November 6, 2002: Memorials
Maxey N. Morrison ’29
Maxey Morrison died June 5, 2002, near Kennett Square, Pa., of pneumonia and other complications following a hip operation. He was 95.
He was valedictorian at Abington HS and then went to Lawrenceville School. At Princeton he played varsity football, was treasurer of Tower Club, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.
He began his career as a newspaper reporter at the Norristown Times Herald, then for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and finally for the Evening Ledger. During WWII, Maxey worked in public relations for Curtiss-Wright in Alaska.
For the last two years of the war, Maxey went to DC as director of information for the War Production Board. Following the war, he moved to Swarthmore and joined A1 Paul Lefton Advertising Agency, where he was the account representative for the Philadelphia Electric Co. and the Delaware Port Authority.
After he retired, he joined the Philadelphia Trail Club and walked the Appalachian Trail from North Carolina to Maine; he also led the group on trips to England, Wales, Austria, Switzerland, Scotland, the Caribbean, Denmark, and Norway.
He was on the Swarthmore library board, the Wallingford-Swarthmore school board, and was also active in the Boy Scouts.
Surviving are his widow, Mary, sons Hugh and William, and daughter Helen, as well as eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. To all of them, the class extends its sincere sympathy.
The Class of 1929
Frederick Donald Sperry ’30
Don died July 6, 2002, after a long illness.
He was a Navy veteran of WWII and a member of the Military Order of World Wars.
After he retired from the First New Haven National Bank, he was a volunteer driver for the American Red Cross and served as treasurer for the Animal Welfare League. He was a member of the First Church of Christ of New Haven and a resident of Hamden, Conn.
Don is survived by his wife, Virginia Walker Sperry; his sister, Lois Sperry Murray; his children, Frederick, Virginia Engelhard, and Taber Hamilton III; six grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Gifts may be given in his memory to the Princeton University General Scholarship Fund.
The Class of 1930
Richard Wesley Lawrence Jr. ’31
Dick died on Feb. 6, 2002, in Elizabethtown, N.Y. He was 91.
He was a graduate of the Riverdale School, Princeton, and Columbia Law School. Dick practiced law for six years in NYC, prior to serving in the Army Air Corps.
Dick resumed his practice of law and became the chairman of Printers Ink Publishing and Bankers Commercial Corp. In 1947 he moved to the Adirondacks, where he became deeply involved in education. In Elizabethtown he helped found the Crary Foundation, which provided scholarships for Adirondack students to pursue higher education. Dick served the foundation as president for 27 years. He was also founder of the Council of Councils of N.Y. State Universities and the Essex County Historical Society, as well as a trustee of the N.Y. State Historical Assn. and the Elizabethtown Library.
Long active in the cause of conservation, Dick was appointed by Gov. Nelson Rockefeller in 1961 to be the first chairman of the Adirondack Park Agency. The park became a preserve nearly the size of Vermont and the largest parkland in the US.
Dick was predeceased by his first wife, Marjorie Fitch, in 1945; by his second wife, Elizabeth Hand Wadhams, in 1987; and by his daughter, Ruth L. Wilson, in 1991. He is survived by two daughters, Alida L. Currey and Elizabeth W. Lawrence, two granddaughters, and three great-grandchildren. The class extends its deepest sympathy to his family and friends.
The Class of 1931
Thomas Creigh Jr. ’33
Tom was an important businessman and philanthropist in Hastings, Nebr. He died May 30, 2002. He was 91.
Tom became president and CEO of the KN Energy Co., a producer of natural gas. He was a strong supporter of Hastings College, having contributed large donations for scholarships, an endowed chair, and a professorship in history in memory of his deceased wife, Dorothy Claire Wever. He served 40 years on the board of Hastings College. Tom also was extraordinarily civic oriented, serving on the Nebraska Historical Board and the board of the Nebraska Nature Conservancy. In addition, he was elected president of the Nebraska Art Collection Foundation. In 1992 he was inducted into the Nebraska Business Hall of Fame. It is easy to see that Tom will be greatly missed by his family and many friends and coworkers.
The Class of 1933
William Edgar Edmonston ’33
Bill died at his home in the Tucson Mountain foothills on June 8, 2002. He was 92.
Born in Baltimore, Bill moved to Arizona in 1940. He soon became involved in many aspects of Tucson life. He served on the Park Board and was involved in establishing the Desert Museum. In 1950 he ran for the state legislature. He founded Reproductions Inc. (commercial reproductions) and ran the company until he retired in the 1970s, when he sold it to his employees.
As a businessman, Bill was noted for his integrity. As a husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, he was loved for his humor, warmth, and songs. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Rosemary; his daughter, Betsy; three granddaughters; and two great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his son, William.
The Class of 1933
Chester Lewis Fisher ’33
Chet died at Williamsburg Landing, Va., on May 21, 2002. He was 90.
