John Seeger Obituary

John Seeger (b. February 16, 1914), Director of Camp Killooleet in Hancock since 1949, died January 10th in New Milford, Connecticut after a short illness.

He was a popular teacher at the Dalton School, in Manhattan, in the 1950s and served as Principal of the Fieldston Lower School in Riverdale, NY from 1960 to 1976. John and his wife Eleanor purchased Camp Killooleet from its founders, Margaret Bartlett and Toni Taylor, as a place where they could implement their philosophy of education and child development. A regular and cherished feature of the camp season was his telling of the history of the Upper Valley to generations of camp children at campfires by the lake. During the years they ran the camp together, they made many friends in the Valley. They retired from teaching and moved to Hancock in 1976, where John joined the Valley Rescue Squad.

A few years later they moved to a house John inherited from his aunt in Bridgewater, Connecticut, but continued to run the camp and to divide their time between Bridgewater and Hancock. Singing was one of Johns great joys, and he participated in occasional fundraising concerts for local organizations in Hancock and Rochester. For decades he sang in the summer choir of the Rochester Federated Church, even in 2009, his 95th year. His wife, Ellie, died in 2003. Both Ellie and John loved their connections with campers and their families, and spending time at camp every summer kept them young.

John is survived by a brother, Pete Seeger, two half-sisters Peggy and Barbara, a son Anthony, a daughter Katherine (current Director of Killooleet), and two granddaughters, Elizabeth and Hilia.