Obituary of Gordon William Pratt

Gordon William Pratt, age 89, passed away Tuesday, December 10th at his home in Lake Placid. Gordon was the son of Gordon L. Pratt and Audrey (DeLong) Pratt. He was born on August 2, 1924 in Lake Placid, New York. Gordon graduated from the Lake Placid High School in 1943 and was a Veteran of World War II serving in the South Pacific as a Radar Operator. After returning home, he attended Albany Business School. He worked selling real estate and insurance for Merrill L. Thomas and Northern Insuring before leaving to become the proprietor of the Gordon W Pratt Insurance Agency in 1978. Gordon was very active in his community. He was a member of the Masons and a former board member of: the Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce, Lions Club International, Lake Placid Central School Board of Education, Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES), Lake Placid Memorial Hospital, Community Board Member for the merger of the Lake Placid and Saranac Lake Hospitals, Lake Placid/North Elba Historical Society, St Eustace Vestry, Lake Placid Ski Club and Lake Placid High School Alumni Association; serving as President on most of these boards. Gordon was an avid golfer and loved fishing and hunting. In his early years he was a Ski Instructor and Race Coach at Scott's Cobble and Mt. Whitney where he met his first wife, Elizabeth Fraser d'Avignon. They married in 1955; she predeceased him in 1990, after 35 years of marriage. He then married his second wife, Shirley Elleman, she predeceased him in 2005. His son, Joseph d'Avignon, his sister, Katherine Benham Connor, his brother, Stanley Benham, and his nephew Reginald Benham, also predeceased him. He is survived by his sister, Beverley Pratt Reid; his daughters, Holli Pratt Lynch and her husband Peter, Heather Pratt Perkins and her husband Gregory, Stephanie Fraser d'Avignon and daughter-in-law Karen Trumbull d'Avignon; his grandchildren, Ian Lynch, TJ Lynch, Colin Lynch, Elisa Lynch, Jillian Perkins, Brody Perkins, Betsy Bishop, Andrea Burtech, and Joseph d'Avignon; his sister-in-law Brenda Schoch Hiltz, and many nieces and nephews-Trudy Hamilton, Susan Doehne, Linda Favata, Gregory Benham, Stanley Benham, Bryan Reid, Brent Reid, Brenda Abbott, Bonny Jo Reid, Brock Reid, Bambi Pedu, Babs James, Gordon Hunter, Sandy Hunter, Wyn Schoch, Kim Schoch and Jennifer Donaldson. Calling Hours will be held Monday, December 16th from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the M. B. Clark, Inc. Funeral Home in Lake Placid, NY with a Masonic Prayer Service held at 6:45 PM followed by an American Legion Prayer Service. A Funeral Service will be held Tuesday, December 17th at 11:00 AM at St. Eustace Episcopal Church in Lake Placid. Rev. David Ousley will officiate. Relatives and friends are invited to "light a candle" and share a memory or leave online condolences at www.mbclarkfuneralhome.com . In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made in his name to Lake Placid Masonic Scholarship fund, Lake Placid Volunteer Ambulance, or Lake Placid/North Elba Historical Society.