Deceased May 1, 2014
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In Memory
Allen M. Bassett, my brother, died in his sleep on May 1, 2014, in Paris, where he lived with his wife, Frederique Bassett. Allen not only lived on the other side of the Atlantic but was often on the move to all kinds of exotic places.
He was quite the explorer, searching for gems in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Tanzania. He applied his knowledge of geology to the complex folded sedimentary rocks in the Himalayas to figure out where to look for ruby deposits high in the mountains. He found them and opened some mines there that produced fine gems. He established a gem-faceting factory in Kathmandu.
His interest in gems and minerals began when he was a young boy and saw beautiful quartz crystals in a store window near our home in Rockville Centre, N.Y. He majored in geology at Amherst and received his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He studied geology and collected fine specimens for the rest of his life until his recent death.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by four children: Elizabeth, Bradley, Shepard and Geoffroy.
William A. Bassett '54