Memorials 2006




Barry Loper has reported that Gilchrist Baker Stockton, Jr. '52 died December 28, 2006. Phil May attended the memorial service, held January 2 at St Margaret's Episcopal Church, Fleming Island, FL.
Gil was born in Vienna, Austria. After Princeton he obtained his law degree at the Univrsity of Florida in 1955 and served for two years in the U.S. Army, including a stint in Thule, Grenland. He practiced law in Jacksonville, FL for most of the rest of his life. In the 2002 Book of Our History, Gil wrote that he lived on the ocean beach front in Atlantic Beach, FL, and enjoyed walking the beach, playing tennis, going to the University of Florida football games, and traveling to Europe, especially Spain and Austria.



Robert A. Chalmers '52 died at Christmas 2006. Hale Bradt passed on the news, which he received from Bob's son Chris. Bob had been declining with Alzheimer's for some time.
Though in the 1952 Nassau Herald Bob predicted a future in "the manufacture of electronic musical instruments," and despite a professor's warning "not to be seduced by computers," Bob spent his entire career with Lockheed Research Laboratories learning about and working with computers. He found he had a knack for programming and published a number of papers on that subject.In the 2002 Book of Our History, Bob reported that he was fully retired. He wrote that his wife Lillian (also a physicist) and he "really mean to be retired: we don't own a computer."
A service will be held for Bob on Friday, January 5, at 1 p.m., at Green Hills Memorial Park, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275. Directions to Green Hills Memorial Park are at http://www.greenhillsmemorial.com/home.htm.


The University has learned that Preben Scheutz '52 died November 13 (corrected date) of an illness that he had been battling for over two years. Preben's picture appeared on this website a few months ago at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark, on the occasion of the visit to Copenhagen of Lucius and Adela Wilmerding. Preben sent us the photo as an illustration of "long lasting friendship across the Atlantic."
In the Book of Our History, Preben noted that he was "forever in [Princeton's] debt" for the "incomparable" education he received. He returned to his native Denmark after graduation to practice architecture there. In his submission written just a few months before his death for the 55th Reunion Yearbook (which will be published shortly), Preben says "My life in Princeton and here in Denmark is all I could have wished for."
After reading this memorial item on his father, Preben's son Flemming wrote that "Princeton did indeed mean a lot to our father and - indirectly - had a great impact on our lives here in Denmark." He added that Preben was cremated wearing a Princeton T-shirt. The funeral was on November 18. Lefty Thomas has reported the death of our classmate Bruce Berckmans at his home in Coconut Grove, FL, on November 25, 2006. The memorial service for Bruce will be held on Tuesday, December 5, at 3 p.m. at Plymouth Congregational Church, 3400 Devon Road, Coconut Grove.

John Emery has passed on the obituary below, published in the Miami Herald on November 28. For more on Buzz, see his entry in the 2002 Book of Our History and his contribution to the 50th Reunion Book of Special Essays.

Bruce Berckmans died at his Coconut Grove home on Saturday, November 25. He was 76 years old. Born in New York City, Berckmans graduated from the Choate School and Princeton University. He then served in the U.S. Marine Corps with assignments that included infantry platoon leader during the Korean War, and a variety of nuclear security, intelligence, airborne, and special force reconnaissance duties. Following a parachuting accident, Berckmans served in the Clandestine Service of the Central Intelligence Agency. Later he was an operations vice president for an international protective services company and worked in Spain as a security and counter-terrorism advisor and helped recover five international kidnap victims. Berckmans also worked undercover for a major airline and before "retirement", Berckmans served as a corporate security advisor for the Cordis Corporation.
Berckmans continued his private consulting practice into retirement and he founded two non-profit organizations, the Cardiac Rehabilitation Rowing Project, Inc., which developed a recovery protocol for heart attack victims, and Canine Performance, Inc., a program which selected dogs for assistance, service, companion, obedience, agility, and search & rescue purposes. He fell in love with the Vizsla breed and bred both hunting and show champions. He devoted much time to Therapy Dogs, Inc., an organization that helps dog owners use their pets for therapy work in hospitals, nursing homes and schools. Berckmans was also an avid gardener.
Berckmans is survived by his wife Shirley; four children, Dinah Brown, Bruce Berckmans III, Leslie Cutler and Alexandra Cutler; three step-children; David Ilsley, Lisa Zobel, and Vanessa O'Malley; and nine grandchildren. The family requests that donations be made, in lieu of flowers, to Therapy Dogs, Inc. Florida at PO Box 331820, Miami, FL 33233. A memorial service will be held at Plymouth Church in Coconut Grove at 3:00 PM on Tuesday, December 5, 2006 with a reception following at the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club. To visit this Guest Book Online, go to www.MiamiHerald.com/obituaries.


