Tracy H. Griswold died on January 1, 2020, at her lifelong home in Litchfield, Connecticut at age 100. Born on April 2, 1919, to Sherman P. Haight and Anne Lyon Haight, she saw many changes in her life time. She lived the period from Model T autos to Alexa and IPads. She was a wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and a successful business woman.
She started her business career as a young woman working at B. Altman & Co. in New York City as part of their “flying squad”. In that position she acted as a personal shopper, translated for French speaking customers and modeled in their fashion shows. She later went into business for herself, opening “As You Like It”, a woman’s custom dress shop on Madison Avenue. She had been taught to sew at an early age by her grandmother. After the war, she worked as a children’s clothes designer for the family firm, E-Z Mills, Inc. She would often take her daughters with her on her business trips to the factories in Tupelo, Mississippi, where they had great fun running on long cutting tables.
Later she used her design talents to establish an interior design company, T. Griswold & Associates, Inc. She designed both residential and commercial interiors. She lived in New York City, Litchfield, CT and Vero Beach, FL.
She was President General of the Colonial Dames of America and a member of the Huguenot Society, the Colony Club, the Litchfield Garden Club, and the Order of St. John in England.
She was married to the late George Griswold and is survived by their three daughters, Tracy Glass, Mariana Griswold Geer, and Abby Griswold Stetson, six grandchildren, and six great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by Harry Roberts, her partner of twenty years.
She will always be remembered for her generous and clever spirit and for her love of her family and friends.
Donations in her honor may be made to the Litchfield Historical Society or the Norfolk Historical Society.