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Death Announced of John Allan Bysko Jr. of Lyme; 1997 Graduate of LOL High School, Highly Regarded Member of North Haven FD

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John Allan Bysko, Jr.

LYME, CT – John Allan Bysko, Jr. of Lyme, CT passed away on August 31, 2025. He was born in New London, CT on November 28, 1978 to John and Jane Bysko.

He graduated from Lyme-Old Lyme High School in 1997. He was a member of the National Honor Society, ran cross country, rowed crew and loved spending time with his group of friends skiing, snowboarding, jet skiing and boating.

He became a Junior member of the Old Lyme Fire Department when he was 15 years old, a Senior member in 1997 as well as becoming an Emergency Medical Technician when he was 17. He volunteered and worked for Old Lyme Ambulance for over 20 years.

After high school, John went on to spend one year at the Coast Guard Academy before quickly realizing that wasn’t for him. From there he went to UCONN, getting a degree in Health Care Management from the School of Business and realized that this wasn’t quite what he wanted to do.

He became a Paramedic and worked at the Shoreline Clinic in Westbrook as well as for AMR in New Haven. He enrolled in the Connecticut Fire Academy and graduated in 2011 with class #48 and began his career, his real true calling, with the North Haven Fire Department where he served for 14 years. Someone from his Fire Department family wrote the following: “His sudden death left the firehouse silent in a way no alarm ever could, leaving behind a team that relied on his calm during chaos and his humor during long shifts. Bysko earned trust not just through skill but through kindness. His colleagues described him as someone who brought warmth to the station and steadiness to the field.”

John leaves behind his mother, Jane, his sister, Jennifer, sister, Jillian and brother-in-law Glen Bobowicz as well as his nephews and niece, Brody, Ella, Noah, Elias and Owen. He was predeceased by his father, John A. Bysko, Sr., in October 2024.

Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, September 13, 2025 at 11:00 at Christ the King Church, 1 McCurdy Road, Old Lyme, CT. Burial will follow in Duck River Cemetery, Old Lyme with a reception to follow at his favorite restaurant, Sapore Pizzeria.

Renaissance Masterworks by Albrecht Dürer Take Center Stage at Lyman Allyn through November

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Included in the exhibit is Dürer’s “Joachim and the Angel,” ink on paper.

NEW LONDON–The Lyman Allyn Art Museum has announced the opening of “Albrecht Dürer: Master Prints,” featuring over 40 woodblock prints and engravings from  the German Renaissance master printmaker. 

The exhibit will run through Nov. 30. 

The museum in a press release described Dürer (1471-1528) as an extraordinary innovator who revolutionized printmaking.

The exhibition features a selection of Dürer’s prints, including two woodcuts from his celebrated Apocalypse (1498), his engraved Adam and Eve (1504) and his Meisterstiche (master engraving) of Saint Jerome in His Study (1514). All sixteen prints from Dürer’s Engraved Passion (1507-12) will be on view, along with examples of his Small Woodcut Passion cycle (1508-10), and his Life of the Virgin (1503-10). Several compositions by some of the artist’s most influential contemporaries and predecessors are included, with examples by Albrecht Altdorfer and Martin Schongauer, among others.  

Born in Nuremberg, Dürer apprenticed under his goldsmith father and under the Nuremberg painter and printmaker Michael Wolgemut. He soon rose to prominence, utilizing his skill and ambition to produce increasingly accomplished drawings, paintings, and prints. After several years of travel and work in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy, Dürer returned to Nuremberg to focus on printmaking. Dürer’s woodblock prints and engravings brought printmaking to a new level of sophistication, establishing an international reputation for the artist.  

Lyman Allan Curator Tanya Pohrt said Dürer redefined printmaking in the early 1500s. 

“Visitors will have the unique opportunity to explore the artist’s exceptional mastery of a remarkably complex medium,” she said. 

The exhibit is organized by the Reading Public Museum of Pennsylvania. Additional works from Connecticut College’s Wetmore Print Collection will be featured in the exhibition. Funding comes from an anonymous foundation as well as the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

The museum at 625 Williams Street, New London, is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 1 to 5 p.m. For more information call 860-443-2545, ext. 2129 or visit www.lymanallyn.org.

SECWAC Hosts Author Talk in Old Lyme, Book Recounts Mother’s Real Life Escape, Survival on WWII Eastern Front

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Charov will talk about the book she wrote based on her mother’s diaries.

OLD LYME–The Southeast Connecticut World Affairs Council (SECWAC) this month hosts author Helen Charov in a presentation on her book “Tatyana’s War: Escape and Survival on the Eastern Front in World War II.”

