GEORGE M. LOVEJOY Jr.

1930 - 2020

LOVEJOY, George M. Jr. Prominent Businessman, Civic Leader, and Conservationist George Montgomery Lovejoy, Jr. died Friday, March 27, 2020, in Exeter, New Hampshire, two and a half weeks shy of his 90th birthday. Born April 15, 1930, in West Newton, Massachusetts, to George Montgomery and Margaret King Lovejoy, he lived his life in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1947 and went on to Harvard College, graduating in 1951. He then enlisted in the US Navy and served as an officer from 1951 to 1954. Mr. Lovejoy dedicated his life to land conservation, civic engagement, and his family. After returning from the navy he began his career as a real estate professional in Boston, working for Minot, DeBlois & Maddison from 1955 to 1972 before joining Meredith & Grew; he rose to president and chief executive officer before retiring in 1995. Later he was president and chief executive officer of Fifty Associates, a real estate investment company. Throughout his career, Mr. Lovejoy was active in the industry, serving as president of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, the Greater Boston Building Owners and Managers Association, and the New England chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management, among other organizations. He was honored with the James D. Landauer Award by the Counselors of Real Estate in 1991 and the Industry Leadership Award by the Building and Owners and Managers Association in 2004. In the city of Boston he served as a director and chairman of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, president and overseer of the New England Aquarium, a director of the Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research, and a trustee of the Provident Institution for Savings. He was a member of the corporation of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary for 25 years and served as a trustee or director of 30 different Scudder mutual funds. He was also a longtime member and past president of the Somerset Club. While raising his family in Weston, MA, Mr. Lovejoy was active in town government, serving on the planning board and the board of selectmen, which he chaired from 1970-1971. He was an active volunteer for Harvard University, serving as a gift officer for his class, an elected director of the Harvard Alumni Association, president of the Harvard Club of Boston, and a member of the board of Radcliffe College and the dean's council of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. His heart, however, was in Strafford, New Hampshire, where he spent weekends and summers from childhood. Drawn to the region in the 1930s for upland bird shooting, his parents and a group of Boston friends all chose to put down roots in the town. Those early years of hunting and fishing with his parents and his summers in rural New Hampshire informed a deep conservation ethic. When development threatened during the 1960s, Mr. Lovejoy began purchasing land to preserve it. In the 1980s he and his wife, Westy, created the Blue Hills Foundation, dedicated to the preservation of the natural and cultural landscape of New England. Blue Hills Foundation now comprises almost 8,000 acres of land conserved in perpetuity and is the site of numerous research studies in partnership with the University of New Hampshire and Harvard University. Blue Hills is considered a model for private landowner conservation. In addition to creating the Blue Hills Foundation, Mr. Lovejoy was active in other conservation organizations including the Fund for the Preservation of Wildlife and Natural Areas, The Trustees, The Nature Conservancy, and the New England Forestry Foundation, which honored him with the Forest Champion Award in 2009. His greatest joy was working on his farm, bringing in the hay, cutting and splitting his own firewood right up to the end, and keeping the trails clear with his family at his side. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Ellen West (Childs) Lovejoy, and his four sons and their spouses: George Montgomery Lovejoy, III and Jo-Ann Giordano Lovejoy; Edward Redfield Lovejoy and Jana Paradis Lovejoy; Philip Whitcomb Lovejoy and James Anthony Moses; and Henry Webster Lovejoy and Lisa Sankey Lovejoy. He also leaves his five grandchildren, George IV and Sarah; Spencer and Sara; Jordan, Sage, and Beren; and many nieces and nephews. His sister, Hortense Lovejoy Cahill, predeceased him. Burial will be private. A Memorial Service will be held in the fall, once it is safe to convene in groups again. Contributions in his memory may be made to the Blue Hills Foundation, P.O. Box 27, Strafford, NH 03884.

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