Nick Clifford has sent us the announcement by the President of Middlebury College of the death of Kim Sparks '52, who, like Nick, was a long-time member of the Middlebury faculty. Kim moved there from the Princeton faculty in 1962, "one of a number of young, talented professors that ... Middlebury ... hired away from Princeton," and remained there until his retirement. Kim entered Princeton with the Class of '52 but left in January 1951 to serve in the Air Force for four years. He returned to graduate with the class of 1956 and earn his MA (in 1959) and Ph. D. (1963) in Germanic studies.

Following is the text of President Liebowitz's announcement::
I write with the sad news that Professor Emeritus M. Kimberly Sparks died early this morning [October 30, 2006].
Kim began teaching at Middlebury in 1966, when he was appointed associate professor of German. He was also named chair of the department and the first holder of the Jean Thomson Fulton Chair of Modern Languages and Literature. Kim was one of a number of young, talented professors that former Middlebury College President James Armstrong hired away from Princeton after he himself left Princeton to become president of Middlebury in 1963.
Kim went on to be appointed Charles A. Dana Professor of German in 1969 and an Old Dominion Foundation Professor of German in 1971. In 1973, he began a three-year term as chair of the newly formed committee on foreign languages and was later named chair of the division of foreign languages. During the 1980s and 1990s, Kim served several terms as director of the Middlebury College School in Germany. Kim retired in 1993 and was appointed professor emeritus of literary studies in 1994. He later taught a writing course on Vienna as professor emeritus and received another appointment as professor emeritus of German in 1999.
Kim graduated summa cum laude and with Phi Beta Kappa honors from Princeton in 1956, and earned his doctorate there in 1962. He interrupted his undergraduate studies in 1951 to serve for nearly four years with the United States Air Force Security Service in the United States, Germany, and England, during which he studied Russian at the Air Force Language School at Syracuse University. In graduate school, he held National and Samuel S. Fels Fellowships, and he was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Vienna.
He is survived by his wife Suzann, their three children, and grandchildren. Ronald D. Liebowitz
[President, Middlebury College]


John Clutz has learned from the University that Bill Ragland '52 died September 19, 2006.


We've learned from John Emery that classmate Harry Barbee died October 12, 2006, in Red Bank, NJ, of Legionnaires' disease. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, October 16, at the Rumson Presbyterian Church, 4 E. River Road, Rumson, NJ.
The obituary in the Asbury Park Press can be read at
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006610140323.


Ray Lanflisi '52 died September 13, 2006, according to word received October 13 from his son James. Ray majored in aeronautical engineering, was a member of Campus Club, and was living in retirement in San Diego.


Grenville Garside '52 died of cancer September 22, 2006, at his home in Norfolk, CT. While he was a longtime resident of both Washington, D.C., and Norfolk, CT, Gren and his wife Barbara had moved to Norfolk full-time in 1999.
Gren is remembered by many, especially those who were on the Daily Princetonian staff, as the dynamic chairman of the Prince in 1950. He entered Princeton with the Class of 1951, but he graduated with us, and the University's records show that he chose to affiliate as an alumnus with '52. John Clutz transmitted the news of his death, along with the information in the following paragraphs.Gren was a partner in the Washington law firm of Van Ness Feldman from 1979 to 1995. His practice was concentrated in the fields of energy, natural resources and environmental law, working with corporate clients on legislative issues. He also served as counsel to Americans for Energy Independence and advisor to other energy organizations and trade associations.
From 1975 to 1979, Gren was Staff Director and Counsel to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, directing the work of the Committee's 40 staff members in both energy and natural-resource fields. He joined the Committee in 1972 to coordinate the National Fuels and Energy Policy Study, which laid the groundwork for major energy legislation in the 1970s.
Gren previously served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Interior and Director of the Department's Program Support Staff (1967-1968) and Legislative Counsel to Senator Henry M. Jackson (1969-1972). He was vice president of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for 16 years, with special responsibility for the foundation's natural resource and environmental programs.
Before moving to Washington in 1967, Gren practiced law in New York and served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He served in the U.S. Army in Korea from 1952 to 1954.
In 2001, Gren wrote and produced The Golden Age of Norfolk Architecture, a book chronicling the town's remarkable public and private structures built between 1870 and 1930. He donated the copyright to the Norfolk Library so it could sell the book to raise funds. He also helped found Norfolk Now, the town's monthly newspaper.
Over the past five years, Gren's editorial opinions were seen in The Litchfield County Times, as he drew upon his years of legislative and regulatory experience to inform readers on topics such as energy policy, the environment and campaign issues.
Gren is survived by his wife, Barbara Lawrence Garside of Norfolk, CT; a sister, Helen Randolph, of Cambridge, Mass.; a daughter, Elizabeth R. Garside of Washington, D.C.; two sons, Jonathan H. Garside of St. Louis and Alexander C. Garside of Portsmouth, N.H., and four grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at noon on November 4 at Church of Christ Congregational in Norfolk. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters' Education Fund (645 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105-made out to "CTLCV Education Fund") or to the Norfolk Library (P.O. Box 605, Norfolk, CT 06058) for the purchase of books and flowers.


George Newlin reports that he had learned through Sandi Tatnall that Jim Beck '52 died August 13. The Princeton Town Topics of August 16 had a nice write-up on Jim, a loyal member of the Class and a resident of the very heart of Princeton.
Jim's abiding focus was his family, both his ancestry and his adopted child and grandchildren. He made a virtual family artifact museum of his apartment in the Nassau Club. In the Book of Our History he wrote that he was spending a "good bit of time" in the U.K., visiting relatives and "researching the political history of the 20th Century, in which various ancestors and relatives have played a certain part" - many illustrious people, in fact, many of the nobility. Jim's multifaceted career included advertising, founding a restaurant in London, teaching, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and college librarian; he confessed to being "a lifelong book addict."
He is to be interred in a private ceremony on September 8 at Princeton Cemetery.
The full Town Topics obituary is at http://www.towntopics.com/aug1606/index.html.


Our classmate Dr. Frank Andrews died August 8 in California. The service was at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Laguna Beach on August 12. We understand that Frank had been successfully fighting cancer for some time, but he apparently had also been hit by strokes in recent weeks.
Frank's widow, Jess, has sent us a limerick Frank wrote to be read at his funeral, which was done - a bit of humor that tells us something about Frank:

Old Frank who lived in San Juan
Was convinced he would live on and on.
Of course it's not true
But the joke is on you.
You're too late now to tell him he's wrong!

The obituary in the Los Angeles Times recalls Frank's youth in Chicago, his dream of a professional baseball career, how he interrrupted his Princeton studies to serve with the Army during the Korean War, his graduation from Princeton with a B. S. degree in 1956, his studies at the University of Chicago's medical school, and various medical practices in southern California. A leader in women's health care, he left his medical practices in 1983 to found the Breast Clinic for Early Diagnosis at Mission Viejo. After retirement in 2000, Frank played golf avidly and tennis almost daily until his illness. He and Jess lived in San Juan Capistrano from 1990.


The University informs us that Alan W. Allen '52 died on May 19, 2006. Alan and his wife Kathy retired to Salem, SC, in 1991 after a career in marketing for the Glidden Company took them and their children to many places in the U.S. He was a member of Tower Club.
Our classmate Barry Cruikshank passed away Saturday, June 24, 2006. We learned of his death from Liz Reilly '81, the secretary of PAAMNOC, the Princeton Association of Monmouth and Northeastern Ocean County, with which Barry had been very active. Barry was an NROTC midshipman and a member of Dial Lodge.
Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the Boy Scouts of America, 701 Ginesi Drive, Morganville, NJ, or The American Heart Association, 2550 U.S. Highway 1, North Brunswick, NJ 08902-4301.
Liz supplied the following comment (slightly edited), which gives a feel for Barry's devotion to Princeton, which extended to the Class of 1952, in a message to PAAMNOC members:
Our former webmaster, treasurer, and ASC interviewer Barry Cruikshank '52, passed away this past Saturday. If you attended a PAAMNOC dinner in the last decade (except for this year, when he was already in failing health), you probably met Barry. He didn't let the stroke he suffered a decade ago slow him down a bit. He'd wander the room in his wheelchair, introducing himself to everyone, especially the newest Tigers. I met him thru PAAMNOC a decade ago, and he immediately cajoled me into taking him to football games, basketball games - you name it, if it had to do with Princeton, he was there. the relationship was a two-way street; when I needed a treasurer, or a webmaster, he immediately volunteered. he helped me to rediscover what was so special about Old Nassau - its people - and his love for the University was unbounded and contagious. i went to his 50th with him a few years back, and he was in his glory.
So join me in bidding farewell to one of the sons of '52, a distinguished PAAMNOC officer and a dear friend.          


W. Joe Wilson '52 died April 25, 2006. Joe retired from a career in retailing in 1991. In his entry for the Book of Our History, he reported that he and Johnette had six children - and 15 grandchildren. He also reported that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1993, but that "it is not as frightening as it is reputed to be": he had Johnette "to back me up," he wrote. Joe was a member of Dial Lodge.
          Since we reported Joe's death here and in the Princeton Alumni Weekly issue of April 23, 2008, Johnette, who "backed him up" so lovingly, has also passed away.  The following additional remembrance reflects that loss:         
Joe Wilson died on April 25, 2006 in El Dorado, Arkansas, from complications from Alzheimer?s.  Joe was born in El Dorado and prepared at El Dorado High School, where he was the student body president.  At Princeton he majored in economics and was active in Dial Lodge, the Wesley Foundation, and club sports.            
He served as an officer in the U.S.Navy from 1952 to 1956 and earned an MBA from HarvardBusinessSchool in 1958.  He returned to El Dorado to join the family retailing business, which was a continuing success under his leadership.         
 Joe was highly respected in El Dorado.  He served in leadership roles for United Way, the Chamber of Commerce, and his Church Finance Committee. A lifelong Rotarian, he also served on the boards of the Salvation Army and the Boy Scouts.        
 He was married in December 1954 to Johnette Jackson of El Dorado.  They had an exemplary marriage with six children, 15 grandchildren, and, now, three great-grandchildren.  Johnette passed away in November 2008.  We remember both Joe and Johnette as thoughtful and caring friends, and it was always a pleasure to see them. The class extends its sympathy to the family. 
David L. Giles '52 died April 16, 2006. Dave was with the Getty Oil Company until his retirement. He listed his personal interests at the time of our 50th as "horses and the farm; travel, camping and boating." Dave belonged to Campus Club.


We've learned from Jack Joyce, through John Clutz, that Russell S. McNeil Jr. '52 died June 5. John reports that he, Aman, Daubert, Joyce, Sherrerd and Wentz.from our class attended the memorial service held in Norristown, PA, on June 10. The service focused on reminiscences - golf, hunting, fishing, family and business. Howie Wentz was among the speakers. We understand Russ had suffered for about four years from a kind of ALS-like debilitating disease.
The Philadelphia Inquirer published the following tribute to Russ on June 8, 2006 (with a different date of death):

