African-American gerontologist who celebrated his Scots heritage
Born: 29 August, 1926;
Died: 18 April, 2018
DR ELLSWORTH G Stanton III, who has died aged 91, was a celebrated American gerontologist who employed laughter as part of his lifetime work in studying the ageing process. When he started using a stick in his mid-eighties, he shrugged, saying “I used to have two legs. I now benefit from three”. A favourite aphorism of his was “Don’t get old: get active” – and he demonstrated his words by walking and eschewing lifts.
Passionate about Scotland, his millionaire status allowed him the retirement indulgence of coming here annually. A Knight of the Order of St John in the USA, he rarely missed the annual investiture service of St John in Scotland over more than two decades.
A regular kilt wearer, he sported Munro tartan in memory of his maternal Scots lineage.
Ellsworth George Stanton was born and educated in Evanston, Illinois. A graduate of Roosevelt University in Chicago, he pursued postgraduate degrees at Northwestern University and the Baruch School in New York City.
He served in the United States Army Corps of Engineers in the Philippines as a literacy training instructor and played concert bass with the Manila Symphony as it was being reconstituted after the Second World War. Some of his fortune was made through
turning his lifetime interest in education to business channels.
In some ways, Dr Stanton was born into the wrong country in the wrong heritage. He loved Scotland, tartan, orders of chivalry, and history. He demonstrated practical love for Scotland through philanthropy, being a noted donor to the National Museum
of Scotland, to the Order of St John in Scotland and worldwide, and through orders of chivalry.
In his red kilt, he joined St John services in Wellington Church, Glasgow, the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, as well as in venues including Perth, Dunblane, Ayr and Stirling. He proved a familiar face at the annual service of the Order of the Thistle, Scotland’s greatest order of chivalry, and was rightly proud of being
appointed Knight of the Order of St Maurice & St Lazarus, of the Royal House of Savoy.
Nor was his Munro kilt confined to Scotland: it was his garment of choice in attending St John festivals in England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. A devoted attendee for nearly 20 years at the Salzburg Festival in Austria, his kilted figure became something of a landmark.
Long interested in heraldry, in 2001 he petitioned the College of Arms in London, and gained arms with an appropriate Latin motto, translated as Look After Your Neighbour. Almost immediately, he joined the Heraldry Society of Scotland.
If there was one aspect of Ellsworth that made him stand out, it was his capacity for volunteering. The voluntary aspect of his CV covers more than two pages, from the arts (Metropolitan Opera, New York) to the homeless (New York City Mission), and to children through UNICEF. His lifetime faith saw him actively involved at board level
of leading US church organisations, as well as the task of being session clerk to his local church, Brick Presbyterian, in New York.
It was no coincidence that he was one of the founding members of the US College of Arms Foundation 35 years ago, and was secretary from the start until just a few years ago.
Substantial recognition of the parts Dr Stanton played in philanthropy in the UK came when in 2005, he was appointed an honorary MBE, receiving his insignia at the ceremony in the British Embassy in Washington.
When he stepped back to retire, the many letters of appreciation he
received included notes from Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and Lord Provost Eric Milligan of Edinburgh.
A hugely talented man, accomplished singer and concert bass player, Ellsworth never married. He lived quietly in a rather fine apartment just off Central Park, New York.
GORDON CASELY
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