Howard Paul Serrell, Jr., a longtime resident of Greenwich, CT and recently of Austin, TX and West Pawlet, VT passed away on Friday, Oct. 4, 2019. Born on Aug. 22, 1939 at Greenwich Hospital, ‘Chip’ was the oldest child of Margarita Noble and Howard P. Serrell, MD.
He is survived by his wife, Wendy, and his children, Elizabeth Groeninger, husband Tom, of San Juan Capistrano, CA; Allison Hewlett, husband John, of Austin, TX; and Bretton Serrell, wife Samantha of Austin, TX; and grandchildren, Kevin, Matthew and Sarah Groeninger, and Scout, Harlon and Sabine Hewlett. His sister, Patricia Schmeltzer, husband Jack, of Greenwich, also survive him, as well as nieces, nephews and his Luckenbach terrier, Harrison.
Chip graduated from Greenwich Country Day School, Lawrenceville School (1957), Dartmouth College (1961), received his Masters in Education from Wesleyan University, a CFP from Adelphi University and attended the Northwestern Graduate Trust School. Upon graduation from Dartmouth, Chip followed in the footsteps of his father and entered the US Army. While serving as a helicopter pilot from 1963-64 in Viet Nam, he advanced to the rank of First Lieutenant. Following a 17-year teaching career at Greenwich Country Day School, where he also served as Director of Admissions, he moved into the banking world becoming VP of Wealth Management in New York and Greenwich banks, retiring from Wells Fargo.
Throughout his life, Chip devoted time to charitable causes, including serving as Chairman of the Greenwich Chapter of the American Red Cross and Chairman of the Northeast Region of the American Red Cross. He served on the boards of Hotline, the Boys & Girls Club, the YMCA and At Home in Greenwich. In addition, he served on the Commission on Aging for the Town of Greenwich.
Chip was humble, wise and a deeply caring man. He loved fly-fishing, skiing, golf and gardening–none of which he would claim to have mastered. Since childhood, he loved the Cleveland Browns, which should be an indication of his depth of loyalty. He had a wonderful sense of humor and it was not beyond him to see how long he could string someone along before it dawned on them that he was pulling their leg. Chip loved his family, friends, former students and dogs – family and dogs considered him their hero. His favorite book was Richard Ford’s The Lay of the Land.
His parents predeceased him as did his brother, Jonathan David Serrell, sister, Margarita Serrell McGrath and nephew, John Emile Schmeltzer, IV.
A memorial service will be held on Friday, Oct. 18 at 2 p.m. at the Round Hill Community Church, Greenwich. A reception will follow.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Trout Unlimited, PO Box 7400, Woolly Bugger, WV 25438; or to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, PCF.org.
