Bob Child, a Connecticut news photographer whose career spanned nearly fifty years, including thirty-seven with the Associated Press, died Wednesday at the age of 86. He died in hospice care from complications related to several illnesses.
Child was known for being rough and tumble when it came to getting the shot, but kind once removed from the competition. As an AP photographer he covered the entire state, meaning his pictures helped provide a shared experience when big stories crossed the typical territorial lines of Connecticut’s many daily papers.
One of his most iconic images was of Milford police officer Melissa Piscitelli, trying to hold back tears as she saluted the casket of her fiance, Milford police officer Daniel Scott Wasson, killed in the line of duty in 1987.
Bob’s brother Pat, a videographer for News 8, died in 2004. When Bob and Pat showed up to cover the same story, Connecticut reporters called it a “two-Child event.”
Child’s wife Joan died in 2008. He is survived by his three children: Sara Child Stevens, Robert, and Emily Child Smith; eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
