Center: Herb Emilson. Left: Herb’s daughter, Karen McArdle. Right: Wildlands President Karen Grey. Photo by Drew Lederman.

By Karen Grey, Wildlands President

When Herb Emilson retired in 1995 as President and Chairman of the Colonial Group, he found a second career: helping others and supporting the organizations that strive to improve people’s lives. On the South Shore of Massachusetts, where Herb and his wife Paulie focused much of their philanthropy, the name Emilson is synonymous with giving.

However, it was more than simply “giving” that motivated Herb. Having befriended and worked alongside the father of modern business management, Peter Drucker, Herb was driven to help non-profit organizations improve their management and functionality. He had a knack for sniffing out solid organizations that needed a boost, both from his philanthropy and his business acumen. When Herb wrote you a check, he believed in you and your organization.

Wildlands Trust was honored to be among the cadre of groups the Emilsons supported over the years. Their generosity protected several parcels of conservation land, including Willow Brook Farm, one of Wildlands’ most important ecological treasures. Herb died last month, two days shy of his 95th birthday, but not before being honored in Wildlands’ anniversary book, 50 Remarkable Years, 50 Remarkable People. We will miss him very much.

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Read more about the Emilsons’ impact on regional land conservation in our 50th anniversary blog series, “The Next Remarkable Chapter”: click here. Purchase our anniversary book, 50 Remarkable Years, 50 Remarkable People, at wildlandstrust.org/shop50.