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B6 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009 THE HARTFORD COURANT OBITUARIES NOW SYMPOSIUM ON VIOLENCE Studying What John Brown Hath Wrought In The U.S. Group Considers Ongoing Effects Of His Fight Against Slavery BLOOMFIELD SUFFIELD Carmella T. DeNapoli Michael F. Fusick Helen Hatch Warner THOMPSONVILLE ENFIELD Eleanor (Brigada) D'Amato Eleanor (Brigada) D'Amato VERNON HARTFORD Anne "Nancy" (Heneghai Barbara D. Combs Quinn Marion Noli WATERBURY Waldie N.

Grocia James Edward Mannetti Helen Hatch Warner Shirly (Warren) Stone KENSINGTON WEST HARTFORD James F. DiPietro Douglas Christie MANCHESTER Helen (Zalenska) Remes James Mazzarella Judith A. Zapatka NEWINGTON WETHERSFIELD Marion Noli Benito Santini NIANTIC WINDSOR Margaret "Peg" Mackay Eleanor (Brigada) D'Amato SOMERS WINDSOR LOCKS Margaret "Peg" Macaky Michael F. Fusick SOUTH WINDSOR OUT OF STATE James Edward Mannetti Jan Armstrong James Mazzarella Montpelier, VT By CHRIS CAROLA Associated Press Denotes name listing only. Please note: not all death notices are in alphabetical order.

COMBS, Barbara D. 'MM ARMSTRONG, Jan Jan Armstrong, 68, of Montpelier, who died on November 28, 2009. A memorial service commemorating Jan's life will be held at Christ Episcopal Church in Montpelier on Friday, December 11, at 11 BENITO, Santini FROM THE AP Barbara D. Combs, passed away on November 30, 2009. She was born in Saint Louis, MO, to the late Simms and Thelma Dunlap on June 23, 1932, and was a long time resident of Hartford.

Besides her parents, she was predeceased by three brothers and a sister. She leaves to mourn a sister Fran Long of St. Louis, MO; a brother Larry Dunlap of Fayaville, NC. She is survived by four children Bridget Dunlap, Valerie Combs, Michael Combs and Jason (Veronica) Combs; her grandchildren, Brooke Dunlap, David Love, Jason Combs Shanon Combs, Ashley Combs, Taylor Combs, Sha-vonne Jackson; and her great grandson Shane Dunlap. A service will be held Saturday, 1 p.m., at the All Faith Memorial, Chapel 90 John Fitch Blvd.

(route 5), South Windsor. In Lieu of Flowers, Contributions should be made to the House of Bread, treason and was executed. He had asked to be buried on his New York farm, and his body arrived in North Elba on Dec. 7. His body was laid out in a wooden coffin placed in his homestead's front room, where the original floorboards and some furnishings remain today Two of his sons, both killed at Harpers Ferry, lie in adjacent graves, along with the remains of nine fellow raiders.

Northern abolitionists considered Brown a martyr, while in the South he was reviled as a fanatic who tried to foment a slave insurrection. "He stands out in the pantheon of rare white people who managed to stand up, really, by putting their lives on the line in the name of black liberation in this case, an end to slavery," said Dohrn, who founded the Weathermen in the late 1960s with husband Bill Ayers. The radical group claimed credit for explosions at the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon and more. In 1970, a bomb the group was making to use against an Army base exploded at a New York town house, killing three members.

Dohrn surfaced in 1980 and later pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of bail-jumping in connection with a 1969 anti-Vietnam war protest. She now heads the Children and Family Justice Center at Northwestern University. Symposium speaker Mecoy is a great-great-great-granddaughter of Brown, who fathered 20 children with two wives. The 50-year-old Texan said her family kept its link to Brown a secret while she was growing up. "Our line is not real big on talking about the connection," she said.

"You either consider him an evil man or a saint." The symposium and a burial re-enactment are among the final events marking the Harpers Ferry raid's 150th anniversary in New York, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. LAKE PLACID, N.Y. John Brown, the Connecticut-born 19th-century abolitionist who advocated armed violence, is drawing a diverse crowd this week to study how his fight against slavery continues to play in America. A former Vietnam-era radical, a victim of human trafficking and an award-winning author are joining academics, activists and a descendant of the anti-slavery leader for a two-day symposium. The event commemorates the sesquicentennial of Brown's 1859 burial at his former Adirondack homestead just outside this tourist village in northern New York.

Organizers say the symposium, on Friday and today, will examine the impact of Brown's fight against slavery on America then and how it reverberates today Speakers include Bernardine Dohrn, one of the best-known leaders of the 1960s radical group the Weather Underground; Maria Suarez, a Mexican immigrant who was virtually enslaved by a Southern California man after being lured to work for him in 1976; Russell Banks, author of the fictional Brown biography and Alice Keesey Mecoy a Brown descendant. The goal of the event isn't to glorify Brown, organizer Naj Wikoffsaid. "We're trying to get people to take a look at the use of violence in our country why American culture uses violence to achieve an end," Wikoffsaid. Brown was hanged for treason on Dec. 2, 1859, at Charles Town in what was then part of Virginia, a few miles from Harpers Ferry, where he led an ill-fated raid on the federal arsenal earlier that fall.

