Selwyn Ives Atherton, 87, died May 5, 2017 at his home in Plymouth, Massachusetts. A prominent banker for many years in Massachusetts, Atherton was also an accomplished athlete, a wine enthusiast and a proud grandfather.
He is survived by his wife, the former Margery Bugbee, of 65 years, a sister, four children and seven grandchildren. A native of Hanover, N.H., he graduated from Dartmouth College in 1951 and in 1978 studied at the Harvard Advanced Management Program.
His lifelong interest in birds included several trips a year to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. In New Smyrna Beach, where the Athertons enjoyed a winter home at Sugar Mill for a number of years, he fed a wide variety of birds, including a pair of sandhill cranes that were regulars at his bird feeder.
His athletic activities included earning a letter on the Dartmouth ski team and on the golf course, scoring three holes-in-one and breaking par twice. In addition to winning various tennis tournaments at Sugar Mill and at the Country Club of Pittsfield, he won the national Seniors Doubles Championship in platform tennis in 1981 with his partner, the late James Garivaltis. He and his wife, Marge, enjoyed competing in mixed doubles tennis and platform tennis.
In recent years, bridge and gin rummy were added to his sports roster and, while he continued to play golf, he was dismayed that his five handicap had gradually crept up to 20. He served the Country Club of Pittsfield well as its president but was capricious enough to plant a few zucchini and corn seeds around the course, creating a crop that took late summer golfers by surprise. He kept a vegetable garden at home for many years, raising blueberries, apples and garlic, in addition to traditional produce. He was a voracious reader of newspapers and all kinds of books and rarely missed any major sports event on television. His food tastes were eclectic, and he would try any dessert if it came with whipped cream.
His banking career started in New York City and continued in Auburn, Maine. In 1961, he and his family moved to Richmond, where he became vice president and then chairman and CEO of First Agricultural Bank. The bank became part of Multibank Financial Corp. of Dedham, Massachusetts, and in 1982 Mr. Atherton became president of Multibank and chair of South Shore Bank in Quincy. He retired in 1993.
He was well known in the business community for his decisiveness, his impatience with incompetence and his ability to answer all kinds of correspondence with succinct, one-sentence letters. His perceptive grandchildren, not without affection, nicknamed him Grumpy.
While the Athertons were in Richmond, he served as chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals for several years. It was also there that he and his wife, with a neighboring couple, began a decades-long food and wine celebration of New Year's Eve.
Son of the late Doris White Atherton and Ives Atherton, he and his sister, Lynne, of Waukegan, Illinois, grew up in Hanover, NH. His father, two uncles, Raymond and Llewellyn White, and his grandfather, Henry B. Atherton, were all Dartmouth graduates. An avid sports fan as well as a participant, Mr. Atherton, along with his mother, witnessed the famous Cornell University fifth down.
His surviving children are Alynn Atherton, Lois Atherton (Sean Withington), Lee Matinzi (Donald Matinzi) and Mark Atherton (Judith Leong), all of Plymouth. Grandchildren are Clarke and Ella Withington, Ross Atherton and Cole Matinzi of Plymouth; step grandchildren are Torie Gorges, Ned Gorges and Rebecca Levy.
There will be a private funeral, with a memorial celebration at a later date. The family suggests, in lieu of flowers, that contributions be made to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital - Plymouth, 275 Sandwich Street, Plymouth, MA 02360, or to Plimoth Plantation, 137 Warren Avenue, Plymouth, MA 02360.
He is survived by his wife, the former Margery Bugbee, of 65 years, a sister, four children and seven grandchildren. A native of Hanover, N.H., he graduated from Dartmouth College in 1951 and in 1978 studied at the Harvard Advanced Management Program.
His lifelong interest in birds included several trips a year to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. In New Smyrna Beach, where the Athertons enjoyed a winter home at Sugar Mill for a number of years, he fed a wide variety of birds, including a pair of sandhill cranes that were regulars at his bird feeder.
His athletic activities included earning a letter on the Dartmouth ski team and on the golf course, scoring three holes-in-one and breaking par twice. In addition to winning various tennis tournaments at Sugar Mill and at the Country Club of Pittsfield, he won the national Seniors Doubles Championship in platform tennis in 1981 with his partner, the late James Garivaltis. He and his wife, Marge, enjoyed competing in mixed doubles tennis and platform tennis.
