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The Very Reverend Richard H. Mansfield, Jr., of Avon, CT, loving husband of Sharon B. Kelley, passed away peacefully holding his wife's hand, on December 30, 2025. Dick was born on May 25, 1937 in Bronxville, NY, the son of Richard H. Mansfield, Sr. and Marjory Myles Mansfield.
Dick was raised in Scarsdale, NY and attended Eaglebrook School, the Hotchkiss School, graduating from Rollins College in Winter Park, FL, with a BA in History in 1960 and earning both a Masters and Doctorate degree from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, graduating in 1963.
Prior to being ordained, Dick taught history and theology at St. Andrew's School in Boca Raton, FL, where he also coached the tennis team. In 1965, he was ordained a priest at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, NY, following his grandfather and great-grandfather into the priesthood. He served as an assistant rector of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Bedford, NY. He went on to serve as rector of Holy Trinity Church and as Campus Minister at both Miami University and Western College in Oxford, OH. He then became the Dean of Bexley Hall Seminary, now Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, in Rochester, NY. He started his ministry at Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford, CT, in 1982 and went on to be Provost and Dean until his retirement in 2002. He was instrumental in starting the Uyeki Forum on Racial Justice and the Memorial Garden at the Cathedral where his ashes will be placed.
Dick was a member of The Connecticut Old Guard, and had served on the Board of the Hartford Chorale and was a member of Cedar Hammock Golf and Country Club in Naples, FL, where he and Sharon spent their winters golfing and enjoying friends and welcoming their family and grandchildren. He loved jazz and classical music, was a voracious reader, a lover of art and Uconn Basketball. He marched with Martin Luther King, campaigned for Barack Obama, and was a true progressive. He and Sharon loved to travel many times to Italy, Greece, Paris, Bermuda, and St. Croix. His greatest joy was spending the last 26 years with her. They were each other's best friend.
Dick is survived by his wife, Sharon B. Kelley of Avon, CT, and her sons, J. Patrick Kelley (Dr. Emily Yee) of Washington, D.C. and Thomas J. Kelley (Kasie Coccaro) of Annapolis, MD. He was PopPop to his grandchildren, Teague Yee Kelley and Bridget Yee Kelley of Washington, D.C. He also leaves three sons and a daughter, Coleman, Richard, Bradley, and Catherine from a prior marriage. He was predeceased by his parents, Richard H. Mansfield and Marjory M. Mansfield and his sister, Anne Myles Mansfield.
Dick was a kind, unpretentious, gentle soul. He will be missed and forever in our hearts.
A Memorial Service and burial in the Cathedral Memorial Garden will be held in the spring with arrangements to follow. In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation to Hands on Hartford, online or by mail (55 Bartholomew Ave., Hartford, CT. 06106) or to CT Foodshare, online or by mail, (Connecticut Foodshare 2 Research Parkway Wallingford, CT 06492). For online memory and condolence please visit www.carmonfuneralhome.com.
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