Jeffrey Richardson Hewitt died suddenly on Dec. 23 of a ruptured aortic aneurism at his home in Marshfield.  He was 59 years old.

Mr. Hewitt was born in Boston and grew up the second of five siblings in Wellesley. He attended Wellesley public schools and Milton Academy, while spending summers in Marshfield and Duxbury. He particularly loved to play tennis and sail on Duxbury Bay. He graduated as valedictorian of Milton Academy in 1969 and matriculated to Columbia University.  He transferred to the College of Creative Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara.  He graduated with a B.A. in English in 1974. 

Mr. Hewitt returned to New England to pursue his career as a writer. He married Christine Lehner in 1976.  Their daughter, Reine, was born in 1978, and their son, Tristram, was born in 1981. The family moved to Hastings, N.Y. where he lived until 2001, when he and Christine divorced. He moved back to Marshfield before settling in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. in 2006. 

Mr. Hewitt had a varied career as a writer, nurse, lawyer, activist and visual artist.  He volunteered as a grief counselor for young children who had lost their parents.  He worked as an I.C.U. nurse at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital from 1981 to 1988, where he helped author a number of stroke research studies.

Mr. Hewitt began studies at Columbia Law School in 1987.  He graduated as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and then worked as a lawyer at Cahill, Gordon & Reindel for three years.  Next, inspired by an opportunity to combine his interests in healthcare and law, he accepted a position at New York Life Healthcare. After a corporate merger in 1998, he stopped practicing law and returned to the creative life.  Since 1998, he enjoyed life as a professional visual artist, taking tens of thousands of photographs, developing digital collages, and creating hundreds of paintings.  His work appeared in solo and group shows in New York and Massachusetts. 

He also pursued his passion for care-giving and legal advocacy through work with non-profit organizations. At the Pace University Lienhard School of Nursing, he advocated for palliative care education.  At the Bereavement Center of Westchester, he offered legal advice as a board member. At Planned Parenthood, he combined his nursing and legal skills to champion women’s reproductive rights.

He leaves two children, Reine and Tristram Hewitt; his mother, Emmy Lou Hewitt; his four siblings, Robert, Bill, Lee, and Charles Hewitt; and his granddaughter, Leda.

A memorial service will be held for Mr. Hewitt on Jan. 8 at 1 p.m. at the First Parish Church, 842 Tremont St., Duxbury.  A reception at the Duxbury Bay Maritime School will follow.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic 4 Skyline Drive, Hawthorne, NY 10532, pphp.org/donate.