Gilbert K. French G’69 died on March 5, 2009, in Bradenton, Florida.

(The following was provided by the Berkshire Eagle on March 15, 2009)

PITTSFIELD — Gilbert K. French, 70, of Bradenton, Fla., native of Pittsfield, passed away on Thursday, March 5, 2009, at Bradenton Memorial Hospital following a brief illness. Born in Pittsfield, Sept. 9, 1938, son of John K. and Katherine Rice French, he attended local schools and was a 1956 graduate of Pittsfield High School. Continuing his education, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale and master’s degrees from Bowdoin and from the former North Adams State. Mr. French began his teaching career at Pittsfield High School in the Mathematics Department, where he worked for seven years. He then became the chairman of the mathematics department at Crosby Junior High School for three years before becoming mathematics curriculum coordinator for the Pittsfield public schools for twelve years. Following the passage of Proposition 2 1/2, his position was eliminated, and he then taught mathematics and Latin at Avon High School in Avon, Conn., for five years. In 1987, he moved to Bradenton and began working in the mathematics lab at Manatee Community College until the fall of 1989, when he began teaching full time in the mathematics department. After fifteen years there, he retired from teaching in 2004. Gil never forgot his roots and spent his summers in Pittsfield. He traveled extensively with his local friends to many countries throughout the world. He never missed a February in Puerto Rico or a summer in Cape Cod visiting with friends from Boston. He enjoyed New York Times crossword puzzles, Sudoku, reading, summer theatre in the Berkshires, and he was an avid Red Sox fan. He leaves a brother, Richard French and his wife, Diane, and his sister, Cynthia French, all of Pittsfield, and three nephews, Brian, Kevin, and Jeffrey French.