Death of Mohegan chief 'leaves a void'

It would have been easy for Ralph Sturges to change.

After all, during his lifetime, so much around him had -- his hometown of New London, his Mohegan tribe.

But Sturges, the lifetime leader of the Mohegans since 1992, who sported a baseball hat with the word, "Chief," retained a few steady, simple habits.

Every day for lunch, he would pick a particular table at the Uncas American Indian Grill at Mohegan Sun and sit down to half a plain turkey sandwich on white bread, a side of french fries or fruit and a cup of decaffeinated tea. Sturges would invite the casino's department heads and, occasionally, the random customer to dine with him, bartender Stacy Anderson said. He could see pretty much everything at the Casino of the Earth from his spot.

"The chief liked it up there," she said. "That was his only table."

Sturges died early Monday morning at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London after being ill for several months. He was 88. At Sturges' favorite lunch spot, Bruce "Two Dogs" Bozsum, Mohegan tribal chairman, had staff place a "reserved" placard, set a single place and remove all but one chair to honor the man who shepherded the tribe through both the federal recognition process and the planning and construction of the original Mohegan Sun casino.

"We will miss his leadership," Bozsum said in a statement issued by the tribe Monday afternoon, "and his passing leaves a void not easily filled in our tribal government. I know that many of us considered him a friend and person we could approach for advice on any issue. At this time, our thoughts and prayers are with him and the entire Sturges family."

Gov. M. Jodi Rell remembered Sturges Monday as a wise leader and a skilled sculptor.

"On behalf of the people of Connecticut, I offer my deepest condolences to the Mohegan tribe on the death of Lifetime Chief Ralph Sturges. ...," she said in a written statement. "The state of Connecticut and the Mohegan tribe have lost a great friend and treasured talent, but in cherishing him we will maintain his spirit always."

Born Dec. 25, 1918, in New London, Sturges later recalled for a 2001 oral history project for the University of Connecticut a city that still had dirt roads and frozen swamps where he and friends would ice skate in the winters. He served first in the Civilian Conservation Corps and he helped clean up the aftermath of the 1938 hurricane. Later, Sturges joined the U.S. Army and spent World War II doing duty first on a Fisher's Island, N.Y., base.

"But I used to run an observation post on Fisher's Island," he said during the oral history interview. "And I would watch boats go out and probably an hour later get a radio message that the boat had been sunk. The Germans use to operate right off of the coast here, and they use to sink the ships. It was really something."

Sturges later was assigned to an intelligence division that took him to New Guinea and the Philippines. He returned to Connecticut and eventually went to work for the Salvation Army in New England as its public relations director.

As the Mohegans sought federal recognition, Sturges ventured into state, local and national offices to meet with government officials and leaders of other tribes, including the Mohegans' neighbors to the east, the Mashantucket Pequots.

"He became kind of commonplace around the tribe," former Chairman Richard "Skip" Hayward said Monday, remembering Sturges as pleasant and upbeat. "Absolutely his single focus, it seemed, was to get that recognition for Mohegans."

Hayward said leading a tribe can be a tricky balance of blending diverse personalities while moving the group forward -- a combination that doesn't always appear compatible.

"It's tough work, people don't realize it," Hayward said of the tasks both he and Sturges faced at times. "Chief, cook and bottle washer, I say."

Mashantucket Tribal Chairman Michael Thomas said his tribe will lower its nation's flags to half-staff.

"Chief Sturges was a valued leader of his people and an inspiration to native peoples everywhere," he said in a statement Monday. "He led the Mohegan people through the difficult process of federal recognition. It was a success, in no small measure, because of his untiring efforts. We mourn his passing."

Investor Len Wolman, chairman of the Waterford Group, said he first met Sturges in 1992 as the tribe was still two years away from winning recognition, but already looking to its financial future. They formed an outstanding relationship both professionally and personally, he said.

"He got people to really understand what his goals were," Wolman said, "and got them to really stand behind him in achieving those goals."

Wolman said Sturges' wife, Ida, who died in May, always reminded her husband who was boss of their New London home where she dispatched Sturges as the official greeter. Sturges also had an aversion to flying, Wolman said, and preferred hours on the train for trips down to Washington during the recognition process.

"I was ready to paint the side of the plane with 'Amtrak' just to get him to get him to fly," Wolman said he joked with Sturges. "It did get him to chuckle."

Sturges is survived by his son, Paul, and his wife, JoAnn; grandchildren, Paula and Jesse Sturges; and great-grandchildren, Tyler and Joey Sturges. Funeral arrangements had not been set as of Monday night.

Anderson, the Mohegan Sun bartender who served Sturges lunch several times a week, said Sturges' illness kept him from his steady routine for several months before his death. And staff suspected the chief's seat would remain empty.

"Everybody knew, but. ...," Anderson said. "He always said that he would be coming back."

Reach Erica Jacobson of The Norwich (Conn.) Bulltin at 860-425-4241 or ejacobs@norwichbulletin.com.

RALPH STURGES

- Born Dec. 25, 1918, New London.

- Great-grandson of the late Emma Baker, Mohegan tribe medicine woman.

- Son of the late Alma and George Sturges.

- Joined Civil Conservation Corps, Voluntown Unit, 1938.

- Worked as security intelligence officer during World War II, Pacific Theater: Philippines, New Guinea.

- Worked as an investigator for the Philadelphia Legal Aide Society in the 1940s; then as a paymaster in New London.

- Married 59 years to Ida Page of New London; she died in May.

- Had one child, Paul Sturges, born in 1952; same year, Ralph Sturges took up sculpting marble as a hobby.

- Worked as Salvation Army New England public relations director.

- Served on the Mohegan Tribal Council in 1980s.

- Elected lifetime chief after death of Courtland Flower.

- Pushed tribe's recognition efforts with Bureau of Indian Affairs in the 1990s.

- Participated in vision of Mohegan Sun, finding developers, securing money.

- Mohegan Sun, Phase I, opened in 1996.

- Awarded Eastern Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year as well as Man of the Year by Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Southeastern Connecticut, 2005.