The Naugatuck Chamber presented its 2023 Lewis A. Dibble Sr. Award on January 24, 2024 to Attorney Edward G. Fitzpatrick, Partner of Fitzpatrick, Santos, Sousa, Perugini P.C.
The award, presented annually by the Chamber, recognizes an individual’s outstanding contributions to the business and the socioeconomic well-being of Naugatuck. Fitzpatrick received the award during the Naugatuck Chamber’s 102nd Annual Meeting and Lewis A. Dibble Award Dinner presented by Develomark on at Aria Wedding and Banquet Facility in Prospect.
A lifelong Naugatuck native, Fitzpatrick has been practicing law since 1978. In 1987, he opened his own law office in downtown Naugatuck, where he continues to practice today with partners Carlos Santos, Cesar Sousa, Danielle Perugini, Timothy Fitzpatrick, and Antonio Nunes. The firm concentrates its practice in the areas of personal injury, real estate, family, municipal, and probate law. In addition to his professional life, Fitzpatrick has enjoyed coaching, with the assistance of others, many local youth sports teams from the Naugatuck YMCA and Naugatuck Youth Soccer Leagues. He is also a former member of the Naugatuck Chamber Board of Directors and the Borough of Naugatuck Finance Board, and currently serves on the Board of Corporators of Ion Bank. Recently, Fitzpatrick has been recognized by the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence for his efforts to combat domestic violence.
The prestigious award is named after Lewis Acker Dibble Sr., who lived in Naugatuck his entire life, played an influential role in founding the Chamber during the 1920s, and served as its first president. Born in 1895, Dibble was educated at Yale University and later served in leadership positions at a variety of area manufacturers, including the former Naugatuck-based Risdon Manufacturing, which was a leader in producing eyelet machine tools, cigarette lighters, and most notably, lipstick cases. He retired from the Eastern Malleable Iron Co., now The Eastern Company, in 1968.
In addition to honoring Fitzpatrick, the Chamber looked back on the successes it had in 2023, acknowledged members of its board of directors, and provided a preview of what’s to come in 2024, including Duck Day, which will take place Sunday, June 2 in downtown Naugatuck.
Since 1976, the Chamber has honored Dibble’s leadership by recognizing a key leader in the local community. Past recipients have included Chet Doheny of We Do Life Together—A Division of ICES, Inc.; Attorney Carlos A. Santos of Fitzpatrick, Santos, Sousa, and Perugini P.C.; Marcelo R. Martins of Luso Cleaning Services LLC; Kathleen A. McPadden of Ion Bank; Naugatuck Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess; Naugatuck Economic Development Corp. CEO Ronald Pugliese; Laurie Yelding of Yelding Inc., and Rebecca Zandvliet of Coldwell Banker Realty 2000.
For more than four decades, the Naugatuck Chamber’s Annual Meeting and Lewis A. Dibble Awards Evening has grown to become one of the most prestigious business events in the Naugatuck community. The highlight of the evening is the presentation of the Lewis A. Dibble Award, presented to a local leader in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the business and socio-economic well-being of Naugatuck. Lewis A. Dibble, founder and first president of the Naugatuck Chamber of Commerce, became president of Risdon Tool and Machine Company and president of the Eastern Company. As a member of the business community, he advocated for economic growth of Naugatuck and demonstrated great leadership to others.
