Dr. Huntington Sheldon M.D.

Shelburne - Dr. Huntington "Skip" Sheldon of Shelburne, Vermont died unexpectedly after a brief illness at his home on Friday December 29, 2017. He was born in NYC on January 14, 1930. Skip and his family moved to Amagansett, NY when he was 6 years old; this property has remained a keystone throughout his life and formed the foundation for his life long passion for agriculture and conservation.

He was educated at Brooks School in Andover, MA and completed his undergraduate studies as a Markle Scholar at McGill University. He earned his medical degree at Johns Hopkins University and did his residency there in Pathology. He was a pioneer in the study of electron microscopy at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. He returned to McGill in 1959 and remained there as a legendary lecturer, Strathcona Professor and researcher for the next 25 years. The Sheldon Biotechnology Center at McGill is named in his honor.

Dr. Sheldon's academic awards include Distinguished Brooksian, JHU Society of Scholars, JHU Distinguished Alumnus, JHU Distinguished Medical Alumnus, and an honorary LLD from McGill. He served on the JHU Board of Trustees from 1995 to the present. He was also a founder of the Institute of Basic Biomedical Sciences at Hopkins. He was a 60 year member of the University Club of NY.

While living in Montreal Dr. Sheldon devoted much of his recreational time cross-country skiing in the Laurentians. He was President of the Viking Ski Club and chairman of the Canadian Ski Association. He participated as coach in the winter Olympics in Innsbruck and Lake Placid in '76 and '80. He competed in three iconic cross-country races: the Vasaloppet, the Finlandia and the Birkebeiner.

Dr. Sheldon was a consummate renaissance man who applied his considerable intellect and force of character to achieve success in many fields. Having taken early retirement from McGill in 1985 he moved to Shelburne where he spent the next 25 years raising purebred Suffolk sheep. He was one of the area's first certified organic farmers, and was key in forming the Charlotte Land Trust in the early 1990s.

Another of Dr. Sheldon's life long passions was sailing. He first learned to sail at the Devon Yacht Club on Gardiner's Bay on Long Island as a young boy, and continued to sail while he lived in Montreal. After his move to Vermont he was able to focus more of his energies on sailing, and competed in and won many of the world's classic ocean races: Transatlantic, Fastnet, Newport-Bermuda, Middle Sea and the Sydney-Hobart. He also spent several summers cruising in the high latitudes of Scandinavia with his family, including a sail above the Arctic Circle to Spitsbergen in '96. He is a member of the NY Yacht Club, the Royal Ocean Racing Club, and is an honorary Commodore of the Royal Swedish Yacht Club. Skip was a remarkable man who lived his life to the fullest. He will be deeply missed by his wife of 32 years, Del, and his daughters Greta and her husband David Rose of CA, and Zoë, her husband Matthew Kling and their son Wylie, also of CA. He also leaves daughters Karan Sheldon and Jennifer Sheldon and their children: Catherine and Martin Weiss, Oren, Kira and Geneva Gersten and Connor and Nikolas Crabtree.Skip will also be greatly missed by his community of friends and colleagues worldwide.

There will be a private family burial in the spring. In place of flowers, kindly send contributions to the Charlotte, VT Land Trust. Ready Funeral Home 261 Shelburne Rd Burlington, has been entrusted with the arrangements. Please visit www.readyfuneral.com to place online condolences.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Burlington Free Press on Jan. 9, 2018.

Memories and Condolences
for Huntington Sheldon

Sponsored by Ready Funeral Service, Inc. - South Chapel.

3 Entries

Claus Hamann

January 17, 2018

Dear Mrs. Sheldon and Family,

I send you my heartfelt condolences and support on the loss of Skip whom I had the honor to know as both Skip and Dr. Sheldon.
Our acquaintance started in 1973 with skiing: we were introduced by a contemporary of mine on the Canadian Ski Team coached by Skip. I was looking for a research assistantship prior to medical school and he referred me to the late Dr. John Beck who led the University Clinic and Clinical Scholars' program at McGill/Royal Victoria Hospital. He thereby helped launch a wonderful career in medicine, and introduced me to the Viking Ski Club and Canadian Ski Marathon. We should have sailed together, too!
As Professor of Pathology, my fellow students and I had to be on our toes as Dr. Sheldon roamed the inclined classroom - not a podium-hugger, he - in Socratic search for answers to important questions.
While I had not seen him since my departure from Montreal for medical training, I can imagine his life lived to the fullest. With deep respect and gratitude for his guidance, I am,

Sincerely yours,
Claus Hamann MDCM, McGill Medicine Class of 1978

jim Sullivan, Dr.

January 17, 2018

I have fond memories of Dr. Sheldon while in Medical School at McGill in the early '60s. It seemed he had done so much and while coursing through Pathology, I remember him impressing on us the only three ways to answer any question: Yes, No, I don't know.

Glad to have passed through his hands,

Société de protection foncière de Sainte-Adèle Jean-Louis Poirier

January 11, 2018

Dear Mrs Sheldon and family,

It is with much sadness that we learned of the recent passing away of your husband Skip. We have only met him for a short moment when my wife Doris, Louis Vadeboncoeur and I visited the both of you not so long ago. We knew that your husband had accomplished a great deal in his life but it is when we read his obituary that we measured how much he contributed to others and how very much he lived his life passionately. He truly is a model for all of us.

On behalf of my colleagues and our Association, I would like to say how very much thankful we are for his wonderful gift which is an enormous contribution to the social fiber of the Laurentians and to our youth he loved so much. Rest assured that we will safeguard the jewel he gave so generously so that it is preserved for future generations to enjoy as he did.

Please accept my sincere condolences, that of my wife Doris and of Louis. Skip and you will be forever present in our hearts, memories and in our prayers.

Jean-Louis Poirier
President
Société de protection foncière de Sainte-Adèle

Showing 1 - 3 of 3 results