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Constance 'Connie' F. Anstett, Of Westport

WESTPORT, Conn. – Constance “Connie” F. Anstett, a longtime Westport resident, died Thursday, July 23.

She was the widow of the late Westport Probate Judge Robert M. Anstett. She was born in Manhattan, the daughter of the late William and Agnes Garry Fleming. She graduated from Bronxville High School. She was chosen by faculty and the student body to receive the high award for “Outstanding Scholarship, Citizenship, and Self-Reliance.”

Anstett attended Rosemont College and Katharine Gibbs School. She married Everett Justus Dearman, Jr. during WWII. Upon Lt. Dearman’s death in the line of duty, Anstett returned to New York and became an interviewer in the placement office for Katherine Gibbs School. In 1948, she met and married Bob Anstett, an attorney with Bristol Myers Company.

Anstett had a great interest in local government and the Westport Republican Party. She served on the Republican Town Committee from 1954-1966, and co-authored “The Republican Plan” for use in Republican campaigns. She not only ran her husband’s campaigns for RTM, Board of Education and four terms as probate judge, but also worked in other local, state and national campaigns.

In 1995, she and her husband were awarded the John Lodge Award for Outstanding Public Service. She was a founding member of the St. Augustine Study Group and became involved in various committees at St. Luke Church.

In 1980, she was one of four women who raised the necessary funds to purchase The Wheeler House for the Westport Historical Society. In 1999, the society presented her with their “Millennium Circle” award for her contribution.

She is survived by her, son, Peter Anstett (Leslie) of Westport; daughter Sally Barry (Patrick) of Venice, Florida; a grandson of Bakersfield, California; and a grandson of Alexandria, Virginia.

A mass of Christian burial will take place Tuesday, July 28 at 11 a.m. at St. Luke Church, Long Lots Road, Westport. Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to St. Luke Church Building Fund, the Alzheimer Society in memory of Robert M. Anstett or the Connecticut Yankee Council of The Boy Scouts of America.

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