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RYE, N.Y. Reynal de St Michel "Mike" Thébaud, former commodore of the American Yacht Club in Rye, died May 5. He was 79.
A resident of Greenwich, Conn., Thébaud was retired from IBM after 33 years.
He was born March 10, 1933 in White Plains, N.Y., to Reynal de St Michel Thébaud, Sr. and Alice Beatrice Thébaud. He graduated from Deerfield Academy in 1951 and Yale University in 1955. While at Yale, Thébaud was a member of the ROTC. Upon graduation, he was commissioned in the Air Force and served for two years in Rome, N.Y. He then joined IBM in 1958, retiring in 1991.
An avid sailor, Thébaud was a member of the American Yacht Club in Rye, N.Y., and Nantucket Yacht Club. His devotion to sailing led him to adventures in both racing and cruising, from the Long Island Sound to as far east as Louisburg, Nova Scotia.
He was commodore of American Yacht Club from 1987 to 1988 and also participated in the race committee, trap shooting, the newsletter and the bridge group. He won many trophies in both sailing and trap.
Thébaud vacationed in Nantucket, Mass., maintaining a family tradition from the late 19th century of visiting the island annually. He only missed three summers on the island. He also traveling, gardening, biking, skiing, duck-hunting and decoy-collecting, fishing and back yard birding.
He was a member of the Society of Colonial Wars, Sons of the Revolution in New York, St. Nicholas Society, The Pell Family Association and Mystic Seaport Pilots.
He is survived by his wife of almost 50 years, Sally Corlette Thébaud; three daughters, Navy Capt. Cindy Thébaud, of Alexandria, Va., Beth Thébaud, of Wilson, Wy., and Ander Thébaud, of Mt. Desert, Maine; and a brother, Charles G. Thébaud, of Cummaquid, Mass.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 1:30 p.m. on Friday at St. Michael Church in Greenwich. Leo P. Gallagher and Son Funeral Home in Greenwich is in charge of arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to the Greenwich Land Trust or the Nantucket Conservation Foundation.
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