MILTON, MASS. – David E. Place, 91, died peacefully Aug. 23, 2012, at home.
Brimming with passion for life’s adventures, pragmatic business acumen and commitment to service, Place declared, “I’ve never been bored a day in my life!” Congenitally optimistic, Place rode the high seas of life, literally and figuratively. At age 17 he and two friends purchased Seaboots, a vessel that was at the time underwater, for the cost of six wooden barrels; they resurrected the sailboat by lashing ropes to its rails at low tide and raising the ship as the tide came in. Until age 80, he intrepidly sailed his ketch, Arabella, Down East and beyond to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. He reveled in the magnificence of the Maine woods and skied the winter slopes of New Hampshire. The Place dinner table was always set for drop-in guests who didn’t mind dogs and boisterous chaos. Place attended Milton Academy, class of 1939, and Harvard College, class of 1943. At Harvard he managed the Harvard football team, campaigned for Wendell Willkie for president and joined the Navy ROTC; upon graduation fellow students voted him their permanent class secretary. When a broken leg disqualified Place from Navy assignment, he took a third mate license and piloted U.S. hospital ships in the Mediterranean and Atlantic. After the war Place returned to Harvard Law School, class of 1948, and then joined the law firm of Ely, Bradford, Thompson, and Brown. From 1953 to 1955 he was appointed assistant U.S. attorney for Massachusetts and then special assistant to the U.S. attorney. In more than five decades of legal work with Gaston Snow & Ely Bartlett, as managing partner for 15 years, and subsequently with Choate Hall & Stewart beginning in 1991, Place “never turned down a request for assistance,” writing client wills and trusts, advising new and venerable business ventures as legal counsel and trustee – The Forte Dupree Co., Greylock Management Corp. and McCrillis Land Association, among many, as well as springing wayward kids out of jail. His late friend, Dr. Robert Sceery of Cohasset, Mass., gave his own children one piece of advice: If you are ever in trouble, remember just one number: “1943” – Place’s Harvard class year and telephone number. Active in politics, Place worked on both sides of the aisle with U.S. Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and Massachusetts Govs. Endicott Peabody, William Weld and Deval Patrick. He consistently advocated a progressive social agenda in his political life. When not steering a sailboat, Place served at the helm of innumerable public and non-profit enterprises. Among his most personally meaningful public assignments: Cohasset town moderator, 1969-1980, general counsel to the U.S. Department of the Air Force, 1981-1984, deputy commissioner to the U.S. Arms Control Standing Consultative Commission, 1984-1986, and chairman of the Massachusetts Judicial Nominating Council, 1991- 1996. He served on diverse boards of directors and corporations, such as the Jackson Laboratory, New England Deaconess Hospital, Mass General Hospital, Boston YMCA, International Institute of Boston, Dana Hall School, Boston Public Library, McCrillis Land Association and the Trustees of Reservations. Place was known for his philanthropy, setting a personal example and urging wealthy clients to share their good fortune with worthy causes. Place’s embrace of life and genuine interest in everyone he met won him a lifetime of endearing friendships. Above all, his life exemplified the values he instilled in those around him: loyalty, integrity, active citizenship, gratitude and service to others. Ken Paigen, geneticist and former director of the Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, wrote the following tribute when Place stepped down from the board after 30 years: “To David: friend, advisor, legal sage and source of worldly wisdom; even more an unfailing source of support and encouragement …”
David Place is survived by his wife, Susanna Badgley Place of Milton, Mass.; their children, Louise and Alexander Place; his former wife, Penelope G. Place of Cohasset, Mass.; their children, D. Elliott Place, Richard Place, Penelope Gleason and Josiah Place; four grandchildren, Nathan Place, Rachel Place, Isaac Place and Mark Place; as well as his brother, H. Calvin Place of Wellesley, Mass.
A celebration of David’s life will be held 2 p.m. Sept. 8 at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, 112 Randolph Ave., Milton, Mass. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in David Place’s name to the Epiphany School, Dorchester, Mass., www.epiphanyschool.com or the Island Education Fund at the Island Institute, Rockland, www.islandinstitute.org. www.dolanfuneral.com
David Elliott Place
