Merrill Jay Forgotson, 81, of Westport, CT, died Jan. 17. He was the husband of Janis Reader-Forgotson. Born in New York City, he was the son of the late Donald and the late Roslyn Forgotson. He held a B.S. in finance from Northeastern University, a J.D. from Boston University and an M.B.A. from Western New England College. He began his career as a defense attorney, working for Joe Balliro, Sr., who was known as the “Dean of the Boston Bar.” He then transitioned into finance, starting at Mass Mutual and advancing to become General Counsel at Barclays Business Credit. In 1990, he joined People’s Bank (now People’s United Financial) as Senior Vice President/Chief Credit Administration Officer. During this time, he also served as Chairman of the Connecticut Anti-Defamation League, where he shaped diversity programming to combat hate and discrimination in all their forms. In 2000, he left People’s to run Cornerstone Bank in Stamford, CT whose founder, Norman Reader, his father-in-law, had recently taken ill. It was one of the joys of his professional life. Ir was sold to New Alliance Bank in 2005. During a brief sabbatical from community banking, he served as the Dean of the Business School at the University of Bridgeport. But community banking kept calling. He served as CEO of BNC Financial Group, accelerating the growth of its subsidiary, the Bank of New Canaan and starting the Bank of Fairfield and Stamford First Bank (BNC Financial has since rebranded as Bankwell Financial Group). He retired in 2013, and spent time tenjoying family and friends in Connecticut and Sarasota, FL; volunteering his talents to several non-profits; advocating for fairness; photographing sunsets over the ocean, and basking in blue skies and sunshine.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his sons, Nathaniel, Josh, and Matthew; and his grandchildren, Evan, Ianto, Floriana, Zachary, and Benjamin. He was also pre-deceased by his younger sister, Barbara Garavuso.