David Beals Findlay Jr. of New Canaan, Conn. died peacefully on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015 at Norwalk Hospital, with his family at his bedside. He had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage upon awakening the previous Friday morning.
David Beals Findlay Jr. of New Canaan. Contributed
Dave was born in Kansas City, Missouri to David Beals Findlay, a third generation art dealer, and Harriet Jones Findlay. His family moved to New York City, then to Darien in 1936 when his father established the David Findlay Galleries in New York City. They joined the Tokeneke Club and Dave attended nursery school, then the Royle Elementary School in Darien.
In 1943 the Findlays purchased Extown Farm in New Canaan, where they kept cows, caged chickens and turkeys, and pigs; the farm provided milk, eggs, poultry, smoked meat, and vegetables to the local markets during World War II. A barn on the property was converted to a basketball court for him and his friends in town. Dave attended Center School and St. Luke’s School in New Canaan.
In 1948 he entered Deerfield Academy as a sophomore, class of ’51. He was on the varsity lacrosse team for two years and captain of the team his senior year; varsity soccer for two years, and varsity hockey his senior year, when they beat St. Mark’s School 5-0 in the old Madison Square Garden. He attended all Deerfield reunions, created an annual Deerfield Dinner in NYC, and enjoyed talking frequently to his classmates as Class Secretary. The Deerfield Alumni Magazine doubled in size with his successful efforts to encourage his classmates to contribute notes.
Dave double majored at Cornell, receiving a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA in 1955 and was a member of Chi Psi. After graduation he married Birgit Nielsen from New Canaan in 1958 in the First Presbyterian Church of new Canaan, moved to Wilton briefly, and had four children: Harald Beals, Kimberly Wrede, Lee Wrede, and Michael Nielsen. They moved to Fawn Lane in New Canaan and finally into his current home on Father Peter’s Lane in 1968.
He worked for IBM in computer sales, then for McKinsey and Co in NYC, with consulting projects all over the world. Following a brief stint at the Beech-Nut Corporation, he joined Lehman Brothers until 1976, when, after 20 years in finance, he joined his brother and sister as a partner in his father’s gallery when it expanded on Madison Avenue. The business specialized in American and European paintings and sculpture. In 1982 Dave started his own gallery, David Findlay Jr Gallery, with a focus on American art. The gallery had been a source of great satisfaction before his death and he was proud to have his daughter Lee join him in its management.
In 1973 Dave married the former Mimi Adams from Darien, adding two step-daughters to his family – Sinclair (Sindi) and Holbrook (Holly/Brook) Adams.
Dave loved to ski and went cat-skiing at Selkirk Wilderness Skiing in British Columbia forty times, frequently taking a child or grandchild with him. His other passion was golf: he became a golf member of the Country Club of New Canaan in 1968 and served as President 2004-06. Subsequently he join the Sankaty Head Golf Club in Nantucket and the John’s Island Club in Vero Beach, Florida, and was a member of the Musketeers, with whom he played 18 holes followed by lunch the day before his stroke.
He was a great communicator, eschewing emails for telephone calls to children and grandchildren on a regular basis. His engineering studies shaped much of the way he approached later life. Dave enjoyed analyzing issues and wrestling in his mind to get understanding of how and why things work. He loved to talk with people from a wide range of backgrounds and interests and learned much from these conversations. The pile of books on various topics that he dragged to Nantucket annually for the month of August was as varied as it was voluminous: history, philosophy, medical (he suffered his entire life from headaches recently controlled with medications), and art books. He was a trustee of the New Canaan Library Board from 1968 to 1974, and its President 1971-1973.
Together with his wife Mimi, to whom he was married 42 years, he enjoyed a life-long interest in arts, architecture, history and antiques, frequently traveling on international tours with an academic or arts focus. He loved the out of doors and had fond memories of summers spent at Forestcraft Camp on Lake Saranac in the Adirondacks and at Camp Lanakila in Vermont. More recently he traveled with his daughter Lee and her family to Nairobi and with daughter Kim down the Colorado River. He never missed a graduation of a child or grandchild – Mimi calculates it totaled about 23!
David is survived by his wife Mimi, his brother Peter Findlay of New York City and Salisbury, Connecticut, daughters Kim Findlay of Charlotte, Vermont and Lee Findlay Potter of New York City; step-daughters Sindi Adams Sheers of McLean, Virginia and Brook Adams Visser of Framingham, Massachusetts, and sons Hal Findlay of Delray Beach, Florida and Michael Findlay of New Haven, Vermont. He has 19 grandchildren and one great granddaughter residing throughout the United States.
Following a private burial in the Jones family plot in Independence, Missouri, a Memorial Service in Celebration of Dave Findlay’s wonderful life will be held on Saturday October 24, 2015 at 11:00AM at the First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made in his name to the David B. Findlay Jr. Scholarship Fund at Deerfield Academy, or to the Herbert F. Johnson Museum at Cornell University.
So sorry for your loss. He was a great man and so loving. Your family is in my heart and prayers.
my sincere condolences to all of the Findlay family. met mr Findlay on only a few occasions, but have enjoyed knowing mrs mimi Findlay for many years. my especial condolences to her.