Shelter Island Reporter obituary: Maurice Elias Pinto

Maurice Elias Pinto

Maurice (Maury) Elias Pinto passed away surrounded by his family on Dec. 19, 2021 at the age of 87. He fought a protracted illness with grace and strength, his family said.

A brilliant, articulate and passionate man, Maury devoted his life to investing in and building businesses. After graduating from the Taft School and Yale, he served in the U.S. Army in Europe from 1955 to 1957. Highlights of his time in the service, his family remembered, included drinking martinis at the Ritz Hotel in Paris with Ernest Hemingway, using his mathematical gift to design artillery tables, and multiple jumps as a paratrooper.

Maury attended Harvard Business School where he met his future wife, Liz, who worked for a professor on campus. Their whirlwind courtship led them to marriage and a wonderful life together in Madrid, Paris, New York, London and Shelter Island.

Maury was a co-founder of Sea Containers Ltd., and an outside investor of Innocent Drinks, which was later sold to the Coca-Cola company. He taught entrepreneurship at Southampton College and London Business School, where he was known for his lively and interactive teaching style.

Maury enjoyed sailing his Grand Soleil Chaika on Peconic Bay, fox hunting in Sussex with his daughter Lisa, collecting modern European art and skiing in Les 3 Vallées, particularly during his annual January trip with his son Marc. Predeceased by his wife Elizabeth, and an infant son, he is survived by his son Marc, daughter Lisa, daughter-in-law Margot, son-in-law Paul Wimer and seven grandchildren: Hannah, Adam, Matthew, William, Paul, Alexander and Levi.

Maury’s fondest early memories were of his days at St. Bernard’s School in New York, and in lieu of flowers, gifts in his memory can be made to St. Bernard’s School, 4 East 98th Street, New York, NY 10029.

A private service of burial will be held at the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church.

A celebration of his life will be held in the summer of 2022.