After he graduated from Princeton he served in the Air Force as a full colonel. He was awarded the Legion of Merit for his services in the Pacific theater during WWII. He was later senior vice president of Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. He was a civic leader and served as mayor of Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., where he lived for many years. He retired to Marco, Fla., and Williamsburg, Va.
Chet is survived by his wife of 58 years, Grace, and his children, Chester III and Jane Fisher Swuggett. He had seven grandchildren. Chet was a friendly, vigorous classmate, whom we all will miss.
The Class of 1933
Frank Cummings Hibben ’33
Frank died in his sleep at his home in Albuquerque, on June 11, 2002. He was 91.
Frank was a professor, emeritus, of anthropology at the U. of New Mexico. He was especially well known for his excavations of the Sandia Man Cave in 1937 and 1941. Frank was the first director of the university’s Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. He was a big game hunter and world traveler, amassing a large collection of archeological treasures, which he willed to the university. He donated $4 million to build the Hibben Center, a research annex to the Maxwell Museum. Frank wrote The Lost Americans and other books and articles for scholarly magazines.
Frank is survived by his wife, Marilyn, and two daughters, Norrie Liddell and Peggy Bahti. Frank was an outstanding member of the class and a good friend. He will be missed.
The Class of 1933
Sidney Mathews ’33
Sid died at his home in Palm Beach, on May 21, 2002. He was 90.
Sid graduated from Salisbury School. After he left Princeton, he joined the Commercial National Bank in NYC, which later became the Bankers Trust Co. He specialized in trusts and estates. During WWII he was a major stationed in India, in the Southeast Asia Command, where he assisted in the US Lend Lease program. He was awarded the Bronze Star.
He retired from Bankers Trust in 1974 and became chairman of the board of the Kohler and Campbell Piano Co. He moved to Palm Beach in 1979, where he headed the local office of the investment firm Roanoke Asset Management. Sid was an honorary trustee of the Children’s Aid Society in NYC.
He is survived by his wife, Phyllis. He also is survived by his first wife, Dorothea Smith, and their three daughters, and by a fourth daughter from his second marriage to Rita White in 1956. Sid was an industrious man who never seemed to retire. We will miss him.
The Class of 1933
Raymond Valentine Paul ’33
After a long illness, Ray died at the Kimball Medical Center, in Lakewood, N.J., on June 17, 2002. He was 91.
After graduation, Ray entered the import-export field with Mitsui and Co. Ltd. In 1941 he moved to the import-export division of Warner G. Smith, where in 1950 he was elected executive vice president. He retired in 1966. Ray was a member of the Presbyterian Church of Toms River, N.J., the Nassau Club, and the Princeton Club of NYC. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Elsie McKee, sons James and William, and two granddaughters.
The Class of 1933
Stephen Archie Walker ’33
Stephen died Nov. 11, 2001, on Anna Maria Island, Fla., where he and his wife, Virginia Manning Archer, had lived for 45 years, as long as they had been married. He was 90.
Stephen graduated from the Blake School in Minneapolis. After Princeton he attended medical school and practiced briefly in San Francisco. After his marriage he moved to Anna Maria, where he lived until his death. He was a quiet man who read voraciously, keeping up with national events and activities. His wife describes him as a gentleman’s gentleman. They lived “very happily together.” They had no children.
The Class of 1933
John Foster Davidson ’34
John, who worked for more than 40 years in sales with the Miehle Printing Press and Manufacturing Co. (later the Miehle-Graphic Systems division of Rockwell International) in Chicago, DC, Texas, NYC, and mostly in St. Louis, died Oct. 19, 2001. At his death he was 10 days short of 91.
John was married in 1940 to Eugenia “Gene” Dempsey, with whom, after he had retired, he spent much time in Ireland, from which her father had come as a boy. “We liked the people, the scenery, and most of all the slower pace,” he wrote. But their “Midwestern roots” proved too strong, and they returned to St. Louis. Gene was killed in a car accident in 1992. “Life,” John wrote to a classmate shortly afterward, “is different.”
He is survived by a daughter, Mary Foster Officer, and a son, John.
The Class of 1934
John Henry Kelly Shannahan IV ’34
Jack died July 2, 2002, after years of failing health. Since his retirement after 41 years in the electric utility business, he lived in the Leelanau County peninsula in Michigan, famed for its breathtaking views of Lake Michigan and miles of cherry orchards.
Jack was active in marketing activities at utilities in Indiana, Michigan, and Kansas, and served as president of the Electric Energy Assn. and senior vice president of the Edison Electric Institute. In Lake Leelanau he was a trustee of the Suttons Bay Congregational Church and director and treasurer of the Leelanau Christian Neighbors.
In 1939, Jack married Mary Reynolds Kline (Wellesley ’35), who died in 1995. Surviving are his two sons, John V and James; a daughter, Jennifer S. Koerner; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a sister, Mrs. Colegate O. McShane. To them we offer our sincere sympathy.
