Gregory Shatkin

Gregory Martin Shatkin

The family of Gregory Shatkin, 51, are saddened to report his passing on March 25th while visiting New York, a city he loved and visited often. Greg was born in Washington, D.C. and spent his younger years in Maryland and Scotch Plains, New Jersey. He went west to college and graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a degree in biology. He then went on to the University of Maine where he earned his Master's degree with a specialty in oyster culture. Although Greg eventually settled in California, he and his parents maintained a great love for the coast of Maine. He had a successful career for many years selling specialty medical equipment. He later founded a company in San Francisco that designed women's clothing.

Greg was a man of style with a taste for elegance. In his younger years he maintained his physical conditioning by cycling and kayaking. He loved clothes, Japanese culture, antiques, especially Asian artifacts, travel, good food, good wine and good living. He loved music, especially the Grateful Dead. He traveled the world and did his best to make it a happier place for all those he encountered.

Greg was the only child of Joan (Lynch) Shatkin, who passed away in 2009, and Aaron Shatkin, founding director of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine at Rutgers University, who passed away in 2012. He is survived by his former wife and dear friend, Heather Martinson, his aunts and uncles Frances (Shatkin) and Donald Yarlas, Marla Shatkin- and Henry Margolis, Nancy and Leon Shatkin, many cousins, and good friends throughout the world.

Visitation will be Saturday April 16th from 4 to 7 p.m. at Memorial Funeral Home, 155 South Ave., Fanwood, New Jersey. A service will follow on Sunday, April 17th at 11 a.m. at the funeral home. Interment will take place at a later date at the Hillside Cemetery in Scotch Plains. To make a gift in Greg's memory to the Bowdoin College Shatkin Scholarship Fund please contact: bowdoinfund@gmail.com. For additional information regarding services or to sign the guestbook, visit www.fanwoodmemorial.com.