Konrad Gesner, 79, of Duxbury, died of Parkinson’s disease, Dec. 7 at Wingate at Silver Lake in Kingston.

Mr. Gesner was born May 5, 1932 in Waltham, to the Rev. Kenneth C. Gesner and Hester Howe Gesner. He attended the Rivers School and Colby College before being drafted into the Korean War and graduating from Babson College on the GI Bill. After college, Mr. Gesner met and married Nancy Lang Gesner and began a career in real estate. He was an active member of the Duxbury Yacht Club, Boca Grande Club, Tihonet Club, and was a life trustee of Ducks Unlimited. Mr. Gesner moved to Duxbury in 1962 drawn by the great tidal system of Duxbury Bay.  He prided himself on knowing every sand flat, deep-water channel and rip of the bay.  He was an avid outdoorsman and loved fishing and bird hunting.  To honor and recognize his prowess on the water, the Duxbury Yacht Club inaugurated the Konrad Gesner Award in 2002 for the largest striped bass caught during its Fall Derby.

Mr. Gesner also enjoyed working with his dogs and taking them upland shooting as well as duck hunting on the marshes of Duxbury.  He could identify a wide variety of ducks and other birds from a distance merely by watching how they flew.

Mr. Gesner leaves his wife of 20 years, Elizabeth Hedberg Gesner of Duxbury; his son, Konrad Gesner, Jr. and his wife Suzanne of West Newton; his daughter, Heidi Gesner McInerney and her husband Thomas McInerney of Cape Elizabeth, Maine; a sister-in-law, Mary Ellen Doyle of Duxbury; three stepchildren, five step-stepchildren; and eighteen grandchildren and step grandchildren.  He was pre-deceased by his first wife, Nancy Lang Gesner.

At his request, a private family service will be held in December, followed by a celebration of his life on his 80th birthday, May 5, 2012.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Cranberry Hospice at 36 Cordage Park Circle, Suite 326, Plymouth, MA 02360, or the Duxbury Bay Maritime School, P.O. Box 263A, 457 Washington Street, Duxbury, MA 02331.