Page 60 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 93, No. 4 Summer 2013

Mr. Stokes became a cabaret impresario,
producing and directing cabaret events
for Newport’s Redwood Library and
Atheneum, the Dunes Club, and other
venues in the Northeast. He was also the
first U.S. president and founding director
of the Pestalozzi children’s charity. Among
Mr. Stokes’s personal passions were
sailing, skiing, tennis, and croquet. He
was a member of the Society of Colonial
Wars in the state of Rhode Island and of
Providence Plantations.
Mr. Stokes is survived by his wife of
49 years, Alloe; his three children; and
four grandchildren. Many relatives on
both sides of his family attended SPS,
including his father and his Uncle Owen;
his uncle William R. Wister (1923); his
cousin, William R. Wister Jr. (1951); and
his daughter, Anne Kemble Stokes ’90.
1951
Richard Platt
of Savannah, Ga.,
died in his sleep
on April 18, 2013.
He had recently
celebrated his
80th birthday
by spending the
month of Decem-
ber with his
beloved wife,
Audrey, in Paris.
Born December 13, 1932, in Hartford,
Conn., Dick Platt was the son of Richard
Platt and Mary Stuart Gordon Platt, and
grandson of George A. Gordon of the Form
of 1889. Mr. Platt spent his childhood with
his siblings Arthur ’53, Peggy, and Louis
in St. James, N.Y., and Duxbury, Mass., and
enjoyed summers at the Gordon Cottage
on Tybee Island, Ga. He prepared for
St. Paul’s at the Green Vale School in Glen
Head, N.Y. Mr. Platt enrolled at SPS as a
Third Former in the fall of 1947. He enjoyed
spending the spring on Turkey Pond as a
member of the varsity crew.
Mr. Platt attended Yale, where he was a
member of St. Anthony Hall and the Torch
Society. He fulfilled his military service
with the U.S. Marine Corps, where he
earned his officer’s commission and flew
combat-ready helicopters. He extended
his service with the Central Intelligence
Agency Field Operations Section, pri-
marily based in Africa.
Upon his return, Mr. Platt worked in
the securities business with his father in
St. Louis, while completing his law degree
at Washington University. He then moved
to Washington, D.C., where he began his
career in banking with a focus on provid-
ing for the underserved – a commitment
that defined both his career and his per-
sonal life. As a member of the Federal
Home Loan Bank Board, Mr. Platt was
directly responsible for providing the
management necessary to allow for
Neighborhood Housing Services to be-
come a national model. He later served
as director of the Office of Housing and
Urban Affairs and the Federal Savings
and Loan Insurance Corporation. He
finished his career at First Federal of
Michigan in Detroit, retiring as executive
vice president after navigating the bank
through the savings and loan crisis of
the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Mr. Platt’s commitment to his commu-
nity extended outside his profession as
he served as a member of the Detroit
Chamber of Commerce and the Regional
Transportation Commission. Following
his retirement to Savannah, Ga., he chaired
the campaign to restore the Juliette Gordon
Low Birthplace and was instrumental in
creating the Savannah Philharmonic,
serving as its first chairman. Mr. Platt
was a member of the Savannah Cosmos
Club, the Savannah Benevolent Society,
Christ Church Episcopal of Savannah,
the Ogelthorpe Club, and the Savannah
Golf Club.
An avid sportsman who enjoyed hockey,
squash, and fishing, Mr. Platt also enjoyed
traveling extensively, particularly to France.
He was proud of his military service and,
in 2012, he wore Navy wings when he
received the Medal of Freedom from
President Obama, the nation’s highest
civilian citation, which was presented in
honor of his great-aunt, Juliette Gordon
Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of America.
Mirroring the traits of his great-aunt, Mr.
Platt exuded integrity, grace, and stead-
fast honesty.
Mr. Platt will be greatly missed by his
wife of 32 years, Audrey Dunn Platt; his
three children, Lee Hodges, Richard Platt,
and Nina de Burgh; 10 grandchildren;
and Audrey’s children, whom he con-
sidered his own, William, Eleanor, and
Jonathan Rhangos.
1951
William Coolidge Smith
a former Con-
gressional liaison
to Vice President
Walter Mondale
and accomplished
attorney, died
January 7, 2012,
in Providence, R.I.
He was 78.
Born in Phila-
delphia on October 25, 1933, he was the
youngest son of Geoffrey Story Smith of
the Form of 1918 and Catherine Coolidge
Smith. The youngest Smith prepared for
St. Paul’s at St. Alban’s School in Wash-
ington, D.C. He followed older brothers
Geoffrey ’42 and Kaighn ’46 to Milliville,
entering as a First Former in the fall of
1945. Mr. Smith was a strong student and
able athlete, earning his varsity letter in
football. He also enjoyed singing with the
Glee Club.
Mr. Smith went on to Harvard and law
school at the University of Pennsylvania,
where he served as editor of Penn’s
Law Review. In 1959, Mr. Smith married
Gretchen Abigail Jordan, with whom he
had three children, Daniel ’78, Derek, and
Story. The couple eventually divorced.
Mr. Smith worked for Duane, Morris,
and Heckscher in Philadelphia for several
years before moving to Washington, D.C.,
where he served as legal counsel for
numerous committees in the U.S. Senate.
During his eight years in that position,
Mr. Smith worked for Senators Joseph
Clark, Robert F. Kennedy, George McGov-
ern, and Walter F. Mondale. After serving
as Senator Mondale’s chief of staff, Mr.
Smith later became Congressional liai-
son during Mondale’s vice presidency.
In 1981, Mr. Smith returned to private
practice and consulting until his retire-
ment in the mid-90s.
Mr. Smith loved politics, sailing, antiques,
and Maine. The self-proclaimed “political
junkie” eventually retired to Florida, but
spent the last four years of his life near his
son in Providence, R.I. He is survived by
his three children and five grandchildren.
DECEASED
60