1932 Canaras: Gilmer Petroff, "Gil", Trudeau, Class Decoration Committee (1); Canaras (2, 3); Operetta (2, 3); Red and White (2, 3); Band (1, 2, 3); Boys' Glee Club (2, 3); Track (1); Art Prize (3). Born: March 13, 1913 in Saranac Lake

Died: September 28, 1990 in Richland County, South Carolina

Married: Margarita 

Children: Walker, Frances, Reeves

Gilmer Petroff was the son of S. A. Petroff, who worked at the Saranac Laboratory. Gilmer attended the Baldwin School, Saranac Lake High School, Yale University School of Art, the University of Wisconsin and the Cape Cod School of Art. He lived in San Diego in 1936 and then moved to New York City before settling in South Carolina in the 1940s. He was an art instructor at the Saranac Lake Art League and painted the mural at the Hotel Saranac in the former bar (now the St. Regis Room) that was removed in the mid-1970s. It seems likely that the oil portrait of S. A. Petroff now in the possession of Trudeau Institute was painted by his son, Gilmer.

 

A portrait of Mary Sampson MacIntyre painted by Gilmer Petroff, dated 4/3/1934.  Courtesy of Peter MacIntyre. Painting is now at Trudeau Institute, Inc.From an unidentified Petroff family clipping

STORK'S FIRST VISIT TO GENERAL HOSPITAL

Son of Mr. and Mrs. S. A. Petroff Initiates Institution

The honor of being the first baby born in the newly opened General Hospital of Saranac Lake belongs to the son of Mr. and Mrs. S. A. Petroff. He opened his eyes for the first time in the new institution at 1 o'clock Thursday morning, March 20th, 1913. Mrs. Petroff was the hospital's first patient.

Mr. Petroff, who is the bacteriologist at the Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium, reports that both mother and child are doing well.

Gilmer Petroff, 1937
Courtesy of Saranac Lake Free LibraryFrom an article about Olga Petrova at a 1921 groundbreaking, by Howard Riley in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. See full article here
"Charles L. Dickert, president (title changed to mayor in 1928) of Saranac Lake village, after shaking hands with the stage star, gave the shovel, bedecked with red, white and blue ribbons, to Master Gilmer Petroff, son of Mr. and Mrs. S. A. Petroff, and the boy presented it to Petrova. With one of her celebrated smiles and a caress of the boys head (someone said he didn't wash his hair for a month after), she accepted the spade and turned over 10 shovelful before stopping."

Adirondack Daily Enterprise, September 11, 1948

…The first baby born in the [Saranac General Hospital's] nursery was Gilmore Petroff on March 20, 1913. He is the son of Dr. Strashmire Petroff, [sic] former head of the Trudeau research laboratory and Mrs. Mary G. Petroff.

Mrs. Petroff was taken to the hospital in a horse-drawn carriage and the baby was delivered by Dr. R. M. Brown. At the age of 4 years, Gilmore Petroff was taken to the hospital by sleigh, and was treated for bronchitis and possible measles.

Adirondack Daily Enterprise, March 19, 1955

GILMER PETROFF

Gilmer Petroff, a native of Saranac Lake has been taken into the architectural-engineering firm for which he has worked since 1950. He is the son of the late Strashmire Petroff and Mrs. Mary Petroff.

Mr. Petroff attended both Yale University and the University of Wisconsin where he majored in art. Following a period of service to Gibbs and Cox, marine architects, he established his own school of art on Staten Island and conducted this institution for several years. In 1946, he was employed by Clemson College to teach architecture and remained with South Carolina's A & M institution until 1950 when he joined Lytes, Bissett, Carlisle & Wolff, Columbia, SC, architects-engineers. LBC&W is one of the largest firms of its kind in this area.

Mr. Petroff and his wife, Maragrita [sic: Margarita?], have three children—Walker, 12, Frances, 8, and Reeves, 1. His wife is a native of London, England. They make their home in Columbia where Petroff, in addition to his work at LBC&W, is also associated with the Columbia Museum of Art.

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