MONTVALE, NJ -- Benjamin M. Belcher Jr., retired executive vice president of Benjamin Moore & Co. and the great-grandson of company founder Benjamin Moore, died Oct. 3, 2001, in Southwest Harbor, ME. He was 66.

Mr. Belcher, who also had been a member of the Benjamin Moore board of directors, began his career with the company in 1961 at a manufacturing plant operated by Benjamin Moore & Co. Ltd., the company's Canadian subsidiary. After returning to the United States, Mr. Belcher worked his way through the management and executive ranks of the company and was elected vice president and a company director in 1975. He became executive vice president and a member of the company's Executive Committee in 1991, and retired in 1999 after nearly 40 years of service to the company.

The company announced Mr. Belcher's passing "with great sadness," noting that he had "committed his professional life to the paint and coatings industry." Mr. Belcher was long active with the National Paint & Coatings Association and was a member of numerous NPCA committees including the Executive Committee, and also was a past member of the board of directors.

Mr. Belcher is survived by his wife, Diana Lupien Belcher; a son, Jamie; a daughter, Allison, a brother, Ward; two sisters, Sara Wardell and Jane Phinney; and three grandchildren. Funeral services were held Oct. 6 in Maine.

Benjamin Moore & Co. was founded in 1883 and grew to become one of the best-known architectural paint brands in North America. The company, based in Montvale, NJ, was acquired late last year by Berkshire Hathaway Inc.