The Class of 1934
Charles Mcgillicuddy von Bernuth ’34
Charlie, a resident of Rome since he retired in 1962 from a family business, Bernuth Lembcke Co. — a creosote importer and a shipping company in NYC — died May 25, 2002. He was 89.
A graduate of Exeter, Charlie attended Princeton for only freshman year. “I really do not feel that I should be included as a member of the Class of ’34,” he once wrote, but he corresponded regularly with classmates and consistently supported AG. A superb horseman, he played polo at Princeton, and later trained horses, judged at the National Horse Show, and played polo at Meadowbrook. More recently, he was a world traveler, having caught a “disease” he called “itchy feet.” With his late wife, Eloise Fiamingo, to whom he was married for 27 years, he visited all seven continents.
Charlie is survived by his first wife, Shirley Paige Bernuth, and their four children and grandchildren. His brother, Ernest P. “Pat” Bernuth ’33, died in 1977.
The Class of 1934
Ralph Ulyate Whipple ’34
Whip, who wrote a classmate not long ago, “The thread holding me to Terra Firma is getting mighty thin,” died June 8, 2002, six days before his 90th birthday.
Retired in 1974 from the practice of urology in Manhasset, N.Y., he moved to Norwalk, Conn., in 1994, where he and his wife, Joan (Hopkins), whom he married in 1948, lived in “a nice waterfront condo.”
Whip was a member of the American Board of Urology, a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a member of the American and New York Urological Assns., a founding member of the Nassau County Academy of Medicine, and president of the medical board of the Manhasset Medical Center.
But Whip’s “first love,” as he wrote, “was boating.” In his case that meant predicted-log racing, in which he won many a prize in waters from Staten Island to Long Island Sound.
Whip is survived by three daughters, two sons, and eight grandchildren, besides Joan, to all of whom we offer sincere condolences.
The Class of 1934
R. Stewart Rauch ’36
Stew died Nov. 16, 2001. He was 87. The son of Rudolph ’13 and Mary Rauch, he prepared at St. Paul’s School. At Princeton he majored in political science, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, rowed on the lightweight crew, and was secretary of the Ivy Club. He received a law degree in 1941 from Penn.
During WWII, Stew served in the Navy in the Middle East and Pacific theaters, attaining the rank of lieutenant. He was associated with the firm of Barnes, Dechert, Price, Meyers and Clark, but left to join the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, where he rose from vice president to chairman and CEO.
Stew was recognized for his community service with honorary degrees from Swathmore College and Temple U. In addition, he received the William Penn Award and the Philadelphia Award. His wife of 60 years, Frances S. Brewster, died on Nov. 1, 2001. Stew is survived by sons Rudolph III ’65 and Benjamin ’78, daughters Susan and Sheila R. Kennedy, brother Thomas ’44, and sister Paton Roberts, the widow of our classmate Henry Roberts.
The Class of 1936
John Chabot Smith ’36
John died May 16, 2002. He prepared at Loomis School. At Princeton he majored in history. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in his junior year. He did graduate study abroad at Cambridge.
He began his career as a newspaper reporter for the Wahington Post, then went to the former New York Herald Tribune as a White House correspondent and, later, overseas to cover WWII. He devoted his last 30 years to teaching the value of good writing to improve communications. He was an
avid traveler and explorer throughout his life.
John wrote two nonfiction books: Alger Hiss: The True Story and The Children of Master O’Rourke: An Irish Family Saga.
He was devoted to his late wife, the former Betty McCarthy, whom he married in 1940. They had a daughter, Betsy, and a son, Michael ’65. John is survived by brother Philip ’32, son Michael, two grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Michael, in his touching funeral eulogy to his father, closed with these words: “John Chabot Smith was a man who never lost his spiritual center, his gentle sense of decency, and his intellectual curiosity, as best he could muster, even when he saw his faculties receding in his final months.”
The Class of 1936
John Francis Adams Taylor ’36 *40
John died Apr. 15, 1996, in Okemos, Mich. He was 80.
He entered Princeton at the age of 16, majored in philosophy, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. When he was 23 in 1940, Princeton awarded him a PhD in philosophy.
He began his academic career teaching aesthetics at Columbia. After serving during WWII as a lieutenant in the Office of Naval Operations in DC, he joined the faculty of what became Michigan State U., chairing the new department of literature and fine arts. He became an eloquent and distinguished professor and was honored with the first Distinguished Faculty Award for his teaching and research. He wrote three books: Design and Expression in the Visual Arts, The Masks of Society: An Inquiry Into the Covenants of Civilization, and The Public Commission of the University.
He was chair of the Taylor Commission on University Governance from 1966-68, was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1963, and was listed in the 1950 Who’s Who in America.
John is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Frost Taylor, daughters Mary Taylor Wohl, Deborah Frost Taylor, son-in-law Bernard Wohl, and brother William.
