Page 55 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 93, No. 4 Summer 2013

rich history began in the early 1700s, when
it produced a flourishing tobacco crop.
More recently, the farm has been known
for the training and selling of thorough-
bred horses.
Mr. Pittman is survived by his wife of
54 years, Barbara “Bobby” Pittman; four
children from his first marriage, Andrew,
Nancy Pittman Pinchot, Rosamond
Pittman Casey, and Tamara Pittman;
three children from his current marriage,
Patricia Pittman ’76, Steuart Jr., and Anne
“Romey” Pittman ’83; and 15 grandchildren.
1939
George Sturgis Pillsbury
a prominent
Minnesota civic
and business
leader, died on
October 13, 2012.
He was 91. He
died at his own
home just next
door to South-
ways, his parents’
home on Lake Minnetonka, where he was
born on July 17, 1921.
The son of John S. Pillsbury and Eleanor
L. Pillsbury, he was youngest of six child-
ren. His grandfather was Charles A. Pills-
bury, one of the founders of the famous
flour milling company and its first presi-
dent. His maternal great-grandfather
was Gen. Samuel Sturgis, the Civil War
general for whom the city in South
Dakota is named.
Mr. Pillsbury attended the Blake School
before entering the Second Form at St.
Paul’s School in 1934. Smart and athletic,
he earned Second Testimonials in three
of his years at the School and received
two Dickey Prizes in math. He played first
football and hockey for Isthmian, rowed
with Shattuck, and participated on the
SPS football and hockey teams. He served
as second vice president of the Scientific
Society and was a member of the School
Council. He graduated cum laude.
Mr. Pillsbury’s family has a long asso-
ciation with St. Paul’s School and Concord,
N.H., where his great-grandfather was
mayor before moving to Minnesota. Fellow
SPS alumni include his three brothers,
two sons, eight nephews, and several
grand-nephews and grand-nieces. Mr.
Pillsbury remained devoted to the School,
serving twice as a form agent and as a
regional representative and a trustee for
five years, from 1963 to 1968. He was a
member of the John Hargate Society.
After St. Paul’s, Mr. Pillsbury attended
Yale University, graduating in 1943. He
went on to serve as a Marine Lieutenant
during World War II, receiving a Presi-
dential Unit Commendation. He returned
to Minneapolis and met Sally Whitney.
The couple “dated” while campaigning
door-to-door together for a Republican
congressional candidate and were married
in 1947. They had four children. To his
last day, Mr. Pillsbury said marrying Sally
was the smartest thing he ever did.
Upon his graduation from Yale, Mr. Pills-
bury had offers to teach at the graduate
level in the Yale Math Department and to
teach at the Groton School in Massachu-
setts. He also considered studying law.
Instead, he went to work for the Pillsbury
Company and spent two decades there.
By the late 1960s, however, he decided to
leave Pillsbury’s management in order to
spend more time with his family, retiring
as executive vice president. He was the
last member of the family to be active in
running the Pillsbury Company.
Mr. Pillsbury’s lifelong passion was
politics. Shortly after leaving Pillsbury, he
ran for a state senate seat in Minnesota
and won. He served in the Minnesota State
Senate from 1970 to 1983, supporting
family planning, education, and govern-
mental reform. He leaves a legacy of
active citizenship documented in the
book he co-wrote with Star Tribune
editorial columnist Lori Sturdevant,
The Pillsburys of Minnesota , which was
a 2012 Minnesota Book Award finalist.
“Affable and outgoing, George made
and kept friends, from presidents and
European royalty to winners of the
Pillsbury Bake-Off, which he and Sally
attended faithfully for more than 50
years,” recalled Sturdevant.
Mr. Pillsbury was preceded in death by
siblings John S. Pillsbury Jr. ’31, Edmund
P. Pillsbury ’32, Ella P. Crosby, Charles A.
Pillsbury ’35, and Jane P. Resor. He is sur-
vived by his wife of 65 years, Sally; his
four children, Charles ’65, George ’67,
Katharine, and Sarah; 10 grandchildren;
and one great-grandchild.
1939
William Goadby Post
the only grand-
child of the late
etiquette expert
Emily Post, died
on March 26,
2013, in Naples,
Fla., at the age of
91, surrounded by
his children and
grandchildren.
Born in New York City on July 4, 1921,
he was the son of Edwin M. Post and
Barbara Loew. Mr. Post prepared for
St. Paul’s at the Buckley School and entered
the School as a Second Former in the fall
of 1934. Described by one faculty member
as “a brilliant boy with great independence
of spirit and strong will power,” Mr. Post
consistently earned testimonials for his
excellence in academics. He served as head
editor and treasurer of the SPS Pictorial,
secretary of Model Railroad, a Sunday
school teacher, and a member of the Scien-
tific Association, the Library Association,
and the Dramatic Club.
He attended the Massachusetts Insti-
tute of Technology, graduating with the
Class of 1942, then served two years in
the U.S. Navy’s Special Devices Division,
designing technical equipment for Navy
ships. In 1944, Mr. Post married the love
of his life, Elizabeth “Libby” Lindley. The
couple raised four children, Allen, Bill Jr.,
Cindy, and Peter. The Posts shared a love
of travel, golf, fishing, entertaining, and
living life to its fullest.
In the early 1950s, Mr. Post founded
Hobbs Equipment Company with his busi-
ness partner, Dick Maulsby. The two ran
the truck equipment company until 1974.
Following the death of his grandmother
Emily in 1960, Mr. Post and his wife, Libby,
managed the Emily Post Institute, a center
for etiquette, until 1995.
Known as a wise, considerate, kind, and
thoughtful man, Mr. Post enjoyed the com-
pany of his wife, children, and grand-
children. He was an avid golfer, expert
fisherman, creative woodworker, and
lifelong pilot, who believed that “if some-
thing is worth doing, it’s worth doing right.”
Mr. Post will be missed by his four child-
ren and eight grandchildren. He was pre-
deceased in 2010 by his wife of 66 years,
Libby, and in 1987 by his grandson, Paul. 55