JEROME PRESTON Jr.

1922 - 2014

Preston, Jerome Jr. 91, died peacefully in Damariscotta, Maine, on September 24, 2014, in the arms of his loving wife Doffy. Born on November 15, 1922 on Staten Island, New York, to Jerome Sr. and Iva Stone Preston, Jerry grew up in Hingham, Massachusetts and was educated at Derby Academy and Phillips Academy Andover. He attended Harvard College and served overseas as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during World War II, and graduated with Harvard's Class of 1944. After the war, he attended Yale Law School and joined the law firm of Foley, Hoag & Eliot in Boston, where he worked for fifty years, eventually specializing in estate planning and trust services. As a senior partner, he was instrumental in establishing pro bono services for the poor and helping to steer the firm in a progressive direction. At work, as in the rest of his life, he was loved for his kindness and encouragement of everyone he met, his warmth and ever-present smile, and his trademark bow-ties. Jerry's community service and philanthropy were an extension of his personal belief in the goodness of people and the obligation he felt to others. He worked tirelessly for politically progressive (sometimes lost) causes, including Lawyers Against the Vietnam War, and he felt a special victory when "his" candidate, Barack Obama, won the Oval Office. He served on numerous boards and committees, including University Hospital (now Boston Medical Center), where the Preston Building was named in his and his father's honor. He served as attorney and Board Chair of the Handel & Haydn Society, the oldest musical association in the country, and was awarded its first Handel & Haydn Society Medal. He was Board Chair of the Cambridge School of Weston, a Proprietor of the Boston Athenaeum, and he was an active member of the Tavern Club of Boston, often writing hilarious poetry and plays for the members. In 1953, Jerry married Dorothy Greeno McCann, who was the love of his life for 61 years. They moved from Cambridge to Wellesley, Massachusetts, in 1960, so that their three rambunctious sons could race around outdoors. Jerry loved his summers at Squam Lake, New Hampshire, and led his family on hiking and back-packing trips in the White Mountains and out West in the Rockies and Sierra Nevada. He and Doffy traveled the world, including three trips to Africa, and at age 51 Jerry summited Switzerland's Matterhorn Peak via the Hörnli Ridge. (Doffy called it his "male menopause.") Jerry and Doffy retired to Round Pond, Maine. Jerry derived great pleasure from his children and grandchildren, of whom he was very proud. Jerry was pre-deceased by his parents, his sister, Priscilla Cutler Whipple, and his brother, Nathaniel S. Preston. He is survived by his wife, Doffy; his son Richard and his wife Michelle of Hopewell, New Jersey; his son Douglas and his wife Christine of Round Pond, Maine, and Santa Fe, New Mexico; and his son David and his wife Janet of China, Maine. He is also survived by his grandchildren Selene Richholt and husband Josh, Marguerite, Laura, Oliver, Aletheia, Isaac, Beth, and Richard Preston; sister-in-law Anna Marguerite McCann Taggart and husband Bob of Sleepy Hollow, New York; and special grandson Churchill Elangwe. A memorial celebration of Jerry's life will be held at the Second Congregational Church in Newcastle, Maine, on Saturday Oct. 25th, 1:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, those who wish may make a memorial gift to The Handel & Haydn Society of Boston.