Obituary: James David “David” Lott, Jr., 59, Of Fairfield

Information via Shaughnessy Banks Funeral Home

FAIRFIELD, CT — James David “David” Lott, Jr., 59, of Fairfield, Connecticut, passed away peacefully on Sunday, July 10. He was the loving husband of Jennifer “Jenny” Gillis and the loving father of Eleanor “Ellie” Gillis Lott and James David “James” Lott III. David was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, to James David Lott, Sr. and the late Pamela Lacy Lott, and he grew up in Staunton, Virginia. He was a 1981 graduate of Lee High School (now Staunton High School) and in 1985, received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia. After graduation, he moved to New York City to study music engineering and eventually to pursue a highly successful career in publishing. At his death, David was Senior Managing Editor at Macmillan. He himself was a talented writer whose collection of short stories, ‘Back in Brookford’, has just recently been published.

As a child, David exhibited a strong interest in music. He learned to play trombone, piano, and drums, but his real love was the guitar, and he became an accomplished artist on that instrument. As a boy and a young man, he played in several rock bands, and later in his life he performed, primarily in duets, at a number of venues in the Fairfield area. One of his greatest pleasures, though, was simply “jamming” with family members and close friends.

David had a lifelong interest in the natural world, and he loved exploring the nature sanctuaries near his home with his family. He also enjoyed traveling to far-flung destinations, including Hong Kong and Singapore, with Jenny, and being the go-to culture expert in trivia contests with extended family while sailing on the Queen Mary 2. He also found pleasure in the New York Times crossword puzzles, sometimes collaborating with his mother-in-law, Marcia Vogt Gillis, on the most enigmatic MacGuffins.

David was also a deeply spiritual person who regularly practiced meditation and found strength through music, nature, and contemplation as he struggled courageously with the physical challenges of Type 1 diabetes and, for the last six years of his life, pancreatic cancer. His participation in a genetically-based clinical trial at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston will pave the way to more successful and humane treatments in the future.

The family wishes to express gratitude to David’s extraordinary medical team including, but not limited, to Dr. Maria Skamagas of Mount Sinai in New York, Dr. Richard C. Frank and Dr. Naveen Anand of Norwalk Hospital, and Dr. Geoffrey Shapiro and Carolyn Jones, RN, of Dana-Farber.

In addition to his wife, children, and father, David is survived by two sisters, Mary Evans Lott and Emily Lott Miller, and a brother, William Lott. He also leaves his mother-in-law, Marcia Vogt Gillis, two brothers-in-law, Kevin Gillis and Brendan Gillis, and three sisters-in-law, Kathleen Gillis, Lorna Lyle, and Gretchen Gillis. All of their spouses and children join them in sorrow at David’s unexpected death.

Memorial service and livestream information can be found below. In the interest of everyone’s health, those attending the service must be masked and vaccinated.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be sent to the Aspetuck Land Trust, P.O. Box 444, Westport, CT 06881.