Skip to content
Obituaries
Link copied to clipboard

George Layng Pew Jr., 77, Yale fund-raiser, volunteer

George Layng Pew Jr., 77, of Villanova and Boothbay Harbor, Maine, a dedicated fund-raiser and volunteer for Yale University, died Wednesday, May 8, of a heart ailment at his Main Line home.

George Layng Pew Jr., 77, of Villanova and Boothbay Harbor, Maine, a dedicated fund-raiser and volunteer for Yale University, died Wednesday, May 8, of a heart ailment at his Main Line home.

Born in Bryn Mawr, Mr. Pew was a member of a famed Philadelphia family. He is a descendant of Thomas Pew, brother of Joseph Newton Pew Sr., who in 1890 founded Sun Oil Co.

Mr. Pew traced his line to J. Edgar Pew, the founder's nephew and the former head of the production department at Sun, said his wife, Sally Chinn Pew.

The son of George L. Pew, Sr., and Catharine Anspach Pew,  he graduated from the Brooks School in North Andover, Mass., in 1954 and Yale College in 1958.

After two years of service in the Army, he worked for Sun in Mississippi, Texas, and Philadelphia. While working for Sun, he received a master's degree in business administration from Drexel University.

In the 1970s, Mr. Pew left Sun to become an independent management consultant for various companies, traveling on business in the United States and abroad. In the 1980s, Mr. Pew became an adjunct professor at Antioch College in Philadelphia.

A longtime fund-raiser and volunteer for Yale University, he served on the University Council and the Yale Crew Association, being the latter's president from 1978 to 1994.

"He rowed in college and then became a manager for the rowing team," his wife said. One of the teams he managed competed in the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, she said.

In recognition of his efforts on behalf of the university, he received the Yale Medal in 1986. Notably, he championed Yale's nascent women's rowing program while increasing alumni support for the men's teams.

He also served as a director of the National Rowing Foundation, vice chairman of the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, trustee of the Island Institute in Rockport, Maine, and board member of Friends' Central School.

He was a board member of Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania in the 1970s until business travel made that impossible. His wife took over and was active as a trustee until 2005.

Most recently, Mr. Pew served as an officer and volunteer in the Coast Guard Auxiliary in Philadelphia and Boothbay Harbor.

He and his wife met through mutual friends. The two moved to Galveston, Texas, before returning north to settle in Villanova.

Surviving, in addition to his wife of 52 years, are sons George Layng 3d and James Edgar; a daughter, Catherine Pew Gandal; and eight grandchildren.

A private gathering will be held later. Burial is private. Condolences to the family may be offered at www.stuardfuneralhome.com.

at 215-854-2611 or bcook@phillynews.com.