Lyme, N.H. —
He grew up in Barre with his adopted grandparents Clyde and Sara Swan, fishing with his grandfather, and working with the Boy Scouts. After high school he went to the University of Maine. While at Maine, he played on the varsity football team and earned a bachelor’s degree in forestry.
He then joined the U.S. Forest Service as assistant ranger on the White Mountain National Forest, stationed in Gorham and Conway. While in Gorham, one of his jobs was overseeing the Tuckerman Ravine on Mt. Washington. One day while on patrol at Tuckerman’s he met the gal he was to marry, Freda Theopold. His first words to her were, “Freda, do you want a beer?” They were married in June of 1960 with the Tuckerman ski patrol as witnesses. A year later they moved to Boston as Hank entered Harvard Business School.
After getting his MBA, he went to work for John Hancock Investments in Boston where he put his forestry and business expertise together to facilitate lending for the forest products industry. He left Hancock for Keystone Funds in Boston and then Legg Mason in Washington, DC.
His years in the White Mountains were never far from his mind, and when in 1978 an opening appeared at Wagner Woodlands based in Lyme, he jumped at the chance to put his forestry and business skills to work. In 1981, he became President of Wagner Woodlands. Under his leadership he grew the company and later formed Wagner Forest Management, a company that combines a strong conservation ethic while sustainably managing over two million acres of forests in New England and Canada.
Hank enjoyed helping various conservation organizations and contributing to policy discussions about the northern forest. Over the years he was appointed by the governors of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine to various commissions and study groups. One of his largest undertakings was to serve as a N.H. representative on the regional Northern Forest Lands Council.
His combination of thoughtfulness, professionalism, and dedication to stewardship of the forest was respected by all. He served as a board member or chair on the Advisory Committee of the White Mountain National Forest, Society for the Protection of N.H. Forests, Forest Society of Maine, Friends of Tuckerman Ravine, Connecticut River Joint Commissions, New England Forestry Foundation, Henry’s Fork Foundation, N.H. Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, Upper Valley Land Trust, and N.H. Timber Owners Association.
Memorial gifts can be sent to the Forest Society of Maine, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests or any conservation organization of your choice.