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Harry Houghton Love '52

Jun. 28, 1930-Jan. 29, 2025

Harry Houghton Love ’52, GP’17 died on Jan. 29, 2025, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Born June 28, 1930, in Little Falls, N.Y., he grew up in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn and came to Hamilton from Erasmus Hall. On the Hill, he was a member of the Emerson Literary Society and, in preparation for a medical career, majored in both biology and chemistry. He also played soccer. 

From Hamilton, Harry proceeded to Cleveland to attend medical school at Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) where he prepared for a career as a surgeon. Earning his medical degree in 1956, he moved first to Denver and then Milwaukee for his residencies. While he was in Denver, he met Martha Ann Shelton, a nurse originally from Miami, Okla. They were married on Aug. 8, 1958, and had two sons and a daughter. With his residencies completed, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in July 1961 and was stationed at Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix. 

Honorably discharged with the rank of captain in 1963, Harry and Martha moved to New Hartford. He established his surgical practice in Utica and embarked on a career that would last 34 years, until his retirement in 1997. He was affiliated with St. Luke’s Memorial Hospital where he served as secretary to the medical staff as well as its president. His responsibilities later included serving as medical director for the Mohawk Valley Physicians Health Plan.

In 1970, he was elected a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and was also a member of the Oneida County Medical Society and the New York State Surgical Society. In 1989, he was honored by St. Luke’s on the 25th anniversary of his admission to its staff as a general surgeon.

Harry was also active in his community. He served on the board of the Presbyterian Home in New Hartford, which serves the elderly community, and the Rescue Mission of Utica, which provides “safe lodging, food, clothing, case management, counseling, advocacy, education, referrals, spiritual, and other supportive services.” He was an active member of the New Hartford Presbyterian Church, serving at different times as an elder and as a trustee. He was the team doctor for the Clinton Comets hockey team and also served as a trustee of the Emerson Literary Society — his great-uncle, Henry M. Love, Class of 1883, was a founder.

Among his hobbies was genealogy, focusing on three interrelated families, the Loves, the Houghtons, and the Rutans. The Loves alone would have been a handful. After all, Harry represented the fourth generation of Love men to attend Hamilton, going back to his great-grandfather, William DeLoss Love, Class of 1843.

Following his retirement, Harry and Martha left New Hartford for Saratoga Springs. Just as he had done in New Hartford, he devoted time to making repairs and maintaining their new home as well as their summer residence on Lake Pleasant in the Adirondacks. Often these jobs brought together members of his family, both children and grandchildren.

Harry was a generous supporter of the College. He established a scholarship in honor of his father and his uncle, both alumni of the College, contributed regularly to the Hamilton Fund, donated to capital campaigns, and gave money to the sciences through funds dedicated to the purchase of equipment both for classrooms and laboratories. He aided the swim teams and the Career Center, and was also steward of five scholarships established by family members over the years.

In 1992, Harry stated in his 40th reunion yearbook: “were it not for Hamilton and faculty like [biologist] Dr. Walter Hess and [chemist] Dr. Larry Yourtee, I would not have achieved the profession that has delighted and satisfied me these 36 years.” In the same statement, he eulogized another faculty member in biology: “Dr. Nicholas Gerold, who arrived on the Hill with our class, treated all his biology students as colleagues, and we established a deep friendship that lasted until his untimely death [in 1986 at age 67].”

Harry H. Love was predeceased by three generations of Hamilton men and is survived by his wife, daughter, and two sons, as well as three grandchildren, including Audrey Grave Love ’17. Other surviving Hamilton relatives include cousins Colin Cornelius Forwood ’09, Steven Love Gutterman ’08, Michelle Hays Simonds ’95, and Spencer Thompson Vogelbach ’18.

Necrology Home

Note: Memorial biographies published prior to 2004 will not appear on this list.



Necrology Writer and Contact:
Christopher Wilkinson '68
Email: Chris.Wilkinson@mail.wvu.edu

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