Necrology

Robert Cortis “Bones” Pomeroy '65

Jul. 17, 1943-Mar. 21, 2023

Robert Cortis “Bones” Pomeroy ’65, P’90,’93 died on May 21, 2023, in Quechee, Vt. Born in Syracuse, N.Y., on Sept. 17, 1943, and raised there, he came to Hamilton from Nottingham High School in his hometown. He acquired his nickname honestly: when he arrived on campus, reportedly while 6 feet tall, he weighed only 120 pounds. A nickname that may have started off as “skin and bones” was soon abbreviated without loss of meaning.

On the Hill, Bob majored in mathematics and was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. His academic achievements were distinguished. In his junior year he received both the Tompkins Prize in Mathematics, awarded annually to two students excelling in the subject, and the Edward Huntington Memorial Scholarship, given to a rising senior who intends to take at least one math course in his final year. As a senior, Bob was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.

During his junior year, he traveled to Skidmore College and met Sandra Campbell, also a junior. Their relationship flourished, and they were married in 1966. By then, Bob, having chosen a legal career, was immersed in his studies at Harvard Law School. Earning his LLB in 1968, he joined Goodwin, Procter & Hoar (later Goodwin Procter) in Boston on July 1 of the same year. He specialized in trusts and estate planning, made partner in 1977, and remained with the firm until retiring in 2013. Along the way, he became a member of the American Bar Association and the bar associations of Boston and Florida. He was also a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Council.

Concurrent with his legal education and initial practice, Bob and Sandra created a family: two daughters and a son. Two of their children would come to Hamilton.

Inspired by the example of his father and encouraged by a close friend, Bob began in 1988 to actively fundraise for the American Heart Association. He would continue to do so for many years. His hobbies included golf (he helped organize the annual DKE Golf Tournaments held on Reunion Weekends), skiing, squash, and sailing. Among his memorable voyages was one in the fall of 2007 when he sailed his 34’ sloop from Massachusetts to Beaufort, S.C., and met up with a classmate upon his arrival.

After living in the Boston suburbs of Andover and Charlestown, the Pomeroys permanently settled in their summer home in Quechee, Vt., in 2008. Thereafter he worked remotely except when he needed to be in the Boston offices of Goodwin Procter. On those occasions he stayed with a daughter in Winchester, Mass.

Bob’s memories of his time on the Hill were dominated by recollections of the high academic standards to which he and his fellow students were held. Courses in Freshman English (including the quest for “Yes” essays, presumably) and history were particularly memorable. Indeed, he recalled in his 40th reunion yearbook that, among other experiences: “I also remember not wanting to graduate, having formed a desire to become a ‘liberal artist,’ staying on campus and taking courses and going to fraternity parties for the rest of my life.” Of particular importance was “the strong sense of community and goodwill” that the College represented.

Bob repaid the College with a record of extraordinary service and support that began shortly after he graduated. His contributions included chairing the Class of 1965’s 25th reunion committee, serving on the Alumni Council, and joining the special gifts committee in Boston for the 175th Anniversary Campaign. He also presided over the Boston Alumni Association. A consistent and increasingly generous donor, he regularly reached out to classmates on behalf of the Hamilton Fund and volunteered for the Career Center. Not surprisingly, given his specialty in estate planning, he made a generous provision for Hamilton in his will and thus became a Joel Bristol Associate.

Robert C. Pomeroy is survived by his wife, son Robert “Cort” C. Pomeroy, Jr. ’90, daughters Lisa and Heather Pomeroy Kelly ’93, brother William J. Pomeroy ’68, his mother Elizabeth Pomeroy, two granddaughters, and a grandson.

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