Anthony Widmann, 86, died October 11 at his home in Stratford. The son of Marian Meyers Widmann and Otto Oscar Widmann, he was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., but soon moved to Darien.  

In addition to his wife, Anne Morgan Widmann, three children, James Cowden Widmann of Newtown, Alison Widmann Kinney of Westport, and Sabina Widmann Hernandez of San Diego, Calif.; four grandchildren; and his sisters Susan Widmann Sinclair of Darien and Alexandra Falconer Austin of Rowayton survive Mr Widmann.

After Naval service, Mr Widmann graduated from Princeton University in the Class of 1949. Called up for the Korean conflict, he served as a lieutenant j.g. aboard the destroyer escort USS Liddle before heading to New York in 1954 to start a career in advertising.

In a career that spanned 40 years, Mr Widmann worked for several Madison Avenue agencies before starting his own agency, Millennium Design Communications, later Widmann & Company, in 1972.  Following his retirement from advertising in 1994, he started a second company, Proper Yachts, a yacht brokerage that he ran until his death. 

Mr Widmann was a passionate sailor, starting with dinghy and Star Boat racing at Noroton Yacht Club in Darien, later competing in offshore racing, and most notably owning and skippering a series of handicap racing boats named Freebooter. His last racing boat was the Mull-designed 6-meter Ranger, for which he put together a team that sailed in the 2009 6-Meter World Cup in Newport, R.I.  

A memorial service is planned for Saturday, October 26, at Noroton Yacht Club in Darien, at 3 pm. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his name to Princeton University/Friends of Sailing, Princeton University, PO Box 5357, Princeton NJ 08543.