Page 62 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 93, No. 1 Fall 2012

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“He was like a very kind and amusing
old grandfather to us, with whom we
enjoyed bird-banding in his hut and rid-
ing in his car to identify birds in the dis-
tant grey overcast sky,” he wrote. “I have
always liked the very oldest masters best,
for they are the very heart of the School,
and they guarantee that the best will re-
main of its atmosphere and congeniality.”
Dr. Lippitt belonged to the Concordian
Literary Society and the Old Hundred
Athletic Club during his time at St. Paul’s.
He rowed with Shattuck, participated in
the Forestry Club and Glee Club, and
sang in the Choir. His years at St. Paul’s
are among those he recalled most fondly,
according to his daughter, Anita Lippitt
Rogers ’72. His daughter also recalled that
Dr. Lippitt had told her that a St. Paul’s
master had once informed him that he
was the most homesick boy he had ever
seen, a memory that made Dr. Lippitt
laugh in later years, given the adoration
he had developed for the School. He re-
turned often to reunion weekends along
with his daughter, and they enjoyed a
special bond because of their shared
relationship with the School.
After graduating in 1942, Dr. Lippitt
attended Princeton University for two years
and served in the U.S. Naval Reserve as
an Apprentice Seaman during that time.
He left Princeton in 1944 for early accep-
tance at Harvard Medical School, earning
his M.D. in 1947. In 1950, he joined the
U.S. Army Reserve as a Captain and chose
pathology as his specialty. His medical
training included Cornell Medical Center
in New York City, Hammersmith Hospital
in London, and the Pennsylvania Hospital
in Philadelphia.
During his service at Hammersmith, a
colleague introduced Dr. Lippitt to Gabrielle
“Gay” Paluzsay, a recently escaped Hungar-
ian refugee living in Paris. They wed in
Paris on June 3, 1950, and returned to the
U.S. that same year. They had five children:
Peter, who died in infancy, Mark, Anita ’72,
Devereux, and Celia. The Lippitts were
married for 58 years before Gay’s death
in 2008.
In 1960, Dr. Lippitt accepted a position
in the Pathology Department of St. Luke’s
Hospital in New Bern, N.C. He practiced
there until his retirement in 1985.
New Bern’s coastal location offered Dr.
Lippitt the opportunity to pursue sailing,
which had been a boyhood passion. He
owned several boats and enjoyed sailing
with family and friends. His fleet included
a Flying Dutchman, a Tern, a Laser for day
sailing, and a Morgan for overnight trips
to Silver Lake at Ocracoke Island in North
Carolina. Dr. Lippitt was also a skilled
watercolorist and a natural musician who
played both violin and musical saw.
A voracious reader who had lifelong
interest and curiosity about religion, cul-
ture, politics, and science, Dr. Lippitt was
inspired to travel the world. He and his
wife did so together, including trips to
Egypt, Turkey, China, Mexico, Australia,
and Hungary.
Dr. Lippitt is survived by his two sisters,
Anita Clay and Ashby Angell; his four
children; eight grandchildren; his cousin,
Margaret Lippitt Rorison; and many nieces,
nephews, and cousins. He was predeceased
by his brother, Maxwell Lippitt.
1942
Edwin Alan Ramsdell
businessman,
World War II
veteran, and
lifelong sailor,
died on October
19, 2011, at the
age of 89.
He was born
on September 3,
1922, in New York
City, and spent time there as well as in
White Plains and Scarsdale, N.Y. He sum-
mered on the shore throughout his life at
both Bay Head and Mantoloking. In 1992,
he moved permanently to Mantoloking.
Mr. Ramsdell attended the Harvey School
and Fessenden School before arriving at
St. Paul’s in 1938. He rowed with the fifth
Halcyon crew and competed for the first
Delphian football and hockey teams. He
also served as a supervisor and was a
member of the Missionary Society and
Der Deutsche Verein.
“He was a good guy and a solid friend;
he’d always help you if he could,” said
formmate George Grove, who delivered
Mr. Ramsdell’s eulogy. “He always had
strong principles and convictions.”
After graduating in 1942, Mr. Ramsdell
attended Yale before entering the U.S.
Army Air Corps and becoming a pilot in
the 340th Fighter Squadron of Fifth Air
Force in the Southwest Pacific. He flew
cover for the atomic bomb missions in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was promoted
to First Lieutenant in 1945, and ultimate-
ly flew 140 combat missions over New
Guinea, the Philippines, and Okinawa. He
was awarded the Air Medal with oak leaf
cluster, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon
with a bronze star, and the Southwest
Pacific Ribbon with eight battle stars.
After leaving the service and finishing
his studies at Yale with the Class of 1945,
Mr. Ramsdell worked for the Monrovia
Port Management Company of Liberia; as
a security analyst with Citibank and General
Electric; as a partner with Adams & Peck;
as executive vice president of institutional
sales at Carreau, Smith, Inc.; and as exec-
utive vice president of Smith Affiliated
Capital Corp.
He was an avid sailor during his boyhood
summers on the New Jersey Shore and
even won the Barnegat Bay Yacht Racing
Association’s Championship Regatta in the
Sneakbox – Class B, 16 years and younger
division, in 1938. He was a member of the
Bay Head Yacht Club and the Vero Beach
Yacht Club. He also was a member of the
Yale Club of New York, the Sons of the
Revolution, and the Scarsdale Golf Club.
He is survived by his wife of 27 years,
Lucy “Lady” Lewis Ramsdell; two daugh-
ters, Catherine Wolstencroft and Eliza-
beth R. Matte; six grandchildren; his
brother, John A. Ramsdell ’45, and sister-
in-law Barbara Ramsdell; two nephews,
and a niece.
DECEASED