The attack failed, but it pushed the nation closer to the civil war that erupted nearly two years later. He was JOHN BROWN, leader of an attempt to end slavery in the U.S. by armed force, is shown in an 1857 photo. The 19th-century abolitionist is drawing a diverse crowd in New York to study how his fight against slavery continues to play in America. Honor your loved one and buried six days later.

Margaret Washington, a Cornell University history professor who's a keynote speaker at today's session, called Brown a "very significant catalyst of change, radical change." "He represents the positive, in the sense that he was an abolitionist and egalitarian, and he also represents aspects of our culture that we wish were not there," she said. "And that is the violence and the idea that the only way you're going to bring change to humanity is to strike out violently." The Connecticut-born Brown spent his early years in Torrington before his family moved to Ohio. He pursued various jobs before moving with his family in 1849 to New York's Adirondack Mountains. Here, they joined a community of former black slaves who had settled in the town of North Elba, where the village of Lake Placid was later established. Brown left New York in the 1850s to join anti-slavery forces in Kansas.

While there, he led attacks that included the slayings of five pro-slavery leaders in what became known as the Pottawatomie Massacre. Brown returned to his North Elba potato farm, where he hatched his plan to spark a slave rebellion in the South by seizing the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry and arming the slaves. Brown's raid began on Oct. 16, 1859, when his force of 21 armed men took hostages inside the arsenal. The bloody assault ended two days later when U.S.

Marines led by then-Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee captured a wounded Brown and 10 of his followers. Brown went on trial that month, was convicted of commemorate their life by creating a Memorial Bookmark that wilt bring you comfort over the years to come.

You can purchase Memorial Bookmarks online at www.courant.combookmarks or call The Hartford Courant 06ituary Desk at Benito Santini, 73, of We-thersfield, beloved husband for 44 years of Teresa (La-gana) Santini, died peacefully at home surrounded by his family, on Thursday, Dec. 3rd, 2009. Born in Melilli, province of Siracusa, Italy, he was the son of the late Nico-demo and Sebastiana (Ranno) Santino. Benny spent his childhood in Italy with his mother and three older siblings while his father was away in the war for many years. During this time he learned the value of hard work and living a simple, happy life with his family.

As a young man he served in the Italian Air Force. Benny immigrated to the United States in 1965, began to learn the masonry trade, and married Teresa. Over the next several years, they moved from Hartford to West Hartford and eventually settled in Wethers-field. Benny helped launch a successful mason contracting business and building supply company and was responsible for the building of numerous prominent landmarks throughout Connecticut. In addition to his work life, he was a member of the Canicat-tinese Society and enjoyed gardening and making homemade wine.

Those who knew Benny couldn't help but be charmed by his smile and friendly nature. He loved his family, and lit up when his grandchildren came to visit. Benny was the happiest when the whole family was together. He will be dearly missed each and every day. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Nicodemo and Jennifer Santini of Avon, two daughters and sons-in-law, Ann and Christopher Donnells of Milford, and Maria and James M.

Dzwil of Charles-town, Rl, four grandchildren, James C. and Sarah Dzwil and Emily and Andrew Santini, and the Corrado and Terry Nane family of East Hampton, the Paula and Anthony Schiavone family of Wethersfield, the Santo and Concetta Lagana family of Rocky Hill, and the Biagio and Joyce Lagana family of Wethersfield. He was predeceased by a brother, Antonio Santino (Italy), and two sisters, Carmela Nane (Italy) and Francesca Carriglio (Australia). The family wishes to extend sincere gratitude to the Hope Team from VNA Hospice Hartford and Interim Healthcare. Funeral services will be Monday, 8:30 a.m., by the Giuliano-Sagarino Funeral Home at BROOKLAWN, 511 Brook Street, Rocky Hill, followed by a mass of Christian burial in St.

James Church, Rocky Hill, at 9:30 a.m. Entombment will follow in the mausoleum at Cedar Hill Cemetery. Friends are invited to the funeral home SUNDAY from 3-6 p.m. Gifts in his memory may be made to St. Jude's Hospital at www.stjude.org.

To offer words of sympathy online, for directions, or for floral tributes, please visit 860-241-6392 Jury Begins Deliberations In Trial isit the obituary secton on courant.com to share memories of loved ones. i ite stones, snared and remembered, in the obituary section on courant.com second and a half for a police officer to draw a gun. "Can you feel the tension, the fear?" Georgetti asked jurors. "It's the toughest call for any police officer to make. Do I use my gun?" With 18 years of law enforcement experience, Lawlor, a former Marine, was able to recognize a dangerous situation, Georgetti said.

