Sidney Wertimer Obituary

WERTIMER, Sidney Sidney Wertimer Jr., an economist passionately devoted to teaching, and who, at a small college in upstate New York, influenced the lives and careers of numerous corporate CEOs and captains of finance as well as political figures, died on February 1 at the Medical University of South Carolina, at the age of 84. For more than a half-century at Hamilton College, Professor Wertimer served the institution and its students in a variety of capacities. It was, however, as instructor, advisor, counselor, and cajoler to generations of undergraduates, among them J. Carter Bacot, former chairman and CEO of the Bank of New York, Joel W. Johnson, current chairman and CEO of Hormel Foods Corp., A. G. Lafley, C.E.O. of Proctor and Gamble, and former Governor of Delaware and now Congressman Michael N. Castle, that he left his most lasting impression. Born in Buffalo, New York, on October 28, 1920, Sidney Wertimer grew up modestly aspiring to be the biggest life insurance salesman in the city, a goal he was fated never to achieve. Soon after his graduation from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1942, he found himself on active duty as an ensign with the U.S. Navy in the midst of World War II. After participating in the invasion of Luzon in the Philippines and the first naval bombardment of the Japanese home islands, Lt. Wertimer was released from military service following the war's end. He returned to his hometown to obtain an M.A. degree in economics from the University of Buffalo before venturing abroad to earn a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics in 1952. He was hired as an associate professor of economics at Hamilton and, for the next 40 years until his formal retirement, taught courses in finance, money and banking, and, most notably, accounting. He also chaired the economics department for a number of years and engaged in amateur acting, semi-professional after-dinner speaking, and volunteer firefighting on the side. Long after his retirement he continued to teach his long-fabled accounting course under special college appointment, and he remained a conspicuous and highly energetic presence on Hamilton's campus. In 1989, as an expression of appreciation, his onetime students joined in establishing a professorship at Hamilton in his name and honor. Professor Wertimer is survived by his wife of 57 years, the former Eleanor M. Walsh, a lawyer and retired executive director of Family Services of Greater Utica, N.Y. Also surviving are four children: Peter, owner of Advertising Service Agency in Mount Pleasant, whose wife is Alicia Mendicino and daughter is Emily Paige Clay; Sheila, owner of Sheila Wertimer Landscape Architects of Charleston, whose husband is Gary Gruca and whose children are Matthew, Kelly and Emily Gruca; Stephen, of New York City (married to Jane Bolster; father of Frances, John and Eva) and Thomas, of Pelham, N.Y. (married to Raylene Salthouse; father of Sidney Rose, Charlotte and Patrick.) In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Professor Wertimer's name to the Town/Gown fund c/o Hamilton College; Clinton, New York; 13323. Arrangements by J. HENRY STUHR, INC., DOWNTOWN CHAPEL. Visit our guestbook at www.charleston.net/deaths.