The Class of 1936
John Henry Hauberg Jr. ’39
John died in Seattle on Apr. 5, 2002, of a bacterial infection that led to a heart attack.
An Illinois native, John learned about the arts from his mother, who introduced him to architecture through the building of the family home, now the Hauberg Civic Center, and from his father, a philanthropist and avid collector of Indian art. John carried on both traditions through a life of extraordinary generosity to art, musical, and educational institutions in Washington state.
He married Seattle native Anne Gould in 1941. After serving four years in the infantry during WWII, he moved his family to Seattle, where he earned a BS in forestry from the U. of Washington. He was president of Pacific Denkmann Co. and Pilchuck Tree Farm and for 38 years a director of Weyerhauser. In 1971 he and Anne founded Pilchuck Glass School, now an international center for glass art. He served as president of the Seattle Symphony and the Seattle Art Museum, to which he gave more than 200 pieces of Northwest Indian coastal art.
We offer our sincere sympathy to his second wife, Ann Homer Brinkley; his daughters, Fay Page and Sue Hauberg; two grandchildren; and his stepchildren and step-grandchildren.
The Class of 1939
Herbert Louis Moeller Jr. ’39
Herb died of heart complications on Apr. 7, 2002, at a New Haven hospital near his home of many years, which was located directly on the waters of Long Island Sound in Branford, Conn.
Entering Princeton from Hillhouse School, he roomed with Fred Moore, Bob Haskins, and Jim Mullen. He majored in German, was a member of Tower Club, and swam on the varsity team all three years under coach Howie Stepp. He attended Harvard Business School, and served four years in the Coast Guard during WWII. He was founder and director of Narragansett Sales Co. An active member of the Branford Yacht Club, he loved the water. In his senior year, he and Bob Haskins, at the last minute, put together a unique, borrowed boat and souped-up outboard engine to participate in the Albany to NYC marathon. They won hands down.
Herb is survived by his sister, Pearl, and several nearby cousins. We share their loss and offer our sincere sympathy.
The Class of 1939
Frederick Whitney Shull ’39
Fred died Nov. 21, 2001, in Stevensville, Mont., where he had been living with his son, Steele, and his family. A longtime resident of Bellingham, Wash., Fred had conducted a private practice in obstetrics and gynecology since 1948, after receiving his MD at the U. of Rochester. He retired from that career in 1987, but then came out of retirement to specialize in neural therapy and scirotherapy, dealing with pain situations. Of this practice he once told us, “It has been my good fortune to get into many of the things the establishment calls ‘unproven’ (code name for ‘quack’) that I believe will be far better than the way things are handled at present.” He was a member of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a Rotarian. Interestingly, his chief hobbies were roller skating, kite making, and flying.
Fred and his wife, Evelyn Diebeser, were married in Princeton in 1947. Evelyn died in 1952. Their son, Steele, and daughter, Peggy Shull, survive, as do his sister, Georgia Vander Sloot, and his brothers, John ’32, David ’40, and Harrison ’44.
The Class of 1939
William Gregg Farrar ’40
Bill died unexpectedly at home on July 4, 2002. The town of Guilford, Conn., turned out for his services, where the tributes were to a life spent helping others, to his humility, his generosity, and his integrity.
Bill was a man who chose his cogent words carefully, seasoned with a wry wit. He was also a man, we knew, who was always there for us — most recently as regional vice president
He prepared at John Burroughs in St. Louis, Mo. At Princeton he majored in architecture and was a member of the cross-country team, the Glee Club, and Charter Club. During WWII, Bill served as an Army Air Corps captain in Burma and India. In 1948 he received a master’s in city planning from Harvard, subsequently working as a city planner in Saginaw, Mich.; Quincy, Mass.; and New Haven, Conn. Thereafter he taught math at Guilford HS, obtaining his master’s degree from Wesleyan in 1968.
Bill taught in England from 1964-65 under the Fulbright Teaching Exchange program, developing lifelong friendships. Bill was a docent at the British Art Center at Yale, sang in his church choir, led numerous community programs, was a devoted hiker here and abroad, and enjoyed tennis.
To his survivors: his wife, Lucy Brady Farrar; his son, William Jr.; daughters Barbara Farrar Preneta, Virginia Farrar Balsar, and Ann Grigsby Farrar; his brother, John; and eight grandchildren, we offer our deepest sympathy.
The Class of 1940
Malcolm E. Kneeland ’40
“Mac was the most wonderful husband and best friend,” was his wife Marilyn’s tribute after he died from a cerebral hemorrhage at Mercy Suburban Hospital in East Noriton, Pa., on Mar. 26, 2002.
Preparing at Peabody HS in Pittsburgh, he majored in chemistry at Princeton, graduating with honors. Mac was a member of the Triangle Club (stage manager) and Elm Club, and was active also in club athletics and organizational affairs. He received a medical degree from Columbia in 1943.
