Obituary of Charlotte Riker Perry Barringer

Charlotte Riker Perry Barringer, 94, passed away in her sleep at Essex Meadows, Essex, CT, on Sunday, August 16. She was born in New York City in 1925 and spent her early childhood years in Greenwich, CT, attending Greenwich Academy and The Ethel Walkers School. Her family then moved to Southport, CT, where she enjoyed being surrounded by many generations of Riker and Perry relatives. Sharlie started sailing her Atlantic A6 “Carolina” at Pequot Yacht Club at the age of 14, going on to win the Syce Cup and the Atlantic Class Championships before she was 20 – no other woman has won the AC Championships since. She “ski-bummed” in Vermont at Mad River Glen in the early forties and we cherish our photos of her looking very stylish, running slalom gates made from saplings. She met her husband Rufus at a gathering following a regatta in Cold Spring Harbor, in the home of Mrs. Willis Wood, on Lloyd Neck, Long Island. They were married in Southport, CT, and raised their family in Cold Spring Harbor. Sharlie ran the junior sailing program at the Cold Spring Harbor Beach Club for several years where she instilled a love of sailing in generations of sailors to come. In 1967, the family moved to Farmington, CT, where Sharlie was a volunteer counselor at The Institute For Living in Hartford. She was very engaged with her church and the community as a whole, living a life of service. She managed to continue exploring off the coast of the Canadian Maritime Provinces in sloop "Ursus", accompanied by Rufus, her family, and many friends. Sharlie wanted to be remembered mostly for her participation in groups that cared for people in need. She served on the boards of the Farmington Valley and Middletown Visiting Nurse Associations, Middletown Home Health Services, Inc., and was active in hospice programs in Branford, CT, and at Middlesex Hospital. She summed this up by calling herself “the soup lady” -- her greatest joy was giving comfort where she could. She was predeceased by her parents Charlotte Riker and Hoyt Ogden Perry of Southport, her brother Hoyt O. Perry, husband Rufus, and son Rufus Perry Barringer. She is survived by daughter Susan, sons Paul and Hoyt, daughters-in-law Nancy and Tonia Barringer, and grandchildren Sam, Perry, August, Lucy and Cecilia Barringer. Sharlie will be dearly missed by her children, grandchildren, her amazing extended family and many wonderful friends and neighbors. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, August 7, 2021 at 10:00AM at Saint John's Episcopal Church located on the corner of Main and Cross Streets in Essex. If so inclined, her family asks that you consider making a donation in her memory to St. John’s Episcopal Church, 3 Cross Street, Essex, CT 06426. https://stjohnsessex.org/give/. To share a memory of Sharlie or send a condolence to her family please visit www.rwwfh.com Arrangements by the Robinson, Wright & Weymer Funeral Home in Centerbrook.