Deceased February 2, 2019
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In Memory
Socrates “Soc” Tseckares died on Feb. 2 in Potomac, Md., after a long illness. He was surrounded by his family, including his wife of 47 years, Gail; and two sons, Stephen ’85 and Scott.
Soc was from Concord, N.H., the eighth of nine children born to Greek immigrant parents. He attended the Taft School in Connecticut and arrived at Amherst on a scholarship for Greek students. He was active on campus, playing basketball, hockey and golf and participating in the Masquers. He majored in economics, was a member of Chi Psi and served as rushing chair.
After college, he became a pilot and captain in the U.S. Air Force, where he spent six years, much of the time in Germany as the aide to the general in charge of NATO. He then spent 12 years at Martin Marietta Corp. as a marketing executive. He left and started his own executive search firm, which expanded to seven offices around the country before he sold it. He then became an independent marketing consultant helping numerous companies market their products and services.
On Sept. 23, 1961, he married Esther Gail Wainwright, a graduate of Mount Holyoke. They had known each other in college and reconnected, fell in love and married, settling in Washington, D.C. They would eventually build a home in Marco Island, Fla., where they spent their winters.
Soc was the consummate people person who enjoyed bringing a smile to friends and strangers alike. On the occasion of his 50th Amherst reunion, here is what he wrote about his life: “I couldn’t be happier, having time to do what we enjoy—lots of golf, tennis, boating, gardening, exercise and traveling. We have taken several trips around the world from Thailand to Turkey, to the Amazon to Alaska.”
Stephen Tseckares ’85