During WWII he served in the Pacific area and later was a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve. After a variety of surgical residencies, Mac became chief of surgery for 21 years at Montgomery Hospital, in Norristown, Pa.
His activities were numerous, serving many years as regional chair for AG; swimming, golf, skiing, and gardening occupied his spare moments.
Mac’s comments in our 50th reunion book say it all: “Life has been good . . . a happy, enduring marriage, three sons, four grandchildren . . . we share together, we play together . . . we have been fortunate . . . what more could one ask?”
To that loving family — wife of 58 years, Marilyn, sons Blake and Chase, six grandchildren, and sister — we offer our condolences.
The Class of 1940
Harrison H. Young Jr. ’40
At our class 61st reunion with his family, including granddaughter Katherine A. Deringer ’01, Harry was vigorous and upbeat, and ever appreciative of his Princeton experience — “My life is richer — I am grateful and proud.”
He died on Apr. 6, 2002, of brain cancer. His wife, Judy, reported she “played Tigertone CDs the final week of his life; his Class of ’40 tie was under his hand when he died.”
Preparing at Sand Springs HS near Tulsa, Okla., Harry arrived on the Princeton campus, in his words, as “a very green, naive outlander.” It didn’t take long for him to match his high-achieving classmates, graduating with high honors in chemistry, Sigma Xi.
During WWII, Harry was a member of the National Defense Research Council. Postwar he joined the Williams College chemistry faculty. In 1950 he was awarded a PhD in chemistry at Columbia, followed by a JD from Fordham. Subsequently, he served in various management capacities with FMG’s chemical division. Devoted to Princeton, he served on alumni schools committees and as class chairman of AG.
As we grieve the loss of one of our own, we offer our sincere condolences to his survivors: wife Judy Schaeffer Young, daughter Dr. Margaret Deringer, and granddaughters Emily Deringer ’99 and Katherine Deringer ’01.
The Class of 1940
Arthur Edwin Harper Jr. ’41
Hoopoo died on Dec. 27, 2001. Born of missionary parents in Lahore, India, his preparatory schooling was at Woodstock HS, in India.
He had a distinguished academic career at Princeton, including making the dean’s list all four years, the no-course plan senior year, Sigma Xi, Phi Beta Kappa, and graduating with highest honors in psychology. Active in the Whig Society, he joined Gateway Club.
After obtaining his master’s at Iowa State, he received his PhD from Columbia in 1948. Hoopoo then returned to India as an educator/missionary of the United Presbyterian Church USA at the Ewing Christian College in Allahabad. After five years teaching psychology there, he was asked to develop a psychometric department at the world-famous Indian Statistical Institute in Calcutta.
On his return to Ewing, Hoopoo started the Bureau of Educational Research, which has developed as one of the premier providers of tests and measurement instruments throughout India. He was continually called upon to act as adviser to various organizations of the Indian government, and in 1975 he was elected president of his section of the Indian Science Congress, an unusual elevation for a non-Indian national.
Space limits listing further accomplishments, but you can read about them in our 50th reunion book. Hoopoo was a truly dedicated Christian.
He was predeceased by his wife of more than 50 years, Erika Schlmeyer Harper, and is survived by his three sons, David, Stephen, and Philip, daughter Ruth Axilrod, and four grandchildren.
The Class of 1941
John Dismukes Mallett ’41
John died of heart trouble on May 15, 2002, in Pacific Palisades, Calif. He prepared for Princeton at the Asheville [N.C.] School and the Allen Stevenson School in NYC. At Princeton he majored in physics, joined Court Club, and roomed with Hart Moore and then Charlie Chubb.
Immediately after graduation he joined Sperry Gyroscope Co. and, during the war years, worked on fire control and pulse doppler radar. He left Sperry to go to MIT, where he earned his master’s in physics in 1946.
John then returned to Sperry, but in 1949 moved to the Rand Corp. in Santa Monica, Calif. He left Rand in 1972 to work for Technology Service Corp., before starting his own business, Adaptive Sensors, in 1980, still working on radar.
An avid sailor, he and a group of friends built a 43-ft. catamaran, which he loved to sail. A series of heart problems and surgeries never slowed him down. In later years he turned to building remote-controlled gliders.
John is survived by his wife of 57 years, Susannah (Sue) Townsend Mallett, son George, daughters Margaret Harris and Katherine Krier, and seven grandchildren.
The Class of 1941
Howard Elbert Moore Jr. ’41
Bud was killed in a pedestrian accident on June 4, 2002. After preparing at the Peddie School, he was very active in intramural sports at Princeton and a member of the Catholic Club and Key and Seal Club. He majored in civil engineering.
He entered the Army in Jan. 1942, was later commissioned, spent two years in the European theater, and was separated as a captain in 1946.
Returning home a professional engineer, he joined his father in business at the Erie Contracting and Engineering Corp. He later started the Moore Equipment and Engineering Co. in Bloomfield, N.J.
