Harry Colley, former Redding Center postmaster, local historian

Harry L. Colley, former Redding Center postmaster and local historian, died on Monday, Feb. 28, 2011 at Danbury Hospital. He was 93.

A Redding, Connecticut native, Mr. Colley was self-employed as an electrical contractor until 1962 when he became a postal carrier for Route Two in West Redding. He was a rural carrier for five years before being named acting postmaster in 1967, serving at what is now the Redding Center Post Office. He was promoted to postmaster there in 1971. He was often consulted about local history, particularly the history of Georgetown.

He served four years in the Signal Corps in Australia during World War II. At one time, he was an active member of the Redding Democratic Town Committee, a former chairman of the Town Board of Tax Review and also served eight years as 2nd District registrar of voters. He was a former president of the Redding Boys and Girls Club and a member of the Johnson-Frederickson Post of the American Legion and Georgetown Volunteer Fire Department.

"Harry L. Colley was an exceptional man who always found a way to make each and every person he came into contact with feel special. He cared deeply for others and his positive energy was infectious. In his position as postmaster at Redding Center for over two decades, this quality clearly shined brightly, and that is to say: The job fit his personality nicely," said his grandson Brent Colley.

Brent added: "Henry David Thoreau wrote that 'most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them'. That was not my grandfather; he knew his song and he sang it well. He had a very special way of interacting with others and opening their eyes to the importance of the history that surrounds us all. Through him I learned the power of sharing stories and communicating with an audience to get them excited about where they live. It was sad to watch him go, but today we are proud to acknowledge his life and legacy."

He is survived by two sons, John W. Colley and his wife Joan of Redding and Harry L. Colley II and Barbara Farnsworth of West Cornwall; grandsons Brent M.Colley of Sharon, and Jamesen P.Colley of Franklin, Mass; a granddaughter, Megan Colley of Boston, Mass. and six great-grandchildren. He was the husband of Emma Gallagher Colley, a Danbury native who passed away in 2008. They had been married for 64 years.

Memorial Service for Harry L. Colley
My Grandfather's Memorial Service will be held on March 19th at Sacred Heart Church in Georgetown, Connecticut.

1:30pm Sacred Heart Church on Church Street, Georgetown, Connecticut.

3:00pm Celebration of his life at G&B School on New Street, Georgetown, Connecticut. If you would like to attend, send me an email so we have enough food & drink on hand.
bmc@historyofredding.com

For information call 860-294-6071

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Bethel Visiting Nurses Association: www.bethelvna.org | (203) 792-0864.

A very special thank you to Sue Wolf of the Redding Pilot
for going above and beyond the call to help me make
this all it needed to be. Anyone who sees Sue is
hereby instructed to give her a hug for me.
Just explain to her why you are hugging her.

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