Born on May 26, 1920, in Chicago, IL, he prepared for college at Newton (MA) High School and Edison High School in San Antonio, TX, and became a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Bowdoin, which he attended from 1938 to 1942. During World War II, he served for more than three years in the U.S. Navy, attaining the rank of lieutenant junior grade. He returned to the College in 1946, and following his graduation in 1947 as a member of the Class of 1942, he became a salesman with Armour and Company in the Boston area. Later he became a sales representative for the National Cash Register Company and a salesman for Eagle Pitcher Company. He also worked for some years at the Riverside Country Club in Portland in the summer and at the Professional Golfers Association Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, in the winter. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. Surviving are his wife, Eleanor Van Valen Babcock of Santa Rosa, CA, whom he married in 1943; two sons, Peter Babcock of Santa Rosa and Jeffrey Babcock of Westport, CT; two daughters, Christine Culver of Larkspur, CA, and Diane Babcock of Santa Rosa; two sisters, Barbara Dolliver of Olympia, WA, and Katherine Hansen of Philadelphia, PA; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandsons.