In his later years, Hammy became a stalwart fan of the girls field hockey team, attending most home practices and presenting the players with “Hammy motivators” (chocolate bars) before games.

A Retirement in Name Only

Hammy officially retired in 1976, the same year that he received the first Founder’s Day Award for devoted service to the school. Warren C. Lane Jr. ’42 wrote Hammy the following: “You should know that the selection committee of the alumni association determined that, although the award was established to be given to multiple recipients, no one was equal to you and, therefore, the first award should be to you alone.” Hammy and Sally moved to 9 Elliot Street, a convenient point of departure for walking or biking to any location on campus, and a destination in itself. Hammy stayed active in many areas of Academy life; in fact, he remained active, period. He played No. 1 for Exeter in the annual faculty squash match against Andover until he was well into his 60s, and he was a fixture at the regular “noontime tennis” gatherings on the courts in the summer. His lefty racquet skills kept everyone else on the run until he pulled a “Hammystring” in 1987. Hammy took his injury as a sign that he needed to devote himself to caring for Sally, who had been diagnosed with cancer. He never played tennis again, and Sally died later that year.

Hammy officially retired in 1976, but remained actively involved with the Academy for more than 20 years.

Hammy continued to coach club squash until 1992. (There is a permanent “Hammy Spot” on the concrete in the foyer of the gym where he used to sit and wait for his players.) Lawrence Smith, history teacher and boys crew coach since 1989, says Hammy often visited the boathouse to chat with the rowers. In 1996 the boys varsity eight had a chance to go to the national championships in Cincinnati. Several of the rowers were scholarship students, and Hammy had often asked Smith for reports of their progress at the Academy. When he learned that the crew program was $1,000 short of meeting their traveling expenses, he called Smith, saying he would be honored to be allowed to make up the difference. Hammy’s gift was made anonymously in honor of Charles Swift, who succeeded him as head crew coach in 1948. Smith also recalls evenings in Wentworth Hall, where he was dorm head, when he invited Hammy to speak to any boys who were interested. Hammy would come at 8 p.m., well before most boys had to be in the dorm. Even so, on each of his several visits, 45 to 60 boys crowded into the common room to listen to Exeter lore, which sometimes involved stories about the boys’ fathers and grandfathers.

Hammy even took up a few new sports during his retirement. His granddaughter, Katie Bissell ’95, attended Exeter for a year and played on the field hockey and softball teams. Hammy biked over to the playing fields to watch almost every practice, and always saw off the team buses for away matches with hugs and “Hammy motivators,” which were chocolate bars. Hammy had retired before coeducation had become well established at the Academy, but if he had ever had any reservations about having women on campus, Katie’s presence banished them for good. Even after she graduated, Hammy remained a stalwart fan of those two teams. Field hockey coach Kathy Nekton says that the girls on her teams gained a sense of the school’s history through Hammy.

He continually delighted returning alumni/ae, greeting them by name, often with a pertinent question about their current lives or a story about their Exeter days. Jack Hepting ’59 recalls returning to campus for the first time in 20 years, and walking by the tennis courts for old time’s sake. Hammy was playing doubles and missed a couple of shots. “Without even looking over, Hammy commented to his colleagues that he was a little self-conscious since ‘Jack Hepting, captain of the 1959 tennis team, is watching.’ ”

Friends in Every Quarter

Hammy’s friendships on campus extended to every quarter, and he always had time to make new ones. Pat St. Pierre, who works in the Academy Bookstore, remembers meeting Hammy when she was a waitress at the Exeter Inn. Hammy was “a regular,” but he would introduce himself and his guest to whomever was waiting on his table, asking for names if he didn’t know them. Thereafter he would always address that staff member by name and ask after his or her family, even when meeting them in a completely different context. Several faculty families who arrived on campus long after Hammy retired have counted him among their special friends. He attended children’s birthday parties, enthusiastically accepted gingerbread houses (“the first house I’ve ever owned!”), flopped on the grass with their dogs, and reminisced, sometimes tearfully, about his own children’s firsts with the parents of new walkers and talkers.

Kendra Stearns O’Donnell, principal from 1987 to 1997, says that she treasured Hammy’s unstinting good will towards her and the significant friendship he developed with her husband, Patrick. Hammy frequently stopped by the principal’s office to deliver a hug and a wealth of detail about alumni/ae. “Hammy would tell me about the people I was going to meet and the people I had just met,” says O’Donnell, “and not only would he tell me where they were from and where they went to college, he would tell stories: ‘Well, you have to understand that when his father married his mother . . .’ ” O’Donnell says that two memorable pieces of advice he gave her have never lost their relevance: “Don’t get rattled; play the game you brought,” and “It’s not a question of either/or; it’s a question of both/and.” Hammy’s first words to Principal Tyler Tingley, the fifth principal to enter office during his years at Exeter, were “Welcome home.” Hammy’s capacity and enthusiasm for accepting new members of the Academy family were boundless.

Hammy was as much an example for others during adverse times, which he discussed but didn’t dwell on, as he was during the best. In July 2000 he moved to a care facility in Crane’s Mill, NJ, to be closer to his son, Jack. When it became clear that he would have to live on the nursing wing, Hammy chose a room that was as close to the action as it could be, one with a view of the nurses’ station and every coming and going on the hall. Hammy left his door open to encourage visitors, had his television tuned to sports (without the sound, to allow for conversation) and was generous with his regularly restocked cache of chocolate. Jack Bissell says his father never lost his abiding sense of purpose, even at the final stage of his life. He learned the names of the nurses and aides and the names of their children, and so, in his low-key way, he let them know that they were valued and valuable. He heard other patients making demands on the staff who performed the most menial tasks; and while he didn’t fault those who made the demands, because many couldn’t help it, he was determined to be a counterweight, to make a difference.

Hammy didn’t like public speaking, but he obliged on occasion, one of the last being a Seacoast Alumni Association meeting in May 1992. In it he talked about meeting alumni from 1901 during his travels on Exeter’s behalf. Hammy’s experience of his beloved Academy truly spanned an entire century. After reminiscing about the school, Hammy closed his speech with a heartfelt appreciation of the men—Exonians like William Saltonstall, Bob Bates, Ernie Gillespie and Norman Hatch—who shaped the school through their vision and passion, and who were as devoted to Hammy as he was to them. These eight strong men, said Hammy, made up his crew. They were his counselors, whose strength Hammy said he had been privileged to use to pull his boat through sometimes uncertain waters. Hammy then invited his audience to imagine their own personal counselors; many of them must have thought of him. For in Hammy Bissell’s boat, there was always room for one more.

Memorial Service Set for May 19 On Saturday, May 19, the Academy will gather once more to honor Mr. Exeter. A memorial service will be held at Phillips Church beginning at 3 p.m. This date coincides with the Class of 1951’s 50th reunion weekend. For more information, please call the alumni/ae affairs office at (603) 777-3454. The Bissell family requests that persons wishing to make a contribution may do so to either the F.E. Winslow Memorial Teaching Fund or the H. Hamilton Bissell '29 Scholarship Fund. Contributions may be sent to the Alumni/ae Affairs and Development Office, Phillips Exeter Academy, 20 Main St., Exeter, NH 03833.