And one of the elements of that danger, Georgetti said, was Henry, who had a criminal record and was on probation at the time of the shooting. Georgetti said Henry, one of the state's key witnesses, was never prosecuted for any of his actions that evening. A gun, Georgetti said, could have been tossed out the window of the car or discarded while Henry tried to get away Georgetti also criticized the way the police searched for a weapon, saying a gun "could still be sitting in a sewer," since testimony showed the sewers were never searched. In their rebuttal of the defense's closing arguments, prosecutors displayed a photo of one of Bryant's thumbs with a wound a pathologist testified resulted from a bullet graze. Dearington said the wound showed Bryant had his hands raised above the car windows, contradicting Lawlor's claims that Bryant's hands were going up and down as he sat in the car.

Georgetti said a pathologist referred to that wound as a "defect" in his reports about Bryant's wounds and, only after speaking with prosecutors, said it could have come from a bullet. Throughout the trial, Judge Julia Dewey has warned spectators about disruptions in the courtroom. Friday morning, some had trouble keeping their comments to themselves. When George tti called Lawlor a "great cop," a relative of Bryant's said, "yeah, right." When Georgetti asked jurors to end Lawlor's "nightmare," saying, "Let Bobby hang up his uniform and let him go home to his family," someone sitting on the prosecution side whispered, "What about Jashon? He can't come home." Prosecutor Kevin Doyle seemed to acknowledge the emotions on both sides. "This case is a tragedy for everyone involved," Doyle said.

"Nobody wants to be here today" Lawlor, now retired from the Hartford force, did not take the witness stand in his defense. Instead, jurors heard his account of the incident from his grand jury testimony, presented by prosecutors. In it, Lawlor says he perceived two threats that day: Either he could be shot by one of the men in a black Nissan Maxima that Lawlor thought might be linked to an earlier homicide, or Lawlor's partner, Prather, could be run over by the Maxima. Lawlor said he saw Bryant standing outside the Maxima holding a "small semiautomatic handgun." Bryant appeared to be "manipulating" the gun as if he was having some sort of problem. Henry, however, had testified that what Bryant was actually doing was searching for a $5 bill he had lost.

Lawlor said he tried to make eye contact with Prather, to signal him about the gun, but Prather was talking on his cellphone. Lawlor said he did not yell to Prather about the gun for fear the locals gathered along busy Main Street would tip off the suspect. Instead, he told Prather about a "signal 83," the Hartford Police Department's code for a firearm. Lawlor said he was unaware that Prather did not know the department's codes. Doyle, the prosecutor, questioned whether Lawlor could actually see a gun from where he was standing, since he was more than 100 feet from the car and he was looking over someone's shoulder.

He also questioned why Lawlor's warning about a gun wasn't clearer. "Ask yourself this," Doyle told jurors. "Prather is on the phone with another agent. Why not tell him there's a gun in the parking lot? Get us backup. If Lawlor really saw a gun, why not?" Doyle also asked whether someone who is aware of the police presence in the city's North End an area where police respond to shootings, drug activity and homicides would stand "in plain view of other people" holding a gun.

Georgetti asked jurors to put themselves in Lawlor's shoes that day An expert in the use of deadly force who testified for the defense said earlier that Lawlor had to make serious decisions quickly because it takes a gunman one-tenth of a second to pull a trigger and a CONTINUED FROM Bl "Police officers, just like the rest of us, have to follow the laws," Dearington said. Jurors began deliberations Friday afternoon in the trial of Lawlor on manslaughter and assault charges. If convicted, Lawlor faces a maximum of 40 years in prison. Lawlor was working a police sting involving drugs and guns with Daniel Prather, an agent from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, when, he said, he saw Bryant holding a gun as Bryant got into a friend's car, authorities said.

The officers approached the car, and when the vehicle began moving, Lawlor fired his weapon. The bullets struck Bryant and the driver of the car, Brandon Henry, who sped away from the scene and crashed into another vehicle, injuring the occupants. Bryant died instantly from two gunshot wounds to the head. Henry, who was shot in the chest, ran away wounded and hid under a porch until police dogs found him. Henry told officers who found him he couldn't believe he "got shot over drugs," according to testimony Police found cocaine in the vehicle, but they never found a weapon, and a grand jury recommended that charges be brought against Lawlor.

Relatives of Lawlor and of Bryant sat in the courtroom gallery Friday as attorneys presented their final arguments in the emotionally charged trial, in which testimony began Nov. 9. Ask us for our listing of emblems and how we can help you personalize your loved one's obituary. AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL BASKETBALL BOXING CATHOLIC CROSS CELTIC CROSS Ask us for our listing of emblems and how we can help you personalize your loved one's obituary. POLICE HEART DOVE BADGE BLANK KartforblEourant POLICE BADGE HEART 3Kartfor6ourant.