Douglas I. Relyea Sr.

Douglas Irving Relyea, Sr., age 95, died at his home in Bethany on March 3, 2026. He was born September 20, 1930 in Warsaw, New York, the son of the late Irving Halstead Relyea and the late Teressa Morelle Fish. His spouse of 52 years was the late Mary Lou (Peters) Relyea.

He is survived by sons, Douglas Irving Relyea, Jr. and Allan Bruce Relyea (former spouse Laurie Ann Hewson), and daughters, Susan Elizabeth Relyea (former spouse Orest Adrianowycz) and Mary Ellen Relyea. Other survivors are grandchildren Robert Eric Relyea, Alexander William Relyea, Sarah Elizabeth Adrianowycz, DVM, and Matthew Allan Adrianowycz.

He received degrees in chemistry, B.S. Clarkson 1951, M.S. Cornell 1953, Ph. D. South Carolina 1954; in biology, M.S. SCSU 2008; and in French, B.A. SCSU 2014. After a 2-year post-doctoral appointment at the University of Wisconsin, he worked 40 years for the United States Rubber Company and its successors, Uniroyal, Inc. and Uniroyal Chemical, retiring in 1996 as a Research Fellow. He was the inventor or co-inventor of 19 U.S. patents and author or co-author of 25 papers in peer-reviewed journals or at national and international scientific meetings. His main research interests were new nitrogen and sulfur compounds as polymer additives or crop protectants.

On completion of the 4-year ROTC program at Clarkson, he was commissioned to a 2nd Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers, United States Army Reserve. He received an Honorable Discharge from the Army of the United States as a 1st Lieutenant in April 1964.

He was an avid runner, from the mile run in high school track, to a marathon on his 50th birthday, to summer biathlons at age 75. He ran in 120 summer biathlons and about 180 road races. At the national championships for summer biathlon, he placed first in his age group six times, and second three times.

In retirement he was a gardener and a curatorial affiliate in the Entomology Department of the Yale Peabody Museum. From collecting insects in Connecticut, western New York, and Hatteras Island, North Carolina, over 12,000 specimens were given to the Yale Peabody Museum.

Friends may visit with his family on Friday, March 6, 2026 at Beecher & Bennett Funeral Home, 2300 Whitney Avenue, Hamden, CT from 5:00 pm to 6:30 p.m. prior to his Prayer Service, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. Interment will be private at Union Cemetery, Slatington, PA, next to the late Mary Lou Peters Relyea. Memorial contributions can be made to the Relyea endowments at Clarkson, Drexel, SCSU, or the Yale Peabody Museum. To send a condolence to his family, please see his obituary at: www.beecherandbennett.com.