Gerrit S. Collier

Gerrit S. Collier, 88, of 124 Lyme Road, Hanover, passed away July 14, 2007 at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut September 11, 1918 to Chester W. and Flora (Healy) Collier, graduated from West Hartford High School and attended Worcester Academy before entering Dartmouth College where he was a member of the Class of 1941. He loved mathematics and majored in mathematics at Dartmouth. Mr. Collier served as a technical representative for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft during WWII in the China, Burma, India theatre, servicing the planes that flew over 'the hump'. Home after the end of hostilities, he was drafted and sent to Japan with the Army of Occupation. He was awarded the 'Army of Occupation Medal' when he was discharged in 1947. He earned the CPCU insurance designation in 1949 He married Caryl Hubbard of Catskill, N.Y. in 1948 following his discharge from the army and her graduation from Cornell University. Gerrit worked as a Special Agent for several insurance companies before joining the Reinsurance Corporation of New York as Vice President and Treasurer from 1955 to 1975. He opened the London and Belgium offices for the company living in England from 1968 to 1975. In 1975 he retired to Round Top Mountain near Catskill, New York where he and Caryl had, over a period of 30 years, designed and hand built their home and large workshop. For the next 25 years they lived on the bounty of their 250 acres which included vegetables from the garden, fruit from the orchard, blueberries from the mountaintop, trout from the stream, venison from the forest, and wood for their stove. In 2000 Gerrit and Caryl moved to a log cabin home on the banks of the Connecticut River in Hanover, N.H. to be near their only son John, Professor at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth and his wife, Nancy and two grandchildren, Thomas J. and Robert J. Collier. Gerrit was predeceased by a brother, Chester W. Collier. Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Caryl (Hubbard) Collier, a son, John P. Collier, of Hanover and his family. The Cremation Society of New Hampshire is in charge of arrangments. To view the on line memorial go wo www.csnh.com.