Gerrit H. Argento

Celebrating the Life of Gerrit Argento (1940–2025)
Gerrit Argento passed away on October 9, 2025, at the home he shared with his beloved wife, Kathryn Adams, in Greenwich, Connecticut; after his health declined over the preceding summer. He was 85 years old.
Born in Massachusetts in 1940 to Henry Argento, a physicist who is named on one of the early patents for the microwave, and Margaretha Argento (née Huizinga), a working artist, Gerrit spent his early years in Newton. He fondly recalled his adventures there, including rescuing his Irish Setter from a frozen Charles River while nearly drowning himself and regularly biking over to his grandparents' house. Gerrit retained a love of New England all his life. When he became a father, he enjoyed taking his family to Maine for summer vacations, where he relished eating lobstah and showing his children how to chase clams bare-handed into the clam flat and yank them out by main force. The family moved to Chicago in 1955 and then to Pennsylvania, where Gerrit completed his senior year of high school at William Penn Charter School.
Gerrit received his undergraduate degree in Economics from Harvard in 1962. After a few years teaching history as a college professor, he went on to obtain a masters degree and PhD in international economics from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He spent most of his career as an officer in the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), working to help people in developing countries escape poverty. His passion for understanding what drives prosperity led him to a second career in international investment at the Bank of Mitsubishi, where he continued to explore the forces behind economic growth.
But Gerrit would tell you his greatest achievement wasn't professional-it was personal. He was a loving father to four children and a proud grandfather to thirteen grandchildren. He often said that he loved the imagination of a child, and he retained a child's openness, imagination, and appreciation for silliness all his life. In particular, from flying vampire rabbits to sewer-dwelling adventurers, Gerrit's spontaneous story-telling was legendary in his family.
Gerrit had a lifelong love of the outdoors. In his younger years, he hiked and backpacked around the world. Later, he found freedom in sailing, drawn to the wide-open spaces and the immediacy of harnessing wind and water. He also had a craftsman's pride in writing, especially humorous memoirs, and was a cherished member of the Greenwich Writing Club. An excerpt from one of his many books captures both interests well:
"Although neither geography nor logic link skiing and sailing, there is a spiritual and environmental connection. It is not surprising that a healthy person who loves skiing would also love sailing. Danger and the propulsion of the body by elemental forces, gravity and wind, give zest to both sports. Skiers break limbs, freeze their noses and crash into trees. Sailors lose fingers, burn their noses, capsize and crack their skulls on a breakaway boom. In both sports you have to push yourself right up to the edge and just a little bit over to get the most fun."
He married Carolyn Spoeneman in 1964, and together they raised their family while living in Washington, D.C., and abroad during Gerrit's overseas postings. He embraced life in other cultures with enthusiasm, whether backpacking the Inca Trail or trying on Indonesian sarongs. In 2007, Gerrit married Kathryn, and they built a joyful life together in Greenwich, surrounded by friends and community.
Gerrit is survived by his wife Kathryn; his sister Elisabeth (Betsy) Bennett, his children Adrian, Zoe, Maury, and Alex; and his grandchildren Ian, Ava, Zackary, Simone, Arianna, Gavin, Theo, Esme, Genevieve, Eloisa, Charlotte, Hazel, and Eliza.
Donations in lieu of flowers to Christ Church : OnRealm.org