John R.H. Fletcher, 73, Summered in Oak Bluffs

John R.H. Fletcher, 73, of Concord, N.H., died on May 18 of cancer.

Born in London, England, on Sept. 21, 1931, he was the son of Robert H. Fletcher and Lillian Reeves. During World War II he was evacuated to the British countryside and spent several years living with foster families. He came to the United States in 1951 to attend Harvard University; he was graduated magna cum laude in 1954, majoring in English. He attended graduate school in law at Oxford University before returning to New York city to work briefly as a director of off-Broadway plays, including a production of Don Juan that starred Peter Falk and George Segal in some of their earliest professional roles.

He was married to Audrey E. Kelly, whom he met when he was at Harvard and she at Wellesley, on Dec. 7, 1957, and began working as a financial advisor in the securities industry on Wall Street. For the next 14 years, he lived with his family in Manhattan. Later he moved to Waccabuc, N.Y., and then to Brentwood, N.H., where he was an active volunteer in the community. For the past four years, he has lived in Concord, N.H. Over the past 40 years he summered and lived part time in his home in Oak Bluffs, where he was an avid golfer, playing golf over the years at Mink Meadows, the Island Country Club, and later as a member of Farm Neck Golf Club.

He enjoyed hunting and raised and trained hunting dogs. He also found solace in gardening and was particularly proud of his asparagus bed.

He is survived by three daughters, Elizabeth Foy of Bow, N.H., Gillian Breckman of Winnipeg, Canada, and Catherine McNally of Wilmet, Ill.; a son, Andrew Fletcher of Zurich, Switzerland; two sisters, Gillian Haddad of Falls Church, Va., and June Savage of Bath, England; five granddaughters, five grandsons, a daughter in law and sons in law, and several nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by his wife of 32 years, Audrey E. Kelly, who died of cancer in May 1998.

He will be interred next to his wife on May 20 at 1 p.m. at the Oak Grove Cemetery, Oak Bluffs, where there will be a graveside service. A memorial service is being scheduled in July at the Trinity United Methodist Church on the Camp Ground in Oak Bluffs.

Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association.

Arrangements are under the care of the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road in Oak Bluffs.