Ian Alexander Aitchison, 84, of Eastham and Vineyard Haven, passed away on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2019, at the age of 84.
Ian was born on August 6, 1935, in Edinburgh, Scotland. He attended Leith Academy, where he played rugby and was a bagpiper with the Boy Scouts. He graduated from Heriot-Watt Institute, where he studied quantity surveying. Before joining Hanscomb Quantity Surveyors of London, England, he married Nan (Reed) Aitchison, with whom he had two sons. After several years working in Nigeria, West Africa, he moved his family to Toronto, Canada, where he was a founding director of Hanscomb Roy Management Services.
Ian and his family were summer residents for many years in East Orleans before buying and restoring the Over Look Inn, a popular country inn opposite the National Seashore, in 1985. Ian was an active member of the Eastham community, and provided consulting services to a number of committees. He is most remembered for his work on the board of the Eastham library, his bagpiping-for-hire as a member of the Scottish Light Society, his chauffeuring-for-occasion in an old Beardsley taxi cab, and his collection of Churchill books and memorabilia contained in the Over Look Inn.
In 2007 Ian moved to Vineyard Haven, Martha’s Vineyard, where he continued work on a number of community committees, and lived there with Dorothy Sayre Drozdyk until his death.
Ian was predeceased by his son Clive, a painter and art teacher, in 2004, and his wife, Nan, in 2006. He is survived by his son Mark, daughter-in-law Tania, granddaughters Kelly and Stephanie, and great-grandsons Achilles, Apollo, and Odysseus.
A private burial for family and friends will be held at Evergreen Cemetery in Eastham at a later date.
