David Moreland Long

David Moreland Long, 77, of Glastonbury, departed this life on Monday, June 5, 2017 at his home with Kay, his beloved wife of 50 years, at his side. He was born December 19, 1939 in Manhattan, KS to the late C. Curtis and Marie Long and has been a resident of Connecticut for more than 45 years. Following graduation from Manhattan High School in 1957, David enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served four years with fighter squadrons based in Cherry Point, NC and Iwakuni, Japan. Upon his discharge as a corporal in 1961, he enrolled at Kansas State University, graduating in 1965 with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism. His first job after college was as a reporter for the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal. While covering a story at Barberton Hospital, he shared an elevator with Kay, and was instantly smitten, and began a two-year courtship before she agreed to marry him in 1967. They chose not to have children, opting instead for the company of cats, which they found infinitely interesting. He left the newspaper in 1967 to take a job in corporate public relations in Skokie, IL with International Minerals & Chemical Corp. One year later, he and Kay moved to Connecticut, where he joined the corporate public relations department in Heublein, Inc. In 1973, he left Heublein to begin a 23 year career in corporate communications with various divisions of United Technologies Corp., including Hamilton Standard, Research Center, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, and later as international public relations manager for UTC’s Asia-Pacific region. In 1992, he was named vice president of communications for United Technologies Automotive and for four years commuted between Dearborn, MI and his home in Glastonbury. He retired from UTC in 1996 and continued his career at Kaman Corp. in Bloomfield until fully retiring in 2008. He and Kay enjoyed foreign travel, visiting over 25 countries and counted Morocco, Brazil, Colombia, Italy, Singapore and Hong Kong among their favorite destinations. But for all his world travels, his most favorite spot of all was the Flint Hills prarie of his native Kansas. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brother, Roderick C. Long. Besides his wife Kay, he is survived by his sister, Carollyn Long of California; nephews, David Lingg and his wife Dorothy of Bern, Switzerland, David Alig and his wife Sandra of Leawood, Kansas; niece, Michele Harris and her husband Robert of Vacaville, California; two grand-nephews and five grand-nieces.

Funeral services will be on Saturday (June 10) at 11 a.m. at Asylum Hill Congregational Church, 814 Asylum Ave., Hartford with the Reverend Matthew Laney officiating. Everyone is asked to please go directly to the church. Burial with military honors will follow in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford. There are no calling hours. Donations in David’s memory may be made to Protectors of Animals, 144 Main St., East Hartford, CT 06118, the Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation, 453 Fairfield Ave., Hartford, CT 06114 or Connecticut Radio Information System (CRIS), 315 Windsor Ave., Windsor, CT 06095. The D’Esopo Funeral Chapel, Wethersfield is in charge of arrangements. To share a memory of David with his family, please visit www.desopo.com.