Gunnar S. Overstrom Jr.

Gunnar S Overstrom, Jr. of West Hartford, a prominent banker and distinguished community leader, died unexpectedly on Thursday, (December 6, 2001) while traveling in Chicago, IL. He was 59. Mr. Overstrom, a former Vice Chairman of FleetBoston Financial, and the former President and Chief Operating Officer of the Shawmut National Corporation, was a Managing Director of Shawmut Capital Partners, a venture capital firm headquartered in Boston, MA, as well as the founder and Managing Member of Larus Brothers, LLC, an investment and consulting company in Farmington. Mr. Overstrom joined Shawmut Capital from Fleet where he served as a Vice Chairman from 1995 through 1999, following the merger of that company with the Shawmut National Corporation. He was instrumental in building Fleet's asset management portfolio and its brokerage and securities business. Prior to the merger with Fleet, Mr. Overstrom served as President, Chief Operating Officer and a director of Shawmut National from 1988 to 1995 as well as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of all its major banking subsidiaries. While at Shawmut National he helped lead the corporation in making over 50 acquisitions and building the company from a $2 billion regional bank to a $35 billion super-regional institution with offices in five states. Mr. Overstrom became an officer of Shawmut National as a result of the 1988 merger between the Shawmut Corporation and the Hartford National Corporation, where he served as a director, its Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Overstrom began his banking career at Hartford National in 1975 as Vice President of Planning. He was elected Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in 1978. Prior to Hartford National he worked at the Travelers Insurance Company and at White Weld & Co. Mr. Overstrom was born in Buffalo, NY on August 18, 1942. He was the son of Gunnar S Overstrom and Selma Mansour Overstrom. He received a bachelor's degree from Babson College, Wellesley, MA in 1965; an L.L.B. from Suffolk University Law School, Boston, MA in 1968; and an M.A. in Economics from Trinity College, Hartford in 1972. He served on the Board of Directors of HPSC, Inc., Boston, MA, NexClaim Technologies, Inc., Rocky Hill, Poorman Douglas, Beaverton, OR, and was a Trustee of T.O. Richardson Co., Farmington. Mr. Overstrom was member of the Board of Overseers and a former Trustee of Babson College. He also was a past President of the Old State House Association in Hartford and a member of the Emerging Issues Committee of The Bankers Roundtable. He was a former Trustee of the Kingswood Oxford School in West Hartford, The Science Center of Connecticut also in West Hartford, and the Museum of Science in Boston, MA. He previously served as a corporator of Hartford Hospital, Saint Francis Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital, the Institute of Living, and the Old State House, all in Hartford, and as a director of Connecticut Health Systems, Inc. He also was a member of Boston's Private Industry Council and served on its Corporate Diversity Committee. Of all the things he treasured, his family was his greatest joy in life. Mr. Overstrom is survived by his wife of 36 years, Margery Larus Overstrom of West Hartford; and his two sons and daughter-in-law, Gunnar S Overstrom, III and his wife, Claudia Taylor Overstrom of New York City, and Alexander Edward Cadwell Overstrom also of West Hartford; Mr. Overstrom's aunt and uncle, Esther Hall of Buffalo, NY and John Mansour of Olean, NY also survive him. A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, December 12, 10 a.m. at the St. Patrick's Church, 110 Main Street, Farmington. In lieu of flowers, gifts in Mr. Overstrom's memory can be made to the Gunnar S Overstrom, Jr. Family Foundation for WALKS Scholars, a foundation created to support the education and enrichment of young minority students from the Greater Hartford area, c/o The Loomis Chaffee School, Windsor, CT 06095.