Bud was a former member of the Montclair Engineering Society and the Montclair Golf Club. He was an enthusiastic golfer until five years ago, when he had a stroke, which was followed by six major operations, the last being removal of a kidney.
He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Eleanor Tokar Moore, son Craig, and two grandchildren, Kyle and Scott.
The Class of 1941
Henry Carrington Stevens II ’41 *47
Steve died at home in West Chester, Pa., on May 9, 2002. Son of John M. Stevens ’17, and great-great-grandson of Henry Carrington 1814, he prepared at the Haverford School.
At Princeton, Steve majored in architecture, graduating with honors. He was vice president of Cap and Gown Club. His roommates were Phil Austin, Pete Dean, Steve Wright, and Phil Wainwright.
Steve joined the Navy in 1942. He served in ship and aircraft recognition and early radar at the Philadelphia and Willow Grove naval bases before service on the USS Bayfield, flagship of the Allied assault on Utah Beach. In the Pacific, he was fighter director on the USS PHIBSPAC, seeing action in four Pacific landings.
In 1945 he returned to Princeton to earn a master's in architecture, then worked with several large architectural firms in Philadelphia in the ’50s and ’60s. Steve established his own firm in Berwyn, Pa., in 1970, specializing in designs for schools, colleges, hospitals, and corporate projects in the greater Philadelphia area.
When he retired, he returned to his lifelong interests in watercolor painting and gardening. He served on the Eastown planning commission, the Paoli library board, and the planning board of St. David's Church.
In addition to his wife of 59 years, Patricia Stewart Stevens, he is survived by his three sons, Peter, Craig ’72, and Henry Carrington III, and four grandchildren.
The Class of 1941
Robert G. Greeley ’44
One of the great Tigers of our class, Bob died of a heart attack on June 3, 2002, in Milton, Mass.
A native of Portland, Maine, and a lifelong resident of Milton and graduate of Milton Academy, Bob roomed with Bill Kester and Joe Walsh, played varsity football and baseball, majored in psychology, and was in Tiger Inn, before he went into the service in 1942. He served as a Navy beach master involved in seven South Pacific assault landings, and he retired as a commander in the Reserve in 1970.
He joined the family-owned New England Storage Warehouse Co. in Boston after the war and guided it to become the nation’s largest record storage and management business before he sold it in 1986. Besides his Milton home, he built a home in Bermuda, which was the headquarters for a ’44 mini-reunion in 1992.
Bob made every major reunion except the 5th and the 15th. He gave the class and the university an unusual gift from his Milton home of a four-ton piece of granite that was once used as a hitching post; it is now a permanent memorial bench near Nassau Hall to our 22 classmates who died in WWII
The class extends sympathy to his wife, Mary Jane (daughter of Charlie Caldwell ’25), daughters Susan, Sally, and Jenny, and stepchildren Holly Clarke ’82 and Christopher Getch ’84. Bob has been buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
The Class of 1944
Aubrey Huston Jr. ’44
Abs died May 14, 2002, at home in Lawrence Township, N.J.
He prepared at Episcopal Academy and St. George’s School; at Princeton he was a member of Ivy Club, rooming with W. Myers. He left in 1942 to join the Army Air Corps, serving in the First Radio Squadron in the Pacific theater, including radar repair in the Tibetan Himalayas.
He was with the Hay Group of Philadelphia; a sales manager for Aberfoyle Manufacturing of NYC; vice president of J. P. Cleaver Co. of Princeton; and president and owner of the Princeton Executive Institute. He was an active member of the Princeton Skating Club, Pretty Brook Tennis Club, and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. He won a Presidential Unit Citation for his work in civilian defense.
He served the class as vice president, for many years as costume chairman for Reunions, and doing annual giving telethons.
Abs is survived by his wife, Katharine; a son, Aubrey; two daughters, Natalie and Marion; his brother, Morrison ’41; as well as by seven grandchildren, to all of whom his class conveys its deepest regrets.
The Class of 1944
Judson Decker ’46
Jud died June 10, 2002, of a stroke, at his home in Birmingham, Mich. He came to Princeton from West Waterloo HS in the fall of 1942, entering the Army’s 10th Mountain Division in Mar. 1943. After combat service in Italy, winning two battle stars, he continued at Princeton to graduate in 1949 in economics. Jud played football, baseball, and hockey and was active in Whig-Clio.
In business in Chicago, Jud worked for Life magazine and founded a plastics dinnerware company with his former wife, Jane Bopp. He later worked for Paine Webber Jackson Securities and Mid-States Mortgage Corp. in Detroit. He formed Resources Group Inc., a commercial real estate brokerage. He retired in 1989 and devoted time to Alcoholics Anonymous and to Commitment to Life, a cancer patient support group.
Jane, and their children Todd, Susan, Catherine, and Nancy survive, as do eight grandchildren, one great-granddaughter, and a brother. The class joins them in mourning the loss of a loyal Tiger.
The Class of 1946
William Reese Spofford Jr. ’46
Bill died May 10, 2002, of cancer, at his home in Hilton Head, S.C. A Philadelphian, he came to Princeton in June 1942 from the Episcopal Academy. He entered the Navy V-12 program in July 1943, was commissioned ensign at Cornell, and served until 1946. He earned his degree at Princeton in 1947 and took law and business courses at Penn. A CPA, he became finance vice president at Foote Mineral Co. in Exton, Pa., and served as director of Liberty Mutual Insurance.
In 1976, Bill retired to Sea Pines, then to Long Cove, S.C. He enjoyed golf and sailing his 40-ft. sloop near Hilton Head. A loving family man, Bill is survived by his wife of 53 years, Ann Guthrie; his four sons, William, James, John, and Edward; 11 grandchildren; and a sister, Patricia S. Wilder. To them all the class extends its deep sympathy.
The Class of 1946
Richard R. Caples ’48
Dick died Apr. 28, 2002, in Lebanon, N.H., of sudden heart failure. He was 80.
Dick was a native of Boston, was in the Navy from 1942-46, and joined us at Princeton in 1945. He played varsity football. He received his law degree in 1950 from Boston U. and immediately began his practice of law, as well as his long career of public service in Massachusetts. He and Phyllis Chase were married in 1957.
Dick served first in the Massachusetts house of representatives and then in the state senate from 1951-64. He was legislative secretary to Governor Endicott (Chub) Peabody in 1964, before being appointed commissioner of public safety. He served, too, in the attorney general’s office. He was also active with a 27-year career in the Naval Reserve. Dick and Phyllis retired in 1984 to Wolfeboro, N.H., where he was a real estate broker.
To his widow, Phyllis, his sons, Richard and Daniel, and his daughter, Susan, the class expresses its condolences.
The Class of 1948
Frank D. Kineke ’50
Frank died of heart failure in Hyannis, Mass., on April 15, 2002. He was 75. He was born in Irvington, N.J., and graduated from Columbia HS in Maplewood, N.J.
Frank was a Navy veteran, serving during WWII as an aviation cadet before attending Princeton, and later during the Korean War as a line officer (ensign) on the USS Adirondack. At Princeton he was a math major, a member of the swim team, and belonged to Charter Club. He spent summers working as a lifeguard on the Jersey Shore, where he met his wife of 50 years, Joan Amberg.
In his first professional career Frank worked as treasurer for General Electric Credit Corp., as corporate controller for Condec, and as treasurer for ITT Grinell. In 1985 he and his wife became year-round Cape Cod residents, where Frank started his second career, building sailboats for Nauset Marine in Orleans, Mass.
Frank was a devoted husband and loving father, who appreciated the beauty of Cape Cod and enjoyed swimming, sailing, and windsurfing. Our sympathy goes to his wife, Joan; his two sons, Stephen '75 and Paul; his four daughters, Elise, Jane, Gail '83, and Kathryn; and seven grandchildren.
The Class of 1950
Norman C. Moore ’50
Norm died Jan. 16, 2002, at home in Philadelphia. Coming to Princeton from Penn Charter School, he was all-Ivy guard on three successive Big Three Championship football teams and a member of Tiger Inn.
After graduating with honors, Norm served at a frontline aid station in Korea as a first lieutenant in the Army Medical Corps. He returned to earn a master’s in American studies at Penn in 1955. As assistant dean of students at Princeton from 1954-59, he quelled the “Rock Around the Clock” riot, taught Shakespeare, and coached JV football.
In 1959, Norm became dean of students at Wabash College in Indiana. There, he also coached the football line and lectured in classical history for 25 years, before he retired in 1986 as associate dean of the college.
He fought back from a serious stroke in 1986 to lead a full and independent life in Philadelphia as an enthusiastic opera and orchestra patron and a devoted Phillies fan.
Our sympathy goes to Connie, his wife of 46 years and the daughter of George Cook ’26; sons Charlie ’88 and Patrick Supanc ’92; daughters Martha and Allison; daughter-in-law Susan Finch Moore ’87; and five grandchildren.
The Class of 1950
Thomas B. Carson ’54
Thomas died of cancer on June 18, 2002, at home in DC. Tom prepared for Princeton at St. Albans School during which time he attended the Universidad Nacional de Mexico. He was awarded the a Woodrow Wilson School scholarship. At Princeton he was business manager of the Daily Princetonian and a member of Elm Club.
In 1968 he joined the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, D.C., where he administered loans to Mexico.
After retiring in 1989, he attended the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management in Claremont, Calif., and completed a master’s in liberal arts at Georgetown. He was a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in DC. He is survived by his wife, Anne Conover Carson, and daughter Natalie Ambrose. The class extends its profound sympathy to his family.
