SIDNEY H. STIRES

STIRES--Sidney Homer, died peacefully in Venice, Italy on October 4th, 2012. Sidney was born in Brooklyn, New York on January 29th, 1931 to Louise Homer Stires and The Reverend Ernest Van Rensselaer Stires. He spent his childhood in Richmond, Virginia and Waco, Texas where his father was an Episcopal Minister. His summers were spent on Lake George, New York at the homes of both his maternal grandparents, composer Sidney Homer and his wife, contralto Louise Homer, and his paternal grandparents Bishop Ernest M. Stires and his wife Sarah Hardwick. There, he spent his days biking miles to Lake George village, fishing, and boating with his many cousins.(He would later inherit the Rob Roy (ELCO) from his Grandfather and bring it to Barnegat Bay in 1959.) Evenings were spent singing and enabling the mischief and romances of his older siblings, Ernie,(who pre deceased him in 2008), and Loulie Curtis. Sidney graduated from St. Paul's School in Garden City, Long Island and from Harvard University in 1951. He only missed one or two Harvard/Yale games since that time, and could easily be spotted at The Game wearing his grandfather's enormous raccoon coat performing cacophonous whistles with his fingers. After serving in the military, Sidney moved to Manhattan, and worked for his uncle, Hardwick Stires at Scudder Stevens. He soon met Judy Lohman and they married in 1954 at the home of Judy's parents Mr. and Mrs. Eugene W. Lohman of Summit, New Jersey. Judy died in 2008. Sidney's career as an analyst and then a banker involved work at many institutions including; Kidder Peabody, Ruane, Cunniff and Stires, and finally at Stires and Company, where Sidney balanced the rigors of financial analysis with periodic visits to his office's upright piano. He was a gifted musician who loved everything about music, and was taught to play the piano by his housekeeper, Marie, who could only play in F sharp. Sidney's signature F sharp style challenged but never discouraged his fellow piano duet players. The Stires households at both 1158 Fifth Avenue, and Mount Street in Bay Head, New Jersey were the setting for decades of many loud and happy piano parties. Sidney and Judy spent the last 20 years living between New York City, Bay Head, New Jersey, and Venice, Italy, where Sidney was on the board of Save Venice, Inc.. Sidney spent many hours absorbed in the drama of Renaissance treasures, while Judy enjoyed the lovely little moments of Venetian life. They were devoted members of St. George's Anglican Church in Venice. Sidney and Judy were also faithful attendees at All Saints Church in Bay Head, New Jersey, and St. Thomas Church in New York, where Sidney had served as the Senior Warden and on the board of St. Thomas Choir School. Sons Wicks and Tom Stires, and grandson Sidney Wright all graduated from The Choir School. Sidney also served on the boards of The Episcopal Nursery School, The Boys Club of New York, and The Episcopal Diocese of New York. Sidney and Judy are survived by their children, Wicks, Martha (Glenn Wright), Annie (John Carter), and Tom (Emily Fulton), as well as their 14 grandchildren, Jose, Keaton, Georgia, Sidney, Beatty, Andrea, Marcellus, Lulu, Jack, Daisy, James, Lizzie, Christina, and Wicks. They are also survived by Sidney's Sister, Loulie Curtis, and her children, Dick, Joy and John, the children of Sidney's late brother, Ernie Stires, Sarah, Ernie, and Lizzie, and by his sister in law, Gail Lohman Raleigh, and her son, David. Finally Sidney is survived by his devoted Norfolk Terrier, Dolly. A service of celebration and memorial will be held at St. Thomas Church (1 West 53rd Street), on Tuesday, November 13, at 5:30pm. Gifts in Sidney's memory can be made to any of the causes he served and loved, and are much appreciated by his family.