In a luncheon ceremony held on Friday, September 30, 2011, at the Chesterfield Inn in West Chesterfield, NH, the Brattleboro Retreat bestowed the 2011 Anna Marsh Award to Senator Robert T. Gannett.

 

The Anna Marsh Award was established by the Brattleboro Retreat in 2009 to recognize individuals for their advocacy on behalf of people with mental illness. Gannett served on the Brattleboro Retreat Board of Trustees from 1967 to 1981.

 “Throughout Bob Gannett’s incredible career he has been steadfast in his commitment to helping people in need live better lives,” said Robert E. Simpson, president and chief executive officer of the Brattleboro Retreat. “This award is our way of recognizing his many contributions to the community, to the Brattleboro Retreat, and to the patients we continue to serve thanks to his vision and compassion.” 

Robert T. Gannett graduated from Harvard College in 1939 and Harvard law School in 1942.  He came to Brattleboro with his wife, Sarah Alden Derby Gannett, in 1946 after completing four years of military service in the United States Army. He became a member of the Vermont state bar in 1947 and has been a practicing lawyer for more than 60 years. Gannett represented Brattleboro in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1953 to 1959 and Windham County in the Vermont Senate from 1973 to 1992.  

Among his many interests in the community and the state, he has served as a corporator and past president of Brattleboro Memorial Hospital; director of National Life Insurance Company; director of the United Way of Windham County; and trustee of the Vermont Community Foundation. In addition to his involvement with these and many other organizations, he has been an avid golfer, fisherman and fan of the Boston Red Sox.