Francis Lowell Coolidge

Background

Francis Lowell “Frank” Coolidge was born on August 4, 1945, in Waltham, Massachusetts, the only son of Francis Lowell Coolidge and Helen Read Curtis Coolidge. Waltham is a city in Middlesex County, west of Boston, whose industrial history included the American Waltham Watch Company, a major American watchmaker of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

His family line connected him with Thomas Jefferson, a Coolidge ancestor, whose estate at Monticello became a lasting interest for him. He was also a nephew of Horatio Colony II, whose property in Keene, New Hampshire, a city and the seat of Cheshire County, later became the focus of his civic work.

Coolidge spent most of his life in Boston. He retired to Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2013, drawn to the area by his interest in Monticello, and he died there on August 31, 2017.

Education

Coolidge graduated cum laude from Harvard College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1968. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and its undergraduate program provided the academic foundation for his later legal training.

He then attended Boston University School of Law, where he earned a Juris Doctor magna cum laude in 1971. Founded in 1872, the law school is part of Boston University, a private university in Boston. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in the same year he completed his law degree.

Career

Coolidge's professional career was centered on Ropes & Gray, a Boston law firm founded in 1865 by John Codman Ropes and John Chipman Gray. The firm originally served mainly individual clients and Harvard University, and it began moving toward corporate law after a railroad company became a client in the late 1870s.

Coolidge became a partner at Ropes & Gray and worked in its private client group, where his specialty was estates and trusts. His practice covered trust and estate administration, estate and gift taxation, charitable trust and fiduciary law, and sophisticated domestic and international transactions for individuals and, in some cases, several generations of families. He also served as a trustee for many established trusts and worked with non-profit organizations.

He retired from Ropes & Gray in 2010 after a long association with the firm, and he moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2013.

Achievements

• Worked with Horatio Colony II to establish the Horatio Colony House Museum and the Horatio Colony Nature Preserve in Keene, New Hampshire, and helped set up the trust document that served as a legal guide for operating both properties.

Membership

The Boston Bar Association is a voluntary organization of lawyers practicing in Boston, and Coolidge was a member of it during his legal career. His membership placed him within the professional life of the Boston bar alongside his practice at Ropes & Gray.

The American Cancer Society is a voluntary health organization founded in 1913 in New York to address cancer through research, prevention, and patient services. Coolidge served as its national chairman of the board, and he also belonged to advisory and leadership bodies connected with Harvard University's public health and cancer prevention work, including the Harvard School of Public Health and the Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention.

In Keene, New Hampshire, he worked with Horatio Colony II to establish the Horatio Colony House Museum and the Horatio Colony Nature Preserve, and he remained a trustee of the museum and preserve until his death. He also served on the boards of the International Cancer Foundation and the Hermes Foundation.

• Boston Bar Association , United States

• National chairman of the Board

  American Cancer Society , United States

• Trustee for about 40 years, until his death

  Horatio Colony House Museum and Nature Preserve , United States

• Member, Board of Advisors

  Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention , United States

• Member, Leadership Council

  Harvard School of Public Health , United States

• Trustee or board member

  International Cancer Foundation , United States

• President

  Hermes Foundation , United States

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• The Ropes & Gray memorial described Coolidge as possessed of “great character and integrity,” qualities that the firm said were reflected in both his professional accomplishments and his commitment to public service.

Interests

• Coolidge was a collector of antiques and a connoisseur of the objects he acquired. He was involved in charitable work, most notably in support of Monticello and the American Cancer Society, and he and his wife shared an interest in Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson.

Connections

Coolidge married Marylouise Redmond Coolidge, who survived him and lived with him in Charlottesville, Virginia. The couple had two daughters, Georgina Lowell Coolidge and Lucy Read Coolidge. He was also survived by his sisters, Mary Coolidge, Georgina Bogetto, and Ellen Burbank.

His parents were Francis Lowell Coolidge and Helen Read Curtis Coolidge. Through his uncle Horatio Colony II, he was connected with the Colony family of Keene, New Hampshire, and worked with Horatio Colony II on the museum and nature preserve that bear the Colony name.

Father:

Francis Lowell Coolidge

Mother:

Helen Read Curtis Coolidge

Wife:

Marylouise Redmond Coolidge

Shared his interest in Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson.

Daughter:

Georgina Lowell Coolidge

Daughter:

Lucy Read Coolidge

Sister:

Mary Coolidge

Sister:

Georgina Bogetto

Sister:

Ellen Burbank

References

• Francis Lowell Coolidge obituary, Hill & Wood funeral home Obituary recording his birth in Waltham, his Harvard College and Boston University Law School education, his partnership at Ropes & Gray, his involvement with Monticello and the American Cancer Society, and his survivors.
  2017
• Francis Coolidge, Keene Sentinel obituary Obituary describing his work with Horatio Colony II on the Horatio Colony House Museum and Nature Preserve in Keene, his trusteeship, his legal career at Ropes & Gray, and his board positions in cancer-related and other organizations.
  2017
• Frank Coolidge, 72, Boston Attorney And Collector Article about his death, his career as a retired Ropes & Gray partner specializing in estates and trusts, his move to Charlottesville, and his interest as a collector of antiques.
  2017
• Francis Coolidge, Lawyer in Boston, Massachusetts Legal directory profile documenting his Massachusetts admission in 1971, his partnership at Ropes & Gray, his trust and estate practice, and his Harvard College and Boston University School of Law degrees.