Sumner Kaufman

Sumner Kaufman was born to Bessie Dine and Joseph Solomon Kaufman in Lynn, MA on August 15, 1934. Sumner is survived by cherished family members: his deeply loved and treasured wife of 61 years, Carol Adrienne (O'Keeffe); sister June (Bakalar); children Johanna, Sara Hayes Andrikidis (Georgos) and Seth (Mary); adored grandchildren, Nikolas & Emma Andrikidis and Sam & Anna Kaufman; and many nieces and nephews. Sumner considered this abundance of loved ones a great fortune.
Raised in Lynn and Swampscott, Sumner attended Phillips Exeter Academy ('52) before graduating with a B.A. in political Science from Harvard in 1956; his experiences at these schools left him with lifelong friendships and a deep appreciation for education. After Harvard he "took a bite out of law school but did not like the taste". Instead, he made his way to Wall Street and embarked on an accomplished and remarkable career spanning seven decades in the Investment Banking industry. After brief stints at Ira, Haupt and Co. and Kidder, Peabody and Co. in New York, Sumner returned to Boston. Hired in the Corporate Finance Department of White Weld and Company, he later became the youngest member of the firm's partnership ranks. In 1978, he left White Weld to launch his own firm, Kaufman & Company, where he served as President until his passing. Guided by inherent talent and a highly adept mind, he was the consummate deal maker. Sumner had an uncanny ability to bring disparate parties together through masterful negotiation, innovative deal structuring and persistence. He was a creative problem solver by nature, and successfully orchestrating business deals was a source of such personal fulfillment that he never retired.
As much as he loved his work, Carol and the family they started together always came first. Carol's beauty stunned Sumner from day one, and with her intuitive sense of aesthetics, kindness and innate serenity, she continuously lit his life. They launched their marriage in Europe in an acquired VW Beetle. Exploring the continent for three months they then sold the car at a profit. The couple continued to travel extensively, most often with or to spend time with dear friends. Life rolled on two wheels often for the couple, first on his 1968 Vespa scooter followed by Honda and BMW motorcycles. Weekend excursions most often included Harvard football games and friends in New England. The two attended the BSO for over 55 years, occupying the same seats Sumner treasured for 72. Each performance was inevitably recounted as spectacular.
1978 began yet another wonderful chapter in their lives when Sumner and Carol purchased the Cape Cod home on Cotuit Bay Carol had summered in since she had been a teenager. Summers became festivals for family and friends around the water. Sumner was deliberate and meticulous in his meal planning and preparations for family and friends under his roofs. His days invariably began long before most rolled out of bed. Breakfasts were fastidious fruit platters followed by elaborately plated and bountiful meals – often foraged locally, and frequently preceded by trays of littlenecks he had raked earlier that day. Notably, there was never a shortage of humor and stories. Sumner's tables and wonderful open back porch were always alive with long conversations: voices lasted well into the stars and evening murmur of the bay. Carol infused her love of sailing in him and so grew a special fondness of afternoons on his 1961 Beetle Cat. Sumner hung up his well used tennis racquets in favor of the tiller thence nurturing a special, quiet relationship with his small boats and the contented freedom he found on the water, afloat and in the wind.
A smart dresser, Sumner loved a bargain, the game to find one and was seemingly uncontested in this pursuit. Filene's Basement was a favorite hunting ground to build his wardrobe with Louis' suits and ties or proudly filling Carol's with Ferragamo, Armani and Fendi outfits. Sumner worked with devoted passion in his profession and caring for Carol through his lifetime, even after his own radical health shift. He will always be remembered for his rich tapestry of traits; most memorably his inventiveness, authenticity, storytelling, indefatigable work ethic, frugality, sentimentalism, tinkering, stoicism, nostalgic lean, and especially his wit. Humor never left his spirit. In his final days of battling colon cancer, he quipped, "the enemy got me from behind." Very peacefully, slowly and quietly, surrounded by his family, he finally acquiesced – completing an exemplary lesson in how to live.
In lieu of flowers, please attend or donate to a symphony organization or youth orchestra of your choice and think of Sumner.