Montpelier, VT Alexander Shipman Parr of Montpelier passed away on March 10, 2011. He was an avid walker and birder who retired at age 85 and moved from Princeton, NJ to Montpelier, VT in 2005. He served as a volunteer at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library where he organized titles and treasured working with the staff. He enjoyed cheering for his granddaughter at tennis matches. Alex was born on June 30, 1919 in Hartford, CT. He was raised in Montclair, NJ with summers in Chester, CT. During the Hurricane of 1938, he was swept off his sailboat on the Connecticut River when he and his brother, Cappy, attempted to tie it down and he survived by clinging to grasses on shore. He graduated from Yale University in 1941. He pursued graduate work in economics at New York University. He actively served in the U.S. Army from 1941 - 46 , then as a reserve officer, retiring with the rank of Major in the Military Intelligence Service in 1957. Fluent in Spanish, he was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru during World War II. In anticipation of a possible Japanese invasion of the South American coastline, he identified and photographed bridges, roads, rivers and points of vulnerability throughout Peru. His stories of hairpin Andean roads were chilling. The family grew to admire Andean culture as a result of their years in Peru. Alex married Dorothy Waterfall Parr in 1942. They had two children, Alexander Shipman Parr Jr. (Sandy) and Leslie Ruth Parr. They lived in Maplewood, NJ. The marriage ended in divorce. He married Wallace Sulcer in 1974. They lived in Chatham and Bay Head, NJ. He was predeceased by her in 1985. He joined the family business, Parr Electric Company, in Newark, NJ serving the large industries in the northeast. He progressed from clerk to president of the company. He was active in the Rotary. Following a long career there, he retired, then began a new career in the NJ Department of Labor where he made many new friends, eventually retiring in 2005. Alex was a life-long opera buff, especially admiring Dame Joan Sutherland. He was a tennis player and fisherman. He enjoyed walking in the woods with his dog, Petie. He loved a visit to Berlin Pond and Hubbard Park with a pair of binoculars. He enjoyed literature and was a member of the book club at Westview Meadows. He attended services at Christ Episcopal Church in Montpelier. He was treasured for his dry sense of humor which he maintained up to the last. Alex is survived by his children, Sandy Parr of Bound Brook, NJ and Leslie Parr of Montpelier, his granddaughter, Maria Waterfall Parr of Montpelier and by his step-children, Gordon and Barbara Sulcer of Morristown, NJ, Deborah and Gifford Boyce-Smith of San Francisco, CA and Charity and Christopher Poth of Darien, CT. His beloved nieces and nephews include Charles Parr of Morristown, NJ, Northam Parr of Rumney, NH, Laura Parr of Vero Beach, FL, Charles Buffon of Chevy Chase, MD, James Buffon of Carpenteria, CA, and Emily Buffon of Eugene, OR. His brother and best friend, Charles "Cappy" M. Parr died in 1969. He will be buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford, CT. Condolences may be expressed at www.guareandsons.com. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to the Kellogg Hubbard Library, 135 Main St, Montpelier, VT 05602.