Dr. Gardiner E. "Greg" Gregory, founder of the Hicksville Gregory Museum, passed away on Dec. 15, 2005 at the Masonic Health Care Center in Wallingford, CT. He was 88 years old.

Dr. Gregory was born in Standish, ME to the late Arthur E. and Mabelle S. (Linscott) Gregory. Dr. Gregory was a resident of Hicksville for more than 20 years and spent most of those years employees as curriculum materials director for the Hicksville School District.

Dr. Gregory and his wife, Anne, collected minerals from all over the country and other specimens from throughout the world before opening their collection, and home, to others in 1963. In 1966, the University of the State of New York Education Department's Board of Regents granted the museum its charter. The Hicksville Gregory Museum, as a nonprofit, educational institution, was operated out of the Gregory's Cottage Boulevard home to school children from Hicksville and surrounding communities until 1973 when the museum opened in its current location, at 1 Heitz Place, the site of the old Hicksville courthouse.

Over the years, Dr. Gregory served as director and president of the museum's board. In 1978, he moved to Catsine, ME, where he was a member of Castine Historical Society for many years before moving to Wallingford, ME several years ago.

Dr. Gregory is predeceased by his wife Anne (Church) Gregory and survived by his two stepdaughters, Susan E. Palle of Tenafly, NJ, and Linda Leisentritt of Edison, NJ; his two sisters, Patricia Warner of Elkhardt, IN, and Jean Heart of Missouri; and several nieces and nephews.

Arrangements were under the direction of the Yalesville Funeral Home, Yalesville, CT. Funeral services and interment in Castine Cemetery were private. Family members ask that gifts in Dr. Gregory's memory be sent to the Hicksville Gregory Museum, 1 Heitz Place, Hicksville, NY 11801 or the Castine Historical Society, c/o the Abbot School, 17 School Street, Castine, ME 04421.

-Victoria Caruso