In recent years, bridge and gin rummy were added to his sports roster and, while he continued to play golf, he was dismayed that his five handicap had gradually crept up to 20. He served the Country Club of Pittsfield well as its president but was capricious enough to plant a few zucchini and corn seeds around the course, creating a crop that took late summer golfers by surprise. He kept a vegetable garden at home for many years, raising blueberries, apples and garlic, in addition to traditional produce. He was a voracious reader of newspapers and all kinds of books and rarely missed any major sports event on television. His food tastes were eclectic, and he would try any dessert if it came with whipped cream.
His banking career started in New York City and continued in Auburn, Maine. In 1961, he and his family moved to Richmond, where he became vice president and then chairman and CEO of First Agricultural Bank. The bank became part of Multibank Financial Corp. of Dedham, Massachusetts, and in 1982 Mr. Atherton became president of Multibank and chair of South Shore Bank in Quincy. He retired in 1993.
He was well known in the business community for his decisiveness, his impatience with incompetence and his ability to answer all kinds of correspondence with succinct, one-sentence letters. His perceptive grandchildren, not without affection, nicknamed him Grumpy.
While the Athertons were in Richmond, he served as chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals for several years. It was also there that he and his wife, with a neighboring couple, began a decades-long food and wine celebration of New Year's Eve.
Son of the late Doris White Atherton and Ives Atherton, he and his sister, Lynne, of Waukegan, Illinois, grew up in Hanover, NH. His father, two uncles, Raymond and Llewellyn White, and his grandfather, Henry B. Atherton, were all Dartmouth graduates. An avid sports fan as well as a participant, Mr. Atherton, along with his mother, witnessed the famous Cornell University fifth down.
His surviving children are Alynn Atherton, Lois Atherton (Sean Withington), Lee Matinzi (Donald Matinzi) and Mark Atherton (Judith Leong), all of Plymouth. Grandchildren are Clarke and Ella Withington, Ross Atherton and Cole Matinzi of Plymouth; step grandchildren are Torie Gorges, Ned Gorges and Rebecca Levy.
There will be a private funeral, with a memorial celebration at a later date. The family suggests, in lieu of flowers, that contributions be made to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital - Plymouth, 275 Sandwich Street, Plymouth, MA 02360, or to Plimoth Plantation, 137 Warren Avenue, Plymouth, MA 02360.
Selwyn Ives Atherton, 87, died May 5, 2017 at his home in Plymouth, Massachusetts. A prominent banker for many years in Massachusetts, Atherton was also an accomplished athlete, a wine enthusiast and a proud grandfather.
He is survived by his wife, the former Margery Bugbee, of 65 years, a sister, four children and seven grandchildren. A native of Hanover, N.H., he graduated from Dartmouth College in 1951 and in 1978 studied at the Harvard Advanced Management Program.
His lifelong interest in birds included several trips a year to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. In New Smyrna Beach, where the Athertons enjoyed a winter home at Sugar Mill for a number of years, he fed a wide variety of birds, including a pair of sandhill cranes that were regulars at his bird feeder.
His athletic activities included earning a letter on the Dartmouth ski team and on the golf course, scoring three holes-in-one and breaking par twice. In addition to winning various tennis tournaments at Sugar Mill and at the Country Club of Pittsfield, he won the national Seniors Doubles Championship in platform tennis in 1981 with his partner, the late James Garivaltis. He and his wife, Marge, enjoyed competing in mixed doubles tennis and platform tennis.
In recent years, bridge and gin rummy were added to his sports roster and, while he continued to play golf, he was dismayed that his five handicap had gradually crept up to 20. He served the Country Club of Pittsfield well as its president but was capricious enough to plant a few zucchini and corn seeds around the course, creating a crop that took late summer golfers by surprise. He kept a vegetable garden at home for many years, raising blueberries, apples and garlic, in addition to traditional produce. He was a voracious reader of newspapers and all kinds of books and rarely missed any major sports event on television. His food tastes were eclectic, and he would try any dessert if it came with whipped cream.
His banking career started in New York City and continued in Auburn, Maine. In 1961, he and his family moved to Richmond, where he became vice president and then chairman and CEO of First Agricultural Bank. The bank became part of Multibank Financial Corp. of Dedham, Massachusetts, and in 1982 Mr. Atherton became president of Multibank and chair of South Shore Bank in Quincy. He retired in 1993.
He was well known in the business community for his decisiveness, his impatience with incompetence and his ability to answer all kinds of correspondence with succinct, one-sentence letters. His perceptive grandchildren, not without affection, nicknamed him Grumpy.
