Robert Coquillette, retired W.R. Grace executive and community service volunteer, died December 22, 2010 at a Boston area hospital. He was 92.
Mr. Coquillette was born October 31, 1918 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. As a senior at Flint Central High School, Michigan, he was awarded a Conant fellowship to attend Harvard College, from which he received his B.S. degree Magna Cum Laude in Chemistry in 1939 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He began his business career with the Procter & Gamble Mfg. Co. at its Ivorydale factory in Cincinnati, Ohio. There he held a number of positions in production management in three different manufacturing locations.
Mr. Coquillette was commissioned in 1944 and became the navigation officer on the USS Hanson DD832, a destroyer serving as part of the initial occupation force in Japan. Upon return, he joined the Dewey & Almy Chemical Company of Cambridge, Massachusetts as superintendent of its Rubber Specialties Division. In 1955, after the company’s acquisition by W.R. Grace & Co., he became general manager of its Overseas Chemical Division with operations in Europe, South America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
In 1962, Mr. Coquillette was appointed president of the Ohio Rubber Co. Division of the Eagle-Picher Company of which he was a vice president and director, and he and his family moved to Shaker Heights, Ohio. In 1965, he rejoined Grace as vice president of the Corporate Administration Group in its headquarters office in New York City, establishing residence in Plandome, New York. In 1967, he was elected a corporate vice president and deputy group executive of Grace’s Chemical Group with particular responsibility for the Group’s administration.
He was elected a corporate executive vice president and head of the Corporate Administration Group in January 1972. In this position he was responsible for Corporate Communications, Public Relations, Stockholder Relations, Headquarters Administration, Human Resources and Personnel Programs and the Legal Division.
In 1976, he took additional responsibility for the Corporate Office for Research and Technical Services. In 1978, he was named sector executive of Grace’s food-service businesses comprising more than 800 restaurants employing more than 40,000 persons with annual sales of over $1 billion. From 1981 until his retirement in 1983, he was a member of Grace’s Corporate Executive Office and of the Executive Committee.
Following retirement, Mr. Coquillette resided in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, where he remained active as a business consultant serving on the boards of several small companies and as a community volunteer. He was a trustee of The Old Dartmouth Historical Society, The Mattapoisett Historical Society, The Mattapoisett Land Trust and The Tri-County Music Association. He was a member of the American Chemical Society, the Harvard Club of New York City, the New York Yacht Club, the Mattapoisett Yacht Club, the Mattapoisett Casino and the Chemical Management & Resources Association of which he was recipient of the 1977 Award for Executive Excellence. He was a member of the Permanent Class Committee of the Harvard College Class of 1939.
Mr. Coquillette was married for 66 years to Dagmar Bistrup, now deceased. They are survived by two married sons, seven grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren. He will be much missed.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, February 19 at 2:00 P.M. at the Mattapoisett Congregational Church, Mattapoisett, Massachusetts. The family suggests that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to the Dagmar Coquillette Memorial Scholarship Fund at the Mattapoisett Congregational Church P.O. Box 284 Mattapoisett, MA 02739.