Obituary: Richard Lindgren

Richard Lindgren, a longtime resident of Shelter Island, died on December 23, 2011 after a three-year battle with cancer. Also a resident of Manhattan, he was 73.

Born and raised in Jamestown, New York, Mr. Lindgren graduated from Yale University and Harvard Business School and served as an officer in the Navy. Starting with the investment firm White Weld, he spent three decades in the financial industry. His career included a stint at the federal government’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation, for which he worked on economic development projects in Africa and South America. Music and history were his passions.

He and his wife Anne came to Shelter Island in 1986 and soon regarded the Island as their home. They settled in the Heights, which he particularly loved for its similarity to the Chautauqua Institute near where he grew up. The strong sense of community and daily rituals of small-town life were important to him.

He served on the boards of the Shelter Island Heights Property Owners Corporation and its subsidiary, North Ferry, and was president of the ferry company. He was a member for many years of St. Mary’s Church, where he served on the vestry and as a warden. He was presented with the Bishop’s Medal of Parochial Service there on October 12, 2011 by Father Daniel Harris, who also passed away recently.

Mr. Lindgen is survived by Anne, to whom he was married for 49 years, as well as his children: Sarah of Moretown, Vermont, Hugo of Manhattan, and Doug of Fair Haven, New Jersey, and seven grandchildren.

Services will be held Saturday, January 7, 2011 at 2 p.m. at St. Mary’s Church.