Obituary of Arthur P. Vautrain

Arthur P. Vautrain, beloved husband of Alice Agnes Vautrain of Duxbury, Massachusetts and inspiration to his five daughters, died on February 7, 2018. Art was a renaissance man, a gifted strategist blessed with lifelong intellectual vitality and engaged in a limitless range of interests. Art was born on October 20, 1931 in Holyoke, Massachusetts to Arthur Philip Vautrain senior and Helen Cecilia Shea. Art was, however, a consummate Bostonian, proud son of the Athens of America, passionate fan of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and opera, Museum of Fine Arts, and Pats, Bruins and Sox. He was a gourmand, happiest savoring Alice’s cuisine. Precocious and determined, Art was drawn to contribute to a greater purpose at an early age. Scarcely nine years old, he pedaled his two-wheeler to a hilltop Civil DefensePatrol tower to glass the seas off Quincy Bay for German U-boats; at night he listened to German short-wave radio broadcasts. Art mastered Latin, Greek and German at Boston College High School, graduating in 1949. He won a scholarship to Boston College Honors program by acing a competitive examination. He graduated in 1953. His early reading of Aristotle, Sophocles and Demosthenes stimulated a lifelong pursuit of knowledge, truth and excellence, the Greek virtue His profound knowledge of history and eloquence engendered amusing and sage commentary on current news. Art prized reasoning, and encouraged his daughters to study problems from all angles. He encouraged energetic debate around the dinner table, opening to each one of them issues of the day and the world of possibilities. He enlisted each daughter as a helper for weekend projects, teaching each to grow a sublime tomato, savor Robert Frost, solve quadratic equations, stack a cord of wood and build the perfect fire. Art’s wisdom drew from an insatiable curiosity and drive to comprehend. This was far from a solitary pursuit; Art shared these passions with his pals from Boston College high school. They shared Art’s patriotism and love of life, and remained as close as brothers throughout their lives. After joining the Navy, Art served as Lieutenant (jg) aboard the cruiser U.S.S. Roanoke during the Korean War, in the South China Sea, the Pacific and Japan. While ashore on leave in Long Beach, California, he courted Alice, the love of his life, the start of a sixty-year romance. Following marriage in 1957, Art enrolled at Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration where he was awarded an MBA in 1959. Art worked in Philadelphia for the Philco Corporation as an administrator for Air Force systems contracts. He then joined Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut, as a market research analyst. Within a few years he was promoted to supervisor of long-range planning in project management of nuclear-powered ballistic missile-carrying submarines. Art subsequently steered his Volkswagen Beetle back to Pennsylvania to campaign door to door on behalf of Jack Kennedy. In 1962, Art lifted his daughters into the conical hold of the USS Lafayette submarine for a tour. The little kids admired tight arrayed bunk beds and sampled corn dogs in the chow hall. The next day, the family witnessed First Lady Jaqueline Kennedy christian the sub which then glided into the sea. In 1966, Art transferred to Planning Engineer for General Dynamics Corporation in Quincy, Massachusetts, and the family relocated to a 1790 Federal gem where they have resided for fifty years. In the early 70’s, Art transferred to Badger America Corporation in Cambridge, Mass, where he became senior Planning Engineer. He forged lifelong friendships with his colleagues from all over the world. Art devoured the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire while commuting to Boston on the P&B bus. He also acquired an encyclopedic grasp of the history of the Civil War and World Wars I and II . In 1984-1985, Art worked for Badger projects at Sukyng Oil Company in Seoul and the Ulsan Refinery in South Korea. In 1993, he served at Royal Dutch Petroleum in the Hague, the Netherlands, a base from which he and Alice explored Europe. Over the years, Art and Alice traveled the globe, from Sarajevo to South Africa, Russia, Finland, Normandy,Tuscany and beyond. From 1995-2004, Art served as member and Chair of the Duxbury Conservation Commission where he championed acquisition of strategic conservation lands and open space. His successful preservation of Camp Wing and four key parcels cemented his legacy for conservation in Duxbury. Art enjoyed the camaraderie of his colleagues on the Commission. Weekends found Art and Alice circumnavigating Clarks Island in Duxbury Bay in their Beetle Cat. Art fostered the growth of self-reliance and curiosity in his daughters, encouraging broad horizons through debate of domestic and global affairs. As the family criss-crossed the U.S. and Canada on camping trips, he taught them to navigate, explore and pitch a tent. All of them inherited his love of nature. A gifted photographer, Art’s post-war photos of Japan are breathtaking; one that depicted a young boy who suffered as a result of Nagasaki, powerfully communicated, «Never Again.» Pneumonia, a complication of neurodegenerative MSA, claimed Art at age 86. In addition to Alice, his beloved wife of sixty years, Art leaves a brother, Stuart Vautrain (Mary) of Acton, California; and sisters, Karen Alexander (Al) of Cornelius, North Carolina, and Linda (the late Paul) Barcelo of Concord, New Hampshire. His late sister, Nancy Scanlon, died in 2005. Art leaves his five daughters: Michele Vautrain Halsted (David) of Bradford, New Hampshire; Nicole Vautrain of Osterville, Massachusetts; Denise Vautrain Fitzgerald (the late Michael) of Bolton, Massachusetts; Annette Vautrain Madden (Stephen) of Weston, Massachusetts; and Gabrielle Vautrain of New York City. He also leaves his cherished grandchildren: Annaliese, Eliza and Zachary Heussler, Paige, Cicely and Natalie Madden; and Thaddeus Arthur Rutkowski and nieces and nephews. Visiting Hours will be held from 4-8 p.m. on Monday, February 12, 2018, at the Shepherd Funeral Home, 216 Main St. (Route 106) in Kingston, MA 02364. A celebratory Mass will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 13, 2018, at Holy Family Church, 601 Tremont St. (Route 3A), in Duxbury, Mass. 02332. Contributions in memory of Arthur P. Vautrain may be made to the Wildlands Trust, 675 Long Pond Road, Plymouth, MA 02360.