FREDERICK R. H. "ERIC" WITHERBY

WITHERBY, Frederick "Eric" R.H. Boston lawyer and civic leader, died on March 12, 2013, in Westwood. Mr. Witherby was born in 1917 in Solvay, N.Y., the son of Dorothy Hazard and Edwin C. Witherby. He graduated from Milton Academy in 1935 and attended Westminster School in London as an exchange student. He graduated from Harvard College in 1940 and Harvard Law School in 1947. He served in the U. S. Navy from 1942 to 1945, interpreting air intelligence photographs, on the aircraft carrier USS Ranger and then with Gen. Chennault's Flying Tigers in Kunming, China. His legal practice took place at Raytheon and then at New England Mutual Life Insurance Company, from which he retired as Senior Vice President and General Counsel in 1983. He served "of counsel" to Sullivan & Worcester from 1983 to 1988. He served on the Boston Finance Commission as an appointee of Governor Volpe. He was a President of the Beacon Hill Civic Association and a member and Director of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. He was active on behalf of Milton Academy, Harvard College and other charitable organizations. He is survived by his wife Anne Byrd (Reed), sons Frederick Jr. and Reed, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Services will be private. Contributions in lieu of flowers may be made to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, 99 Summer Street, Boston 02110, the Friends of the Boston Public Garden, 69 Beacon St., Boston 02108, or to the Blackstone Parks Conservancy, PO Box 603141, Providence, 02906. Anderson-Bryant Funeral Home 781-438-0135