While the Athertons were in Richmond, he served as chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals for several years. It was also there that he and his wife, with a neighboring couple, began a decades-long food and wine celebration of New Year's Eve.
Son of the late Doris White Atherton and Ives Atherton, he and his sister, Lynne, of Waukegan, Illinois, grew up in Hanover, NH. His father, two uncles, Raymond and Llewellyn White, and his grandfather, Henry B. Atherton, were all Dartmouth graduates. An avid sports fan as well as a participant, Mr. Atherton, along with his mother, witnessed the famous Cornell University fifth down.
His surviving children are Alynn Atherton, Lois Atherton (Sean Withington), Lee Matinzi (Donald Matinzi) and Mark Atherton (Judith Leong), all of Plymouth. Grandchildren are Clarke and Ella Withington, Ross Atherton and Cole Matinzi of Plymouth; step grandchildren are Torie Gorges, Ned Gorges and Rebecca Levy.
There will be a private funeral, with a memorial celebration at a later date. The family suggests, in lieu of flowers, that contributions be made to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital - Plymouth, 275 Sandwich Street, Plymouth, MA 02360, or to Plimoth Plantation, 137 Warren Avenue, Plymouth, MA 02360.
He is survived by his wife, the former Margery Bugbee, of 65 years, a sister, four children and seven grandchildren. A native of Hanover, N.H., he graduated from Dartmouth College in 1951 and in 1978 studied at the Harvard Advanced Management Program.
His lifelong interest in birds included several trips a year to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. In New Smyrna Beach, where the Athertons enjoyed a winter home at Sugar Mill for a number of years, he fed a wide variety of birds, including a pair of sandhill cranes that were regulars at his bird feeder.
His athletic activities included earning a letter on the Dartmouth ski team and on the golf course, scoring three holes-in-one and breaking par twice. In addition to winning various tennis tournaments at Sugar Mill and at the Country Club of Pittsfield, he won the national Seniors Doubles Championship in platform tennis in 1981 with his partner, the late James Garivaltis. He and his wife, Marge, enjoyed competing in mixed doubles tennis and platform tennis.
In recent years, bridge and gin rummy were added to his sports roster and, while he continued to play golf, he was dismayed that his five handicap had gradually crept up to 20. He served the Country Club of Pittsfield well as its president but was capricious enough to plant a few zucchini and corn seeds around the course, creating a crop that took late summer golfers by surprise. He kept a vegetable garden at home for many years, raising blueberries, apples and garlic, in addition to traditional produce. He was a voracious reader of newspapers and all kinds of books and rarely missed any major sports event on television. His food tastes were eclectic, and he would try any dessert if it came with whipped cream.
His banking career started in New York City and continued in Auburn, Maine. In 1961, he and his family moved to Richmond, where he became vice president and then chairman and CEO of First Agricultural Bank. The bank became part of Multibank Financial Corp. of Dedham, Massachusetts, and in 1982 Mr. Atherton became president of Multibank and chair of South Shore Bank in Quincy. He retired in 1993.
He was well known in the business community for his decisiveness, his impatience with incompetence and his ability to answer all kinds of correspondence with succinct, one-sentence letters. His perceptive grandchildren, not without affection, nicknamed him Grumpy.
While the Athertons were in Richmond, he served as chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals for several years. It was also there that he and his wife, with a neighboring couple, began a decades-long food and wine celebration of New Year's Eve.
Son of the late Doris White Atherton and Ives Atherton, he and his sister, Lynne, of Waukegan, Illinois, grew up in Hanover, NH. His father, two uncles, Raymond and Llewellyn White, and his grandfather, Henry B. Atherton, were all Dartmouth graduates. An avid sports fan as well as a participant, Mr. Atherton, along with his mother, witnessed the famous Cornell University fifth down.
His surviving children are Alynn Atherton, Lois Atherton (Sean Withington), Lee Matinzi (Donald Matinzi) and Mark Atherton (Judith Leong), all of Plymouth. Grandchildren are Clarke and Ella Withington, Ross Atherton and Cole Matinzi of Plymouth; step grandchildren are Torie Gorges, Ned Gorges and Rebecca Levy.
There will be a private funeral, with a memorial celebration at a later date. The family suggests, in lieu of flowers, that contributions be made to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital - Plymouth, 275 Sandwich Street, Plymouth, MA 02360, or to Plimoth Plantation, 137 Warren Avenue, Plymouth, MA 02360.
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ATHERTON
SELWYN IVES MARGERY BUGBEE
1929 -- 2017 1932
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