William Ludington, 71, Was Edgartown Visitor

William Fletcher Ludington, resident of Vero Beach, Fla., and Edgartown, died Nov. 27, 2006. He was 71 years old.

Mr. Ludington, a retired business executive, was born to Francis Henry Ludington and Mary Bedford Harris Ludington in New York on March 5, 1935. He graduated from the Loomis School, Windsor, Conn., in 1954, and from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., in 1958. He served in U.S. Army.

His business career began with the Simmons Company in New York, Chicago and Minneapolis, prior to joining the Chase Bag Company in 1961. Mr. Ludington was a member of the fourth among five generations in his family to work for this company, which was established in 1847.

He served in several capacities in St. Louis and New York city, and as president and chief executive officer at the headquarters office in Greenwich, Conn.

Following the sale of Chase to Union Camp Corporation in 1990, Mr. Ludington continued with Union Camp until his retirement in 1994 and before the subsequent acquisition of Union Camp by the International Paper Company. He was a member of the National Flexible Packaging Association Board of Directors.

Through his relationship with the International Executive Service Corp., Mr. Ludington established a board of directors for Interstate Resources, Inc., a Christian Lebanese-owned U.S. paper and corrugated box manufacturing company with headquarters in Reston, Va. He served as vice chairman.

Mr. Ludington was co-chairman of the board of the Forum for World Affairs in Stamford, Conn. He served as board member for the Southwestern Connecticut Commerce and Industry Association, the Connecticut Society to Prevent Blindness, the Lighthouse for the Blind in St. Louis, and the Community Church in Vero Beach, Fla.

He was a member of the John's Island Club, Woodway Country Club in Darien, Conn., and the Biltmore Forest Country Club in Asheville, N.C.

He admired and was influenced by both his father, Francis H. Ludington, and his father in law, coach Ralph Winthrop Erickson. As a result, he was grounded in the characteristics of fair dealing, teamwork and leadership that were important to his life. He was president of Gamma Phi of Delta Kappa Epsilon, continued an active involvement throughout his life, and cherished their values of brotherhood and friendship.

Survivors include his wife, Betty Ann Erickson Ludington; his daughters, Callaway Ludington Zuccarello of St. Louis, Mo. and Kristin Wishart Ludington Zammit of Stamford, Conn.; his sons, Hoyt Winthrop Ludington of Boston and William Fletcher Ludington Jr. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; six grandchildren, Casey Francis and Mary Barbara Zuccarello, Chase Erickson and Tyleigh Wishart Zammit, William John and Stacy Gale Ludington; his sister Mayde Ludington Henningsen of Pelham Manor, N.Y. and Vero Beach, Fla., and brother Francis Henry Ludington of Pelham Manor, N.Y.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Ralph Erickson Memorial Scholarship Fund, The Loomis Chaffee School, Windsor, Conn. A memorial service will be held at the Vero Beach Community Church at a date to be announced later.