ADOLPHE V. BERNOTAS
Associated Press Writer


CONCORD, N.H. (Wed September 24, 2003) (AP) _ Former Gov. Hugh Gregg, a member of the state's Republican upper crust and father of Sen. Judd Gregg, died Wednesday at 85.

Gregg, who served a single term from 1953 to 1955, died at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon after a brief illness.

Rising from alderman-at-large to mayor of his hometown of Nashua, Gregg became at age 34 New Hampshire's youngest governor.

He was a moderate Republican who based his administration on the notion that only growth could keep New Hampshire's tax rates down. He did not seek re-election after his single term, but made a comeback attempt in 1960 and lost.

At the White House, President Bush said Gregg ``will be missed.'

``Hugh Gregg left an indelible mark on the state he loved and on the lives of the people of New Hampshire,' Bush said in a statement. ``In all of his endeavors, he acted with integrity and honor.'

Gregg published three books _ two on New Hampshire presidential primary, traditionally the first primary of the political season.

Former Gov. Walter Peterson, who worked on Gregg's gubernatorial campaign, called him ``Mr. Primary.'

``He certainly could lay claim as much as any individual to working to maintain it, popularize it and arguing cogently through the years as to the importance of the New Hampshire primary,' Peterson said.

Gregg graduated from Yale University and Harvard Law School. He served in the Korean War with the Army Counter Intelligence Corps and was a counterintelligence instructor at Fort Holabird, Md.

He co-founded a law firm in Nashua, but a larger part of his career was devoted to his family's millwork, banking and manufacturing businesses.

``Anyone who knew my father, knew he was an extraordinary and special person who brought humor, energy and optimism to all his infinite endeavors, especially those involving and improving his beloved New Hampshire,' Sen. Gregg said Wednesday.

Gov. Craig Benson ordered flags lowered to half-staff.

The former governor is survived by his wife, Catherine Warner Gregg; two sons; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

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