Cecil Franklin Backus Jr.

Cecil Franklin Backus, Jr., born July 29th, 1929, died peacefully on Tuesday, December 19, 2023, at his home in Cooke’s Hope, Easton, MD. He was 94 years old. Cecil, the youngest of three children, was born in Pennsylvania to Cecil Franklin (1885-1966) and Elizabeth Edsell Backus. Elizabeth died in 1932, and his father married Alice Beaver Candee (“Aunt Alice”) in June, 1935. After living in Wilmington, DE, the family moved to Centreville, MD. Eventually, they moved to the manor house on Kirkland Hall, a farm on the Miles River in Easton, MD which they had purchased several years earlier as a summer residence; now the site of Calhoun M.E.B.A. Engineering School. After his father died, Aunt Alice moved to “The Rest,” a home along the Miles River designed by Cecil’s father and completed in 1968. Beginning at a very early age Cecil developed a lifelong love for sailing. Through young adulthood, he spent his summers on the Maryland eastern shore at Kirkland Hall along the banks of the Miles. During most of those summers, beginning at elementary school age, he took the train to Oxford, MD, and spent time at Ralph Wylie’s Boatyard, now Cutts & Chase, immersed in boat building, boat design and sailing. Cecil attended Tower Hill School in Wilmington and St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire. He graduated from Princeton University School of Engineering in 1951. While at Princeton, he was a member of the Princeton Yacht Club and the intercollegiate sailing team. After graduating Princeton, he was one of approximately 300 candidates selected to begin only the second class of the Navy’s new Officers Candidate School at Newport, RI. He graduated from OCS in November 1951 and was commissioned as an Ensign. Later, as a Navy Lt. JG, he served on 2 destroyers during the Korean conflict. Following his time in the Navy, he worked in banking and finance with various institutions, initially in New York City and later in Massachusetts, and also was a private equity investor. In 1970, Cecil bought a North Sea fishing trawler, The Golden Promise, a 72-foot double-ender. Together with three friends, he sailed the trawler from Scotland to the Azores and then onto Boston. He lived on The Golden Promise docked at Lewis Wharf in the Boston Harbor for six or seven years before selling the boat. From Boston, Cecil moved to York Harbor, ME and spent many days sailing his J-Boat, Puritan, on any waterway, whenever he could. “The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” Jacques Cousteau Cecil met Candace Carlucci in 1985 when she attended a meeting in York Harbor as Director of Alumni Affairs at Skidmore College. It was “love at first sight”. Candy was an effervescent person, kind, smart and creative. They were married in 1986 on Christmas Eve, making their home in York Harbor. Cecil and Candy faithfully made several trips every year from York Harbor to The Rest to visit Aunt Alice and oversee her care. In 1990, after many trips to The Rest, Candy and Cecil left Maine and moved to The Rest when Aunt Alice’s care required more oversight. They remained at The Rest after her death and purchased the property from her estate in 1992. In 2010, they moved to Cooke’s Hope in Easton. Cecil was kind, devoted and very active. He loved the Eastern Shore of Maryland, sailing, and his time in the Navy. Together, Candy and Cecil launched a successful enterprise in 2002, “Silent Sous”, baker of custom cakes, which continued through the end of 2009. Though he had stopped sailing about 12 years ago, he always continued to look skyward to judge the wind and weather. He was fascinated, also, by the precious metals and stock markets, maintaining daily charts for many years. Above all else, he adored Candy, his wife of 24 years, and missed her every day following her death in 2010. In addition to Candy, Cecil was predeceased by his parents, his sister Anne Backus Adams and his brother John Warner Backus. Cecil is survived by his brother in law, C. Peter Carlucci (Trish), of Carlisle, PA and Naples, FL, sister in law Cynthia Cirelli Hengstenberg (Ted) of Naples FL, and nieces Linn Adams Seidensticker (Bradley) of Palm Beach Gardens, Fl, Mary Adams Lines of South Londonderry, VT, Karen Backus (Alan) of New York, NY, Paula Backus of Ashland, OR; Amy Carlucci Wu (Uylsses) of Unionville, CT, Sharon Carlucci (Matthew Duca) of Yreka, CA, Kate Cirelli Aquilino (Neil) and Jane Cirelli Sisto (Anthony) of Long Island, NY, and his nephews Worthington Miner Adams, Jr.(Lorraine) of Florida, Cecil Backus Adams (Jill) of Bloomfield, CT, C. Peter Carlucci III (Robin) of York, PA, and Anthony F. Cirelli, Jr. of Long Island, NY, and thirteen grandnephews and grandnieces. A celebration of his life will be held at the convenience of the family.

Cecil Franklin Backus Jr.

July 29, 1929 - December 19, 2023