Bassett Family Association Database

Kaelan Alexander Palmer Paton

Male 1993 - 2009  (16 years)


Personal Information    |    PDF

  • Name Kaelan Alexander Palmer Paton 
    Born 6 Jan 1993  Sharon, Connecticut Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    _UID 3A1DF47AAB6AD040BEEB594F87416984F002 
    Died 16 Jun 2009  Connecticut Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Notes 
    • Republican-American, Waterbury, CT ? Wednesday, June 24, 2009
      Kaelan Paton: Missing teen?s body found floating in Housatonic River

      CORNWALL - A weeklong search for 16-year-old Kaelan Paton ended Tuesday morning when a railroad conductor and engineer spotted the boy's body floating down the Housatonic River just south of Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village.

      Paton, who would have been a sophomore at the school this fall, jumped into turbulent waters at Great Falls on June 16 when he saw a friend he was swimming with in trouble.

      Housatonic Railroad engineer Eric Boardman and conductor Robert Kielbowicz were heading south along the tracks that parallel the river at 7:20 a.m. Tuesday when they spotted Paton in the rain-swollen water. They called their dispatcher, who summoned state police.

      The State Police Dive Team and Cornwall Fire Department were summoned. The train crew, aware of the missing boy, slowed to keep him in sight until rescue personnel arrived.

      The sun, which has been absent in so many gray days, broke through clouds Tuesday. A rainbow appeared over Great Falls as the final chapter of the weeklong vigil ended and word of the discovery rippled through towns that have produced dozens of volunteers to scan the river for signs.

      The Fire Department launched its Zodiac rescue boat. The covered bridge in West Cornwall was closed as firefighters stood watch, one per window. The three aboard the boat, Steve Hedden, Steve Heaney and Jim Vanicky, reached the body and brought it to a shallow eddy just south of the bridge where state police were waiting.

      The body was recovered at 8:54 a.m., just downstream from the covered bridge, at 306 Kent Road.

      Paton was swimming with friends June 16 when the powerful swirling current pulled Franky Craft upstream toward the falls. Paton jumped in to try to save him and was likely killed when he came into the path of the crashing waterfall. His time above water was so short that no one was sure where he was when help arrived.

      Craft was plucked from his precarious grip on a rock minutes later by rescuers.

      "We are very grateful to all the volunteers, the kayakers, the firemen, the police and the community members that have kept watch on the river every day this week in spite of the endless rain," Linnea Palmer Paton, Kaelan's 20-year-old sister, said on behalf of the family.

      "We hope that having found his body will help provide some closure, especially for the teenagers who have been finding it the hardest to accept his death," she said. "The outpouring from the community has been so great for supporting our family and each other. It's clear how much his death has touched all of us. We've been getting letters from people who heard about the story from as far away as Canada."

      A memorial service is planned for July 12. Another may take place sooner, according to Brian Kenny at Kenny Funeral Home in Sharon. Linnea Palmer Paton said the community is welcome.

      Rescuers from area towns took part in a critical incident stress debriefing session Tuesday night. Grief counselors will be available at the school today from 9 a.m. until noon.

      Paton is survived by his parents, Catherine Palmer Paton and David Paton, both of Sharon; his sisters, Linnea Palmer Paton, 20, Shannon Palmer Paton, 13, and Juliana Palmer Paton, 10; and his grandparents, Sandy and Caroline Paton, who are known locally as folk music performers and the founders of Folk-Legacy Records.
    Person ID I1458  8B John Bassett of Hunterdon County, New Jersey
    Last Modified 20 Aug 2018 

    Father Living 
    Mother Catherine Bernadette Palmer,   b. 14 May 1963, Torrington, Connecticut Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F512  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart