James Robert Hamilton

James R. Hamilton, 90, of Roxbury, Conn. and Pleasantville, N.Y., passed away peacefully in Pleasantville September 3.

Born September 24, 1935 in New York City, Jim attended Trinity School before accepting an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, from which he graduated in 1957. As an artillery officer with the 101st Airborne Division, he completed both airborne training and Ranger School, as well as the Arctic Warfare School in Fort Greely, Alaska.

Following his active-duty service, Jim enrolled at Harvard Law School, after which he spent four years as an attorney at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, specializing in estate planning, fiduciary law and taxes, before departing to join the investment firm Wertheim & Co., where he established the service that would eventually become Hamilton & Company, the Princeton, NJ-based institutional investment-consulting firm he headed from 1977 until his passing.

Jim contributed time to various conservation, historical preservation, and administrative endeavors, serving on the original Executive Committee of The Scenic Hudson Preservation Conference and as a member of the first Environmental Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. He was also a consultant on federal-state relations to New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller; the Council of State Governments; and the Executive Office of the President of the United States. In the mid-1960s, he was instrumental in the preservation of Olana, the Hudson Valley home of artist Frederic Church, drafting the legislation that ultimately led to its acquisition by New York State.

Outside the office, Jim read widely and evinced deep interests in history and science, among myriad other topics. He was an insightful observer of geopolitical developments and seldom lacked an opinion on current events. Foremost among his interests, however, were the outdoor pursuits he traveled the globe to indulge. An avid bird and big-game hunter, passionate angler and all-around adventurer, Jim variously stalked game, chased fish and muddied his boots on five of the planet's seven continents over the course of his life, though he often seemed just as happy idly casting into his backyard pond for catfish on a quiet afternoon.

A man of some formality, Jim could be socially reserved, though he will be most remembered by those close to him as a dashing figure-keenly intelligent, frequently charming and possessed, always, of a sharp, understated wit.

He is survived by his beloved companion of more than 30 years, Lucy R. Waletzky, M.D. of Pleasantville, as well as a son, Kendall M. Hamilton of Princeton, N.J.; a daughter, Allegra P. Hamilton of Palm Beach, Fla.; two grandsons, William and Turner., and a sister, Judith H. Johnson of Belmont, Mass.