The Thursday, Sept. 25 event will be held at 6 p.m. in the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme. It will be preceded by a reception at 5:30 p.m.

SECWAC in an event description said Charon was born Brooklyn, New York, to émigré parents, who came to the U.S. as displaced persons after World War II. Charov grew up in Sea Cliff, a village on Long Island’s north shore. After graduating from New York University, she traveled extensively throughout the USSR with a U.S. government exhibit. She lives in Connecticut.

Charov’s book has its origin in diaries belonging to her mother that were found in a Connecticut attic. There, Charov discovered an account of her mother’s life as a teacher in the Stalinist Soviet Union, the 1941 Nazi invasion of Donetsk, her survival under Nazi occupation, and her harrowing escape to the West. 

“Tatyana’s War” tells the story of Tatyana Artemyeff, a 25-year-old teacher, as Nazi troops invaded her home of Donetsk, Ukraine, in 1941. The 25-year-old teacher was left on her own to save her two children and mother when her conscripted husband’s unit retreated from the city. Tatyana, who spoke German, was determined to find a way to survive the brutal occupation and keep her family from dying of starvation or execution.

SECWAC members are free. Non-Member in-person attendance is $20. Non-Member Visit this link to register.

For more information on SECWAC, visit their website.

Two Lyme-Old Lyme Seniors Named National Merit Semifinalists

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Rose E. Dimmock and Alexander L. Glaras have been recognized as semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship competition.

LYME/OLD LYME–Two Lyme-Old Lyme High School seniors have been announced as semifinalists in the prestigious National Merit Scholarship competition. 

Rose E. Dimmock and Alexander L. Glaras stood out from 1.3 million high school students when they took the Preliminary SAT (PSAT) in 2024, according to a press release from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Less than 1% of test takers that year earned the semifinalist distinction. 

The Lyme-Old Lyme students, along with 245 students from across Connecticut, join more than 16,000 semifinalists continuing in the competition nationwide. 

Dimmock and Glaras will compete for 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be announced next spring. Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the next level of the competition, with approximately half of the finalists earning a National Merit Scholarship. 

The organization will select finalists based on academic records, school and community activities, leadership abilities, employment, and any honors and awards they have received. Judges will also look at recommendations, a personal essay and SAT scores. 

The 2026 National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced starting in April.

Lyme-Old Lyme Soccer Roundup: Girls Notch Two Wins, One (Big) Draw; Boys Take One Win, One Loss

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OLD LYME— Playing at home Thursday, Sept. 11, the Old Lyme girls defeated Westbrook 3-0. Scoring for the Wildcats were Anna Bussman, who put two goals into the net, and Vivian Boller, who also added two assists to her one goal tally.

Brooke Burgess had an assist while Grace Osborne in the Old Lyme goal made two saves.

Shay Sotiridge in goal for Westbrook made 18 saves.

The girls are now 2-2-1 overall and 2-2-0 in the Shoreline Conference.

Playing away at Hale Ray on Tuesday, Sept. 9, the girls notched a big 4-0 win.

Scoring for the Wildcats were Olivia Lovendale and Anna Bussman with one apiece and Vivian Boller , who put in the other two.

Assists were by Ava Fuller and Natalie Suisman. while Grace Osborne made six saves in the Old Lyme goal.

Kinley Smith made a remarkable 24 saves for the Hale Ray.

Playing away ay East Lyme on Saturday, Sept. 6, the girls pulled off a thrilling 3-3 draw against East Lyme.

Scoring for the Wildcats were Anna Bussman, Brooke Burgess and Vivian Boller with Addy Morosky adding an assist.

Layla Turdo, Kaylee Knapp and Juju Guarraia scored for East Lyme.

Wildcat Boys

Playing at home Tuesday, Sept. 9, the Old Lyme boys defeated Hale Ray 2-1 with Ian Maeby scoring both goals for the ‘Cats. Assists were by Colman Curtis’s-Reardon and Rowan McCormick. 

Marcus Brown scored the lone Hale-Ray goal.

Sam Edmed in goal for Old Lyme made six saves, while Owen Kelly for Hale Ray made 11.

The boys are now 2-2-0 overall and 1-1-0 in the Shoreline Conference.

Playing at home on Thursday, Sept. 4, Old Lyme was defeated 5-1 by East Hampton.

The Wildcats goal was scored by Ian Maeby with an assist by Elliot Dunn-Sims.

Sam Edmed made 10 saves for the ‘Cats and Liam Mccormick added one.

Scoring for East Hampton were Colin Marshall and Luke Davidson, both with two and Sebby Woodson making the fifth. Assists were by Colin Marshall and Sebby Woodson. 

Shane Ruggiero made four saves in the East Hampton goal.