Priscilla Redfield Wright Pratt, 84, of Noank, passed on peacefully at home on Monday, June 15, with her loving children beside her. For over 50 years she was the caring wife of Charles N. Pratt, who predeceased her in 2002.
The youngest of three children, Priscilla was born in Centerbrook, CT, to Mary Catherine Dickinson Wright and Martin Walter Wright. Priscilla was a direct descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins.
From Pratt High School in Essex, CT, Priscilla went on to graduate from Miss Porter's School in Farmington. She received a B.A. in English literature from Connecticut College in 1946.
After college, she studied sculpture in New York at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League. While in New York she became a student of and forged friendships with the sculptors Gleb Derujinsky, Arthur Lee, and William Zorach. She excelled at portraiture and was most proud that one of her portraits received the Leland Howard Special Award from the Mystic Art Association in 1989. She was an artist member of the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts and the Mystic Art Association.
After their marriage in 1951, Priscilla and Charlie moved to New York, where he worked as an architect and she continued to study art. They left the city in 1957 to settle in Noank.
From her earliest years, Priscilla felt a kinship with animals and nature that later evolved into a tireless commitment to wildlife, land conservation, and the environment. She and Charlie were founding members of the Groton Open Space Association (GOSA), established in 1967 to protect the 264-acre Haley Farm in Noank from development. With the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, GOSA led a statewide fund drive that enabled the purchase of Haley Farm by the State of Connecticut and the establishment of Haley Farm State Park in 1970.
With Priscilla as president from the mid-1980s to the present, GOSA won numerous battles to conserve open space and preserve the environmental quality of the greater Groton area. Gracious and soft-spoken, but of unwavering ideals, she led through integrity, example, determination, and unflagging attention to detail. After 32 years of persistent effort spearheaded by Priscilla, 57 acres were added to Haley Farm State Park in 2002. In 2008, GOSA acquired the 75-acre Merritt Family Forest, which Priscilla wrote "now belongs to the children and adults of today and tomorrow, who will be able to enjoy forever its unspoiled natural treasures."
Keenly interested in the art of the Mystic-Noank area, Priscilla and Charlie opened the Pratt-Wright Gallery in 1984 to show works by area artists. Priscilla's own sculpture still graces the gallery. Her animal studies of opossums, frogs, and squirrels were highly popular. Priscilla lectured on the history of local art at the Florence Griswold Museum, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, and the Mystic Art Association.
Priscilla's sensitive temperament also found expression in music and writing. For many years she was an organist at the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Mystic. Her poetry gave voice to her view of the spiritual link between man and nature.
A cause especially dear to Priscilla's heart was the humane treatment of animals. She was a volunteer representative for Friends of Animals and worked for reforms at the local dog pound. She was not afraid to speak out openly in defense of those creatures unable to speak for themselves, without concern for public opinion.
An early proponent of organic foods and health-conscious cooking, Priscilla believed in sustainable agriculture and supported family farms. In the summer she delighted in her weekly visits to the local farmer's markets. Priscilla was blessed with gifts and abilities beyond number, but always believed her highest calling was to be a faithful steward of the earth.
She is survived by her daughter, Catherine Pratt, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and her son, Timothy Pratt, of Noank. She was predeceased by her brothers, Martin W. Wright, Jr., of Essex, and Mortimer D. Wright of Noank.
Interment will be at 1:00 p.m., Friday, June 26, at Riverview Cemetery in Essex. A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, June 27, at Noank Baptist Church.
Tax-deductible gifts in Priscilla's memory may be made to Groton Open Space Association, Inc., PO Box 9187, Groton, CT 06340-9187.
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