the Yale Club’s Nathan Hale award and was awarded the National Football Founder Hall of Fame North Connecticut chapter’s Distinguished American award 1983; United Way of the Capital Area Community Service award, and the Ancient Burying Ground Association’s Thomas Hooker award. Jim also was a member or past member of Phi Delta Phi, Theta Delta Phi, the American Law Institute, Connecticut Seniors Golf Association, Mory’s Association, Hartford Golf Club, Wianno Club in Osterville, MA, the Union Club NYC, Yale Club NYC, the Dauntless Club, Essex, CT, the Hartford Tennis Club, and Swift’s Inn. Along with his charitable, legal and civic accomplishments, Jim will be remembered as intelligent, generous, caring, engaging and a loyal friend. He leaves behind his dear friend, Kathy Marr, and a cousin, Katherine Strong-Jorgensen of Santa Ynez, California. Jim never lost his love of sports. At the Hartford Golf Club, he excelled as a paddle player with Bob Goode; he also was an enthusiastic golfer and tennis player. Jim often said his friends were his family. He loved to socialize. He lived life with grace, humor, dignity and gratitude. One of his great delights was to anonymously fund a worthwhile project and follow its progress. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, February 15, 2020, 11 a.m. at St. Patrick-St. Anthony Church, 285 Church St., Hartford, CT, followed by a reception at Hartford Golf Club, Norwood Road, West Hartford. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Kingswood-Oxford School, Bushnell Memorial Hall or the Wadsworth Atheneum.

James Burroughs Lyon

May 11, 1930 - February 11, 2020