NORWICH — Andrew Sigler, a former Fortune 500 CEO who after retiring to the Upper Valley 25 years ago built everything from a state-of-the-art dairy farm to a nationally-recognized golf course, died Sunday at his home in Norwich.

He was 89.

Sigler, a 1953 Dartmouth College graduate, served in the U.S. Marine Corps, before embarking on a business career.

He was the top executive at Champion International, a leading U.S. maker of paper products, for 22 years.

In 1996, Sigler and his wife, Peg, retired to Norwich, where they started Norwich Farms, which became a farming laboratory for agricultural students from the University of New Hampshire and Vermont Technical College.

In 2015, the Siglers donated the 360-acre farm, which had an assessed value of nearly $2.5 million, to Vermont Tech.

In the early 2000s, Sigler built Moncalm Golf Club, an 18-hole course in Enfield that Golf Digest ranked among the top-10 new private courses in the U.S. in 2005.

“He was an exceptional man,” said his wife of 65 years. “He really led an interesting life.”

— Jim Kenyon

 

 

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