yew YORK SHELL CLUB NOTES No. 249 February 1 Page 
GORDON NOWELL-USTICKE 
(See also NOTES 247... D541) 
Gordon Usticke, who died in St. Croix September 25, 1978, was born 
on September 9, 1894 at Wirksworth, Derbyshire, England. Studied 
eg eee at Cambridge, England, and was in France in the First 
or are 
He came to New York in 1920 on his way to New Zealand where his 
brother still lives, but stayed on in New York instead. Worked 
first as an engineer and then into stamps. Sold "Stanley Gibbons” 
in 1955 and moved to St. Croix in December 1955 with his wife 
Karin (Bibs) whom he married in 1949. She was born in Denmark on 
the island of Ais on October 19, 1913. She died New Year's eve 
1964. 
His catalogue of "Rembrandt's Etchings, States and Values," was 
published in 1967. His shell books were "A Checklist of the Marine 
Shells of St. Croix, U.S.V.I. date 1959; "Caribbean Cones from St. 
Croix and Lesser Antilles,” 1968; “Supplementary Listing of New 
Shells, Revised Edition,” 1968-1971. 
He is survived by his brother, Stanley, in New Zealand, a sister- 
in-law, and nieces and nephews. 
Tove Duus 
St. Croix, .U.osV¥.ls 
November 30, 1978. 
THE USTICKE COLLECTION 
William E. Old 
A few weeks after Gordon Usticke's death we received correspondence 
from the estate asking if the American Museum would be interested in 
having the collection (we were) and that "a recent inspection of his 
shell collection indicates that it cannot be shipped without consid- 
erable expense as it is extremely voluminous and not in a form read- 
ily transportable. 
"If the Museum is interested in his collection, would it be possible 
for a representative of the Museum to come to Christiansted, and 
make an inspection of the collection on the premises and advise us 
as to whether the Museum would be interested in it?" And a few days 
later (before they had received our reply), another letter arrived 
stating, "Mr, Nowell-Usticke's home is to be sold and his shell col- 
lection must be removed from the premises quite soon. My inspection 
Hi es Ah me that the collection ee a aay haces Be dhe’ Basel 
ati i nnel are inc - 
tion and that unless skilled Beek a uguekcats its trans- 
mittal. The transportation itself presents no problem as we have 
direct non-stop flights to New York, but the labeling, packing end 
handling will require supervision and direction beyond our capabilli-~ 
hich might be of sale value 
n need of expert counsel 
Then, early in the week of November 15th, we received a phone call 
