George Granville Montgomery, Jr.

1934- 2020

George Granville Montgomery, Jr., 86, passed away peacefully at home in San Francisco on December 1, 2020.

A fourth- generation Californian, George was born on March 10, 1934 in San Francisco, the son of Claudine Spreckels Montgomery and George Granville Montgomery. He grew up in Hillsborough, California, graduated from The Thacher School in Ojai, California, and received a BA from Yale College in 1955.

After college, George served as an officer on the USS Kearsarge, an aircraft carrier based in the Pacific. He went on to attend Harvard Graduate School of Business, where he received his MBA in 1959, and then co- authored a textbook, “Management Problems of Corporate Acquisitions,” with one of his professors. George’s investment banking career spanned more than 50 years, starting in New York and finishing in San Francisco, always known for being the first one in the office each morning. He joined White Weld & Co. in 1961 and was a partner there from 1963 to 1978 when the firm was acquired by Merrill Lynch & Co. He then moved to Blyth, Eastman, Dillon, and in 1981 he opened the New York office for Hambrecht & Quist, one of the pioneering investment banking firms serving Silicon Valley. In 1995, he returned to California and held senior roles at Hambrecht & Quist and then J. P. Morgan before helping to build Seven Hills, a boutique investment bank he joined at its inception. George also served on several corporate boards, including Information Resources, Inc. and Berlex, the US subsidiary of Schering AG. He retired at age 85.

In addition to his professional pursuits, George was deeply committed to a variety of philanthropic activities, particularly environmental causes and education. During his high school years at Thacher, where he took long rides in the hills with his horse, Papoose, George developed a passion for and devotion to the environment. Well before climate change was a concept, he felt an urgent need to protect the natural world, explaining, “I don’t want to have to tell my grandchildren what a frog was.” In 1981, George joined the board of the Environmental Defense Fund, where he served as Chair from 1990 to 1997 and remained an engaged Trustee Emeritus until his death. From 2002 until 2011, George served on the board of the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and helped lead a transformative $ 400 million capital campaign there. He also served as Trustee at

The Thacher School and at The Buckley School in New York.

As accomplished as George was in all aspects of his life, he was equally known for a sly sense of humor; a voracious appetite for the written word, especially on matters of history and politics; his competitiveness in any sport, particularly golf, tennis, squash, and cycling; and a meticulous attention to detail, none too small. He did his homework, always. Throughout his life, George continued to relish being outdoors, spending weekends in Londonderry, Vermont when he lived in New York and in the Napa Valley during his later years. Most notably, he cherished his relationships with family and friends, colleagues and clients. For most encounters with those who were important to him, he had a list of items to discuss – written on small pieces of paper and kept in his jacket pocket – to be sure he covered every topic that needed attention. In return, he listened intently, fully appreciating different perspectives and learning something from each conversation. George was a member of the San Francisco Golf Club, the Burlingame Country Club, the Bohemian Club, and the Pacific Union Club, where, like his father, he served as its President. George is survived by his wife, Nancy Miller Adler Montgomery, whom he married in 1996; his sisters, Anne Montgomery Westerfield ( Putney) and Claudine Montgomery Brown; three of his children, George Geoffrey Montgomery ( Katia), Jonathan White Montgomery ( Deanna), and Diana Montgomery ( Preston Raisin); two stepchildren, Sabrina Adler ( Hugo Hilton) and Roman Adler; numerous grandchildren, nieces and nephews; and two great grandchildren. George lost his first wife, Elinor White Montgomery, to breast cancer in 1992, and a daughter, Alexandra ( known as Sasha), who died of leukemia in 1970.

George’s family plans to celebrate his life on the first anniversary of his death, when gatherings can be convened. In lieu of flowers, the family would ask that anyone inclined to honor George contribute to the California Academy of Sciences.