Born in New York on August 29, 1918, he was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Taft Eaton (Ina Kissel).

 

A 1937 graduate of Middlesex School (Concord MA), Mr. Eaton attended Harvard before serving in the United States Army. During WW II, he was commissioned a first lieutenant, rising to the rank of captain. Posted to southern France, he was decorated with a purple heart after being wounded in combat. He was honorably discharged in 1945.

 

An international forest products executive and serial entrepreneur, Mr. Eaton was also competitively pursued as a consultant for companies worldwide. Outside his profession, he was an author and inventor. In his leisure time, he loved skiing, tennis, and world travel (circumnavigating the world many times in his life—oft en piloting portions of such travel himself—in his own aircraft with his wife, family and friends). Mr. Eaton also enjoyed being of service to others. He is remembered for making substantial contributions to the Boy Scouts of America, as well as for his numerous other economic development, social, historical, and human service initiatives.

 

Besides his parents, he was preceded in death in 1989 by his first wife (of over 50 years), Gladys Foote Eaton; two daughters, Penelope Eaton Onstott and Barbara Gay Eaton; two brothers, Frederick William Eaton and Peter Kissel Eaton; and his sister, Eleonora Eaton Brooks.

 

He is survived by his second wife (of nearly 25 years), Phyllis Eaton; his daughter, Wendy King; grandchildren Ame Eaton, Rusty Remick, Dan Groening, and Kimberly McNie; stepchildren Vaile Thompson, Terry Thompson, Daniel Thompson, and Theresa Rose; seven step-grandchildren; 20 step-greatgrandchildren; and one step-great-greatgrandson.

 

Mr. Eaton was laid to rest in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, and a private ceremony held in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, near where he spent many delightful years with family and friends.