Town officials mourn the loss of Jeremy Hayden, 41, who died at his home Tuesday night. Hayden, a beloved husband and father, was Monroe’s town attorney for nearly two years.
Police officers and Emergency Medical Service personnel responded to a 911 medical call from Hayden’s Birchwood Road home at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. Chief John Salvatore said Hayden was non-responsive when they arrived.
“At this point there’s no indications of foul play,” Salvatore said. “It appears to be an untimely death and it will be some time before the medical examiner can determine the cause of death.”
“It’s a tragic loss for the community and the town and we are heartbroken for his wife and family,” First Selectman Ken Kellogg said.
The first selectman said he got to know Hayden better as the two men worked many hours together on contracts and cases affecting the town.
“He was always extremely flexible,” Kellogg said. “One of the challenges that we face here, like any municipal government, is there’s a lot of ever changing issues and priorities and things come up that have to be acted on quickly. Jeremy has always been flexible and responsive to a dynamic environment.”
Whenever town leaders had to drop something they were working on to reshuffle their priorities, Kellogg said Hayden was always “extremely productive in helping me move things forward in an efficient way.”
“He was just a good guy,” Kellogg said, “very personable and easy to get along with.”
‘He was phenomenal’
Hayden recently earned kudos at a Town Council meeting for his role in hammering out a contract with the construction manager for the renovation and addition to the Monroe EMS headquarters.
Town Council Chairman Frank Lieto, who is also an attorney, knew Hayden in the legal field, as well as a fellow Republican who served on town boards.
“It’s awful,” Lieto said of Hayden’s death. “I’m still trying to get my head around it. He was a great guy. He was phenomenal. He always adapted to the situation. He would go the extra yard. It’s a shame.”
“I feel bad for his family,” Lieto added. “He was married with a family. It’s difficult for anybody to deal with. He was in his prime for sure. He was a great lawyer and an even better person.”
Dee Dee Martin, a Democrat serving on the Town Council, said of Hayden, “I didn’t know him well, but any interaction I had with him was very cordial.”
While working with the Town Council, Martin said Hayden was attentive to detail and answered any questions members had. “Jeremy was very accommodating, always available to answer any questions we had. It is a tragic loss, I think both for his family and our community. He worked for the town of Monroe and he did a really good job.”
Community involvement
Hayden’s LinkedIn page chronicles his education, career and community involvement.
A graduate of Newtown High School in 1996, Hayden went on to graduate cum laude from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and history in 2000. Then Hayden graduated magna cum laude from Quinnipiac University School of Law in 2005, where he served as publications editor for the Quinnipiac Law Review.
He was a partner at Ferrara Hayden P.C. in Fairfield from 2009 to 2014. During that time, he volunteered as an assistant Pop Warner football coach for a short stint and joined the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce.
Hayden left the Fairfield law firm five years ago to start his own practice, Hayden Law Firm, P.C., on Main Street in Monroe. His practice was primarily in the areas of real estate, commercial litigation, personal injury, land use, business representation, landlord/tenant, corporate and appellate law.
Hayden has served on several town boards in Monroe. He was chairman of the Inland Wetlands Commission, which he served on for nearly six years, and held the position of secretary when he was a member of the Planning & Zoning Commission.
He was also a member of the Greater Bridgeport Bar Association, the Fairfield County Bar Association and the Connecticut Trial Lawyer’s Association.
Hayden was a recent recipient of the Connecticut Law Tribune’s “New Leaders in the Law,” where, following hundreds of nominations, he was selected as a “legal star under the age of 40, selected for achievements in legal work, pro bono efforts and community involvement.”
