BRUNSWICK – Whitney “Whit” Blair, of Brunswick, Maine, died on Oct. 6, 2019. He was 95 years old.

Whit was husband to Susan Bridge Blair (deceased June 2018), and son to Allen Pierpoint Blair and Emily Whitney Blair of Wayland, Massachusetts.

Whit was born in 1924, spent his childhood in Wayland, and then attended Phillips Exeter Academy. He served in the U.S. Army in World War II, and attended Harvard College, graduating in 1945.

Whit was an active and proud alumnus of both Exeter and Harvard and was a regular organizer and attendee of many alumni events. Staying in touch with his friends from both schools was near and dear to his heart.

Whit taught Latin at Hebron Academy from 1948-1951. It was at Hebron, during a football game, where he met Susan Bridge, and they were married in 1952. Whit and Susan raised their four children in Rye, New York, where Whit was a teacher of Latin and Greek at Rye Country Day School (RCDS) for over 33 years, and served as the Chair of the Classics Department.

While teaching at RCDS, Whit extended his passion for travel and the ancient world by planning and leading annual school trips for students and families to Italy, Greece, Egypt and other locations in the Mediterranean. These trips left a lasting impact on the impressionable minds of many students and helped to expand their sense of the world.

In addition to his devotion to teaching classics, Whit was an active participant in school plays and musicals, sang in the Christ Church Choir and the Greenwich Choral Society, and played classical piano which he continued through his 90s. Music was an integral part of his life for his personal enjoyment as well as for instilling that same passion in his children who ultimately followed suit with musical pursuits of their own.

While Whit was an academic through-and-through, he also appreciated the outdoors. Susan and Whit enjoyed hiking and camping. They were regular vacationers to Randolph, NH where they enjoyed the company of many friends and the great outdoors. Whit also enjoyed tennis, skiing, and cycling.

Whitney and Susan retired to Brunswick, Maine in 1996 where they relished the company of family and a new community of friends. Whit took classes at Bowdoin College, continued his study of piano, sang with the Choral Arts Society in Portland, and regularly played roles in productions at The Theater Project. His children and 12 grandchildren will remember his unconditional love, his insistence on taking photos at every family gathering, and his fondness and mastery of language introducing puns and derivations at every opportunity.

Whit is survived by his daughter, Susan Blair Brew (her two sons and daughters-in-law and grandchildren), his daughter Kathy Blair Beringer and husband Fred Beringer (and their two children), his son Tim Blair and his wife, Kate Dempsey (and their two daughters), his daughter-in-law, Lark Newick Blair (and her six children) and his beloved cousin Mary Lenore Blair of Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. He was predeceased by his son, Whitney Pierpoint Blair, “Pete”, who died in 2009, and by his sister Emily Blair Keith, who died in 2014.

The family is deeply grateful for the loving and attentive care that was provided to Whitney at Horizons in Brunswick, Maine.

There will be a memorial service for Whit at 2 p.m., on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 27 Pleasant St., Brunswick, Maine.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations in memory of Whitney Blair to: The Theater Project 14 School St. Brunswick, ME 04011

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.