Gregory Weyerhaeuser Piasecki, 52, of Hanover, New Hampshire, entrepreneur, executive, and father of three, died on Saturday, August 5, 2023 of cardiac arrest, shortly after a morning row on Hanover Lake, New Hampshire.

Born in 1970, Gregory grew up in Haverford, PA, the youngest of seven children born to helicopter pioneer Frank Piasecki and civic leader Vivian Weyerhaeuser Piasecki. Intellectually and emotionally astute, Greg lived with a keen sense of responsibility; he was guided by the significance of the Piasecki family legacy in aerospace and the Weyerhaeuser family commitment to community.

A scholar athlete, Greg excelled at Haverford School, concurrently serving as student government President and captain of the crew team during his senior year. He majored in Bioengineering at Yale University while competing as a member of Yale's Varsity crew team. Following Yale, he enrolled in the Wharton School of Business, received his MBA in 1997 , and joined Morgan Stanley shortly after graduating. Later, his creative and entrepreneurial talents led him to found the Pacific Solutions Group, an investment bank making early investments in China.

In addition to his own ventures, Greg maintained a life-long commitment to family entrepreneurship, using his strategic instincts to shape a diverse set of institutions run by members of his family. He was an early pioneer in unmanned aerial vehicles at Dragonfly Pictures in the 1990s, and served on the board of Piasecki Aircraft Corporation. Most recently, he served as CEO of the Rock Island Company, an investment holding company.

Greg moved to Hanover, NH in 2013, to raise a family. A newcomer to the region, Greg embraced the community and its natural surroundings as an enthusiastic hiker, hunter, camper, skier, woodworker, rower, and pilot. He volunteered as a Nordic ski coach for the K-2 and 3-5 grades and rowed for the Upper Valley Rowing Club. He was a member and Treasurer of the Upper Valley Land Trust Board of Trustees and served on the school Equity Committee (SAU-70), where his earnest curiosity and disciplined enthusiasm contributed to the development of a district-wide equity policy. Always looking beyond the horizon, Greg had recently qualified as an instrument-rated private pilot and was working towards a commercial rating.

Above all, Greg was a deeply thoughtful and patient mentor and father to his three children, approaching their educational and moral upbringing with an enlightened sense of wit, love, and kindness that transcended the ups and downs of normal life. Steadfast and generous, Greg raised his children with an extraordinarily creative zest for life. He was full of brilliant ideas for the 'next great adventure,' sharing a joyful, nerdy, enthusiasm for projects the family dreamed up. When one project was completed, another was sure to follow.

Loved by his friends and family for his sensitive leadership and rock-solid loyalty, Greg valued deep connections, and understood that behind the challenges in life there are always opportunities. His spirited nature and attention to the 'details of relationship'-both civic and personal-embraced opportunities for people from all different walks of life to equally feel 'seen and heard'.

Gregory is survived by: his six older siblings Lynn, Nicole, Frederick, Frank, Michael and John; his former wife Teresa Fort; and his three children, Cornelia (10), Jack (8), and Nicole (8).

An 11am viewing will be followed by an 11:30am service at St. Denis church in Hanover, NH this Friday, August 11. A reception will follow at the Dartmouth Skiway in Lyme, NH.

A live-streamed celebration of his life and a funeral Mass is to be held on August 26 at St John Neumann Church in Bryn Mawr, PA at 11am followed by a burial at Calvary Cemetery, Conshohocken, PA. Donations in his name may be made to World Bicycle Relief and Upper Valley Land Trust.

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