Obituary of W. Page Wodell

Page Wodell died peacefully on April 9, 2021 at the age of 99 at Essex Meadows, in Essex Connecticut where he lived with his beloved wife, Eliza Finkenstaedt Shepard Wodell. He was born on December 12, 1921 in New York City. He was the son of the late Ruthven Adriance Wodell and Helen Page Wodell of Short Hills, New Jersey. He attended both Millbrook and the Hill School from which he graduated in 1940 and went on to Yale University class of ’44. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was recruited to be a member of the Yale Unit #4 to fly for the Navy and commenced his service in June 1942. He was commissioned May of 1943, got his wings, and started carrier training. He joined Air Group 19 in June of 1944 as a member of a VB 19 Dive Bombing Squadron aboard the USS Lexington in the South Pacific. He was decorated with the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism after the Battle of Leyte Gulf. He was released from the Navy in early 1946, as a Lieutenant, Junior Grade. He met his first wife the late Anne Harrison Beach in Hartford CT. They were married in April of 1946 and lived in the Hartford area until they moved to Farmington. They had three children, a son, Dr. Ruthven A. Wodell and two daughters, Katharine C. Wodell and Jessie Wodell Roorda. After moving to Farmington, Page turned to politics, he ran for Town Council and won a seat. He was subsequently elected Councilman-at-Large. In 1976, he married the late Margaret Stroud Arndt and moved to Lyme Connecticut. She passed away in 1996. He married Eliza in 1997 and lived in Old Lyme, moving to Essex Meadows in 2014. Besides his wife and three children, Page is survived by seven stepchildren, four grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his sister Lois Wodell Poinier. Page was an avid outdoorsman. He enjoyed fly fishing for Atlantic Salmon on rivers in Canada, Iceland, Scotland and Ireland. Whenever he could, he cast for bluefish off his bass boat in the waters off Fishers Island. He had a good and happy life filled with laughter, a loving family, and wonderful friends. If you wish to make a donation in his memory please consider: The Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center, Environmental Education Program through The Connecticut Audubon Society, 314 Unquowa Road, Fairfield, CT 06824.