Deceased July 26, 2018
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In Memory
You can’t get any more true “Lord Jeff” than Dick, who died July 26 after several health issues. He was born into the Amherst community, and this is where he will be for eternity. As you may know, his father was head of B&G at the College and supervised the building of Valentine Hall.
I met Dick in the summer of 1944 as we both were trying to get in a few semesters of college before going off to military service, and we roomed together for a while. We each went off to sea for two years, courtesy of Uncle Sam, and then returned to school.
He joined Theta Delt, played some tennis and soccer, and as you would expect for our beloved class choregus, was a member of the glee club. He had the great, good fortune of meeting Joy Elliot on a blind date when he was in New York with his first job with Monroe Calculating and the good sense to marry her in 1960. A happy 57-year marriage followed, and not surprisingly, they named their first child Jeffrey.
He later joined the Gilbert Paper Company and opened an office for them in Atlanta, whereupon this confirmed New England “Yankee” became a true Atlantan with season tickets for the Falcons since the team’s founding in 1966 and an active member of the local Presbyterian Church and the Cherokee Town and Country Club. Ever gregarious and cheerful, they were avid bridge players and joyfully involved with their grandchildren.
Like many of us, once retired, Dick and Joy traveled whenever possible around North America and Europe. He was preceded in death by his loving wife, Joy, and sisters Marietta and Elizabeth, who was married to our classmate Ed Hitchcock ’49. He is survived by his brother Christopher, sister Juliana, son Jeffrey and three grandchildren.
He was a wonderful friend for 70 years, always cheerful no matter the health problems and fiercely loyal to the College. There was a celebratory service in Dunwoody, Ga., but his final resting place will be a burial service in Wildwood Cemetery in Amherst on Saturday, Sept. 22, prior to the football game against Hamilton. “GO JEFFS!”
Gerry Reilly ’49