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M e m o r i a l
Harry E. Figgie, Jr. H
onorary Trustee Harry E. Figgie, Jr., a loyal friend, Trustee and generous donor to Gilmour Academy who built the Harry E. Figgie Field House on campus in honor of his father, passed away July 14, 2009. He and his wife, Nancy, had two sons who were Gilmour graduates – Mark Figgie ’74, an orthopedic surgeon in New York, and Matthew Figgie ’84, chair and CEO of Amalgamated Enterprises Inc. Their son Harry E. Figgie III died in 1999. The couple have seven grandchildren, including Catherine ’03 and Harry E. Figgie IV ’02. Figgie was founder, chairman and CEO of Figgie International Inc., which sold fire protection and safety equipment, military equipment, machinery, sports equipment and insurance and real estate services. Under his leadership, the Fortune 500 firm grew to $1.5 billion in annual sales. His obituary in The Wall Street Journal noted that Figgie’s “Bankruptcy 1995” best seller “warned the U.S. it would be crushed by its national debt.” Figgie was co-chair of Ronald Reagan’s Grace Commission, which studied government inefficiency. Over the years, the Figgie family supported Gilmour’s Endowment Fund and student scholarships at the Academy. When Gilmour’s Class of 1985 invited Figgie to be commencement speaker, he advised the graduates “to get as much education as possible, because education permits one to accept opportunities as they come along.” According to an article in Gilmour Magazine, he told the students “never be afraid to be different – be a leader; select a role model; never be afraid to take a chance; and try not to get blocked in a career – always have an alternate fork in the road ahead.” A highly educated man, Figgie earned a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Case Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University and a law degree from Cleveland Marshall Law School. He was head of the Figgie Family Charitable Foundation, which funded educational programs and helped to endow six chairs. “Harry Figgie believed that student development through participation enabled young Gilmour athletes to cultivate their talents in an appropriate athletic environment,” says Gilmour Headmaster Brother Robert Lavelle, C.S.C. “His loyalty and support of Gilmour has benefitted generations of young people at the Academy immensely.”
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