The Class of 1954
James H. Goss ’57
Jim died June 29, 1994. We only recently learned of his death.
Jim did not maintain any ties to Princeton, nor do we have any record of his life after graduation with the sole exception of a work-related mention in the Lafayette Advertiser in Lafayette, La., in the 1960s.
The class wishes we knew more and extends its condolences to his son, James.
The Class of 1957
Earle H. Harder ’57
Known to his family as the Gentle Giant, Earle died of cancer on Apr. 26, 2002.
Earle prepared for Princeton at Palmyra [N.J.] HS, where he earned All South Jersey honors in football and was inducted into the Palmyra HS Hall of Fame. At Princeton, Earle played football, majored in electrical engineering, and was a member of Cannon Club.
After graduation, Earle joined his father’s firm, Harder’s Electrical, in Palmyra, assumed ownership in 1964, and operated the respected electrical consulting firm until his death. Earle served for 14 years as a member and chairman of the N.J. State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors, and as a member and past president of the N.J. Council of Electrical Leagues.
Earle had high regard for service to his community and church. He was past president of the Boy Scouts of America’s Burlington County Council, a member of the Palmyra-Riverton-Cinnaminson Rotary Club (president 1972-73), a member of the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Cinnaminson, and was a Mason. He also was a sportsman who loved to fish and enjoyed nature’s beauties.
Earle is survived by his wife, Dorothy, and children, Earle Jr., Susan Molnar, Thomas, W. Scott, and Frank J. Reed, to all of whom we extend our sympathy.
The Class of 1957
Norman Strax ’57
Norm died of prostate cancer in NYC. He was 66. Born in Brooklyn and raised in NYC and Long Island, he played the banjo and developed a love for open space and the sea.
His major at Princeton was physics, and he sang in the Glee Club, roomed senior year with Les Blatt, and spent a summer at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Norm continued his education at Harvard, achieving a master’s and PhD in physics. His dream was to teach physics and live in a cabin in the woods, which he did for awhile.
A vehement anti-Vietnam War protester, he led a group in the Oct. 1967 march on the Pentagon, sat with protesters at Columbia in 1968, and protested at the Democratic Convention in Chicago, ending up in jail for these and other activities.
Difficult financial years followed, during which, in good fortune, he found his wife, Jacqueline. Prostate cancer was discovered in 1991, which had metastasized, and he became disabled. His wife and he labored together to fight this disease, but in the end he succumbed. He asked that the class be aware that the Classmate Fund gave him peace of mind at the end.
He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline; his sisters, Polly, Gail, and Rita; brothers Marshall and Richard; and stepchildren Helen and Matthew Taylor. The class sends its sincere condolences.
The Class of 1957
John E. Williams III ’58
We were saddened to learn that Jack died on Nov. 19, 1999, following a brief, sudden illness in Florida, where he was living.
Jack came to Princeton from the Hill School, and in his sophomore year roomed with Morry Floyd, Warren Davis, and Harry Johnston. He was a member of Quadrangle Club. After his sophomore year he transferred to Dickinson College. He worked for First Pennsylvania Bank, where he headed its minority lending program in Philadelphia; he later worked in Puerto Rico. His department was sold to Manufacturers Hanover Bank, with which he spent the rest of his career, primarily back in the Philadelphia area. His warm personality and positive approach to life caused him to be liked by all.
The class sends its sincerest condolences to his wife, Elizabeth, and his two sons, Jack and David.
The Class of 1958
Clark Gesner ’60
Clark died July 23, 2002, of a sudden heart attack. He was 64.
Born in Augusta, Maine, Clark prepared for Princeton at Plainfield [N.J.] HS. At Princeton, he was a four-year veteran of the Triangle Club as a writer, cast member, director, and vice president. He also was social chair of Campus Club. An American civilization major, his thesis topic was “The Development of American Musical Comedy.”
Since 1960, Clark lived and worked in NYC as a writer and producer. He began as a staff writer for television’s Captain Kangaroo. In 1963 he became a freelance writer for TV, theater, and books using the name John Gordon. In 1966 he became a contributing writer, composer, and filmmaker for Sesame Street and The Electric Company and wrote for the BBC satirical series That Was the Week That Was.
Clark will be most remembered, however, for You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, first produced on Broadway in 1967. Clark often called Charlie Brown his “MacArthur Grant.”
Clark was also an actor, appearing in B.T. Nicholl’s Musicals in Concert and regionally in Lend Me a Tenor, 1776, and Carnival.
Throughout his career, Clark always remained deeply involved in Princeton Triangle, and he regularly attended reunions. He never married. He is survived by his two nieces, Amber Gesner-Jones and Paige Gesner, and his nephew, Eli Gesner, with whom the class mourns.
But as Clark himself put it in our 25th reunion book, “I must say, it’s been a wonderful time.” To which his classmates reply, “It has indeed; and you’re a good man, Clark Gesner.”
The Class of 1960
