64
DECEASED
After leaving St. Paul’s, Mr. Halsey
attended St. Martin’s Episcopal School
and Tulane University, before graduating
from the University of Houston with a
degree in computer science. He settled
initially in the Houston area. Mr. Halsey
worked for Mobil in Brussels, Belgium,
in the 1970s, and as an independent con-
tractor for IBM in Mexico in the 1980s.
In addition to his career abroad, Mr.
Halsey and his wife, Toy Garate Halsey,
traveled extensively, particularly to Europe
and Argentina, where his extended fam-
ily resided. Mr. Halsey was active in the
Medical Bridges group in Casa Argen-
tina, and also enjoyed many stateside
interests.
He was a member of the Homeowner’s
Association of Bay Harbor in Galveston,
Texas. A sports fan, Mr. Halsey was an
avid supporter of the New Orleans Saints,
the Houston Rockets, and the Cleveland
Indians. He also enjoyed a wide circle of
friends, with whom he shared fishing and
hunting stories and played cards.
Mr. Halsey is survived by his wife, Toy
Garate Halsey; his sister, Elizabeth Halsey
Register; his stepchildren, Pegy Zepeda
and Dennis Brando, and their spouses;
three grandchildren; and many cousins,
nieces, nephews, and extended family.
He was predeceased by his sister, Adair
Halsey Marsh, and his brother-in-law,
Woody Register.
1972
Fielding Ewing “Chip”
Lamason Jr.
a former environmental lawyer, accom-
plished musician, and truly funny, clever,
thoughtful, and kind man, died suddenly
of a heart attack on July 23, 2015, at his
home in Vashon, Wash. He was 61.
Born on February 20, 1954, in Bryn
Mawr, Pa., he was the son of Fielding Ewing
“Tex” Lamason and Mary F. Lamason. He
grew up in Villanova, Pa., before entering
St. Paul’s School as a First Former in the
fall of 1966. Mr. Lamason was known as
an articulate and personable young man
at the School and a popular contributor
to a variety of activities.
A skilled athlete who competed with Old
Hundred and Shattuck, he played on the
SPS football, hockey, and lacrosse teams.
He was a member of the Lower School
all-star baseball championship team in
1966; soccer and football title teams in
1966 and 1967; hockey championship teams
in 1967 and 1968; and third crew champ-
ions in 1968. In 1971, he was a defenseman
on the SPS hockey team that played against
Choate at Madison Square Garden.
Also a creative type, Mr. Lamason was
known for his interests in writing and act-
ing. He was a president of Maroon Key,
managing editor of
The
Pelican
and a
member of the Drama Club. He wrote and
directed many of his formmates in the
Sixth Form show – a comedy review – in
1972. He also sang in the Choir. As a Sixth
Former, Mr. Lamason completed an inde-
pendent study project, working on a play
called “The Clown” with Mr. Edgar, the
adviser of the Drama Club.
The play was praised for its originality
and excellence. Mr Lamason earned High
Honors in creative writing and his articles
appeared regularly in the
Horae Scho-
lasticae
. Generous in spirit, he devoted
countless hours to the Missionary Society.
He received his SPS diploma with honors
in English and was the recipient of the
Thayer Medal, awarded annually to the
student who has contributed most to
theatre, and the Heckscher Prize for his
work with
The Pelican
.
Mr. Lamason’s academic career contin-
ued at Princeton, where he was president
of the Princeton Triangle Club, producing
two theatrical projects and a national tour.
He also played hockey and lacrosse. He
continued on to Villanova University Law
School, receiving his J.D. in 1983 and a
master’s in environmental public policy
in 1994.
Mr. Lamason spent 13 years, from 1984
to 1997, as a lawyer for the U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency, litigating air-
pollution cases against mobile source
polluters (motor vehicles, airplanes, loco-
motives, and other engines and equipment).
He eventually became a stay-at-home
father and recording musician.
Mr. Lamason had self-proclaimed
eclectic interests in music, particularly
traditional and modern music from Mali
and West Africa, Cuba, and Brazil. He
enjoyed writing and recording his own
music. His CD,
All Young
, was released
in 2001. A few years later, in 2004, he
moved to New Orleans to serve as
executive director of the New Orleans
Musicians’ Clinic, a nonprofit providing
preventive healthcare to professional
musicians. In addition, he worked on
expanding the innovative healthcare
model to cities around the U.S. Following
Hurricane Katrina in 2005, he relocated
to the Seattle area. In Seattle, he founded
SmartFind with his partner, Joyanne Sloan,
with the goal of serving up high-tech
marketing products for the real estate
industry.
SPS friend and Princeton roommate
Clint Van Dusen ’72 remembered Mr.
Lamason this way: “At St. Paul’s, he
taught me to love the guitar playing of
Jimi Hendrix. At Princeton, he stopped
a fight between two ice hockey players
by pulling their jerseys over their heads
and pinning their shirts to the ice. He
was a scholar, athlete, and free spirit,
and he fully lived his life. Would we all
be so free.”
For his 40th SPS reunion in 2012, Mr.
Lamason wrote to his formmates, “If the
passing of the years has brought any
wisdom, it is that family and friends are
really the only important things in life,
that we should always follow our pas-
sions, and, although our knees may ache,
that we can always stay in touch with our
inner child.”
Chip Lamason is survived by his father,
Fielding Ewing Lamason; his stepmother,
Nancy; his daughters, Sara and Fiona;
his brother, Kip; and his sisters, Mimi
and Meg.
