1 Photo
Girard F. Oberrender Jr.
Girard Franklin Oberrender Jr. of Lincoln, Massachusetts, and Bridgehampton died surrounded by family on Wednesday, March 7. He was 89.
Known to friends and family as Gerry, Mr. Oberrender was born in Manhattan on November 11, 1922, to Anne Hartdegen Oberrender and Girard Franklin Oberrender. Raised in Manhattan and Mattituck, he graduated from the Hill School in 1940. While at Hill he was a member of the football and lacrosse teams, and, more recently, was Class of 1940 Correspondent. He graduated from Williams College in 1944 with a Bachelor of Arts in physics. At Williams, he was a member of the football, hockey, and lacrosse teams, the Theta Delta Chi fraternity, and the Gargoyle Society. At his last reunion, he was elected 1944 Class President. He received his master’s degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University in 1949.
In 1942 he enlisted with the Signal Corps of the U.S. Army and after completion of college and the Signal Corps Officer Candidate Course, served as a 2nd lieutenant until 1946. His strong belief in the protection of individual liberties was a cornerstone of his values and led him to be active in the political process. He was longtime chair of the Tompkins County Republican Party in upstate New York.
Mr. Oberrender began his career at General Electric and worked for 15 years in Syracuse, Cleveland and Philadelphia. In 1965, he joined GLA Inc. as executive vice president and then was chief operating officer of Norwich Mills Inc., both located in Norwich. He later worked at NCR in Ithaca, and he also served as president of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce.
In 1950 he married Martha (Marty) Huntting Worth and began 62 years of happily wedded life. The couple lived in Ithaca for more than 40 years where they were active members of the First Congregational Church of Ithaca. They were members of the Ithaca Yacht Club where Gerry continued to pursue his love of sailing, and later became members of the Ithaca Country Club and the Cornell Club of New York. In 2010 they moved to Lincoln, Massachusetts, and became members of the Trinitarian Congregational Church in Concord, Massachusetts.
Mr. Oberrender enjoyed summers in Bridgehampton every summer of his married life. As a member of the Bridgehampton Club, he appreciated the multi-generational company of his family and new and longtime friends. He enjoyed the game of golf and boogie boarding with his grandchildren in the waves off the beautiful Bridgehampton beaches.
He is survived by his wife, Marty; children, Girard F. Oberrender III and his wife Patricia Clough Oberrender of New Jersey, Ann Oberrender Noyes and her husband Nicholas B. Noyes of Massachusetts, and Robert W. Oberrender and his wife Jane Joyce Oberrender of Minnesota; grandchildren, Maggie, Sarah, and Peter of New Jersey, Court, Ben, and Eliza of Massachusetts, and Will, Trotter, and Charlie of Minnesota.
A memorial service be held on Saturday, August 18, at 11 a.m. at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Concord Funeral Home in Massachusetts.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Hill School, 717 East High Street, Pottstown, PA 19464 or the Amir Fathi Leukemia Research Fund, Mass General Hospital, Zero Emerson Place, Suite 118, Boston, MA 02114.
on Mar 19, 2012