W. David Usher ’61

W. David Usher ’61 died on April 26, 2009, at his home in Quartzsite, Arizona.

He was born in Boston on September 28, 1939, the son of W. Lawrence Usher ’32, and prepared for college at Winchester (Mass.) High School. He attended Bowdoin from 1957 to 1960, and was a member of Zeta Psi fraternity. He served as a pilot in the Navy before being discharged with diabetes. In the 1960s, he worked as an engineer’s assistant at Pratt and Whitney. He also attended management training at the Friendly Ice Cream company, and studied at the University of Hartford, but he was most dedicated to maintaining the family farms. He worked as a salesman in a variety of businesses to support the Tillotson Farm in Craftsbury, Vt., which he owned and operated for many years. He eventually sold Tillotson Farm to help his late wife work her family dairy farm. He enjoyed shooting guns, riding ATVs in the Arizona desert, visiting the National Parks and traveling across the country, and served as a mentor for students at Craftsbury Academy for several years. He is survived by two daughters, Lisa Jakob and Kari Usher; a son, William Usher; two sisters, Deb Palmer and Leslie Anderson; four grandsons; and former wife Susan Lowell Usher, whom he married in 1962. He is predeceased by his former wives, Marilyn Rondoe Usher, who died in February 1996, and Linda Stoddard Usher, who died in March 2008.