Louis F. Eaton Jr., 91, died on May 26 in Cohasset of complications due to multiple myeloma.

Mr. Eaton was born on December 20, 1918, in Annapolis, Md. to Margaret and Louis Eaton. He was the eldest of six children.

Mr. Eaton earned his diploma from Brockton High School at the age of 16. He took a post-grad year at Deerfield Academy and entered Amherst College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, with a double major in economics and history in 1940. He loved Amherst and participated fully in academic, athletic, and political activities as a member of Chi Phi, Debating Council, Political Union, Student Council, and sports—soccer, golf and tennis.

He began his studies at Harvard Law School, anticipating his degree in 1943.  However, World War II intervened, and in the spring of 1941, he enlisted. He was sent to the US Naval Reserve Midshipmen’s School, and in 1942 he was awarded the New York Yacht Club Sword for excellence in navigation and seamanship and became a Commissioned Ensign.

On May 13, 1942, Mr. Eaton married Elizabeth Ferguson of Pittsfield, N.H., class of 1941 at Mount Holyoke College, and they enjoyed more than 50 years of marriage before she passed away in 1993.

He taught ship handling to Russian officers and crew at the Sub Chaser Training Center in Miami. Between 1944 and 1945 he fitted out several ships and was assigned as Commanding Officer of convoy escorts in the Aleutian Islands, based in Adak. He captained a succession of four 110-foot wooden sub chasers and later a PCE with 90 men, honing his leadership skills and fueling his passion for naval history. Discharged in 1945, Mr. Eaton then returned to law school. He moved his young family to Cohasset in 1946 where he lived for the rest of his life.

Mr. Eaton was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1947 and joined Hutchins & Wheeler, the oldest law firm in Boston. He practiced general and estate law until he retired in 1986, though he continued to serve as a trustee and as an Arbiter with the American Arbitration Association for the next 20 years.

For more than half a century Mr. Eaton subscribed to Friday afternoon concerts of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and was a member of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the New England Historic Genealogical Society. He was also a member of The Mayflower Society and Mensa, and a Proprietor of the Boston Athenaeum.

Mr. Eaton served many positions in Cohasset town government, including Chairman of the Advisory Committee, Transportation Committee, and for 40 years a Designee to the MBTA Advisory Board (1965-2005). He was a member/president of numerous civic organizations including the Community Fund, Dramatic Club, Golf Club, Historical Society, American Field Service, and Old Goats.

Mr. Eaton leaves his wife Robin L. Eaton, whom he married in 1994; his daughters Elizabeth “Sunny” Steadman of Duxbury and Deborah Peck and her husband, Raymond, of Washington, D.C.; step-son William Lord and his wife, Nan, of Seattle, Wash.; steph-daughter Donna Roberts, of West Lebanon, N.H; grandchildren, David Steadman (DHS 1998) Sarah Peck and Catherine and Rebecca Roberts; siblings Allan Eaton of Duxbury, David Eaton of Sandwich, N.H., Margaret Koerner of Woodstock, Conn., Mary Abigail Mott of Topsham, Maine, and the late Robert Eaton, of Sandwich, NH.

A celebration of life service was held June 12 at the First Parish Church in Cohasset.