Russell Sheldon McNeil died on June 6, 2006 after a long illness. Russell S. McNeil was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1930. He was raised in Dover, Delaware where he graduated from high school, and went on to attend Princeton University, where he was a proud member of the class of 1952.
While at Princeton, he played fullback and kicker on Charlie Caldwell's famous "Tigers" football team. The Princeton "Tigers" were undefeated in 1949 [except for one loss - ed.], 1950 and 1951. Upon graduating, Russell joined the U.S. Navy where he flew swept wing jets off naval air carriers. He truly had "the right stuff".
In 1953, Russ married his high school sweetheart Sally (Bodley). They were happily married for 53 years.
Russ was retired but had previously been president of the U.S. Cocoa Corporation and more recently, Chairman of the Board of he J.P. Linette Chocolate Company.
In addition to is wife, he is survived by his three daughters, Melissa Bregar, Kate McNeil and Laurie Wernik. He is also survived by his three sons-in-law, Frank Bregar, Roy Friedland and Chris Wernik, as well as his four granddaughters, Amy, Jessica, Emma and Rebecca. "Pop Pop" was loved by all and will be missed forever.
Relatives and Friends are invited to attend Russell's "Life Celebration Service" at the Boyd-Horrox Funeral Home of East Norristown, 200 W. Germantown Pike, Norristown, PA, beginning at 10 A.M. On Saturday, June 10th with Memorial Services at 11 A.M. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be given to the Society of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP). They can be contacted at 1-800-457-4777or on line at www.psp.org.

The Alumni Council has passed on to us the news of the death of Charles Carlton Colyer, Jr., '52, on April 29, 2006.
Carl was an actor, teacher and director. He explained his philosophy of the theater in his contribution to the book of special essays for our 50th reunion, in which he discussed the meaning of his favorite quote, Hamlet's advising his actors "o'erstep not the modesty of nature."
The last address we have for him is in Providence, RI. Following is the obituary submitted by his son Cameron:
Charles Carlton "Carlo" Colyer, Jr. died Saturday, April 29th in Rutland Vermont after delivering the eulogy at his mother Charlotte's memorial service. He was born 12/24/1930 in West Orange, NJ where he spent much of his youth. Carl graduated from the Westminster School of Simsbury, CT in 1948 and Princeton University in 1952, where he was a member of Cap and Gown and the Triangle Theatre Club.
From Princeton Colyer joined the Marine Corps serving active duty in Korea and Japan during the Korean War, achieving the rank of Captain as an Intelligence Officer. Upon returning from Korea, Colyer joined the Actor's Studio and began his 20+ year professional acting career. His credits include over two hundred plays in which he has played both leads and supporting roles with many of theatre's greatest names: Tallulah Bankhead, Charles Coburn, Jane Fonda, June Havoc, Helen Hayes, Van Johnson, Jack Lemmon, Darren McGavin, Jane Morgan, Vincent Price, Gloria Swanson, Betty White and many more.
Upon becoming a father and turning 40 Colyer transferred his energies from acting and directing to the teaching of acting. His students were adults, gifted teenagers, the underprivileged, the mentally retarded and the emotionally disturbed. Among the places he taught and directed many successful productions were the Dwight Englewood School, Syracuse University, Brown University, the University of Rhode Island, the Rocky Hill School, Trinity Repertory Theatre and the Brown University Learning Community. In addition to teaching Colyer published many modern adaptations of classic plays as well as the highly regarded Theatre Arts teaching manual, "The Art of Acting".
Colyer's retirement years were some of his happiest where he continued his active life writing his follow up "The Art of Directing" as well as traveling the globe and becoming a vital member of the Brooklyn, NY, and Lubec, ME, communities along with his partner Kathryn Rubeor. In addition to Rubeor, Colyer is survived by his son Cameron Colyer, his daughter-in-law Lauren, and their three children, Crosby, Sloan and Henry; his brothers William Osborne and Stephen Colyer; his sister Libby Hall, his cousin Charlotte Mary Hartnett; closest friend John Scaglione and his many students and friends.
There will be a memorial service at a date to be determined this summer. In lieu of sending flowers please make donations in Carlo's name to: Lubec Landmarks at P.O. Box 422 Lubec, ME 04652

John W. A. "Doc" Buyers '52 died on May 20, 2006. The announcement reprinted below, from his daughters Jane and Becky, tells much about his devotion to family and to Princeton and his exemplary career in business. He will be remembered for many things, including his prowess on the football field (which led to his being called "Doc," as explained below) and for his generous contribution to the University in the funding of Buyers Hall.
Joe Bolster reports that class members Boster, Kazmaier, Kreitler, Jones, Mangan, McGillicuddy, Paul Mueller and Sherrerd attended the service for Doc on May 31. Click here for the eulogy by Doc's nephew Bob Buyers.

Businessman J.W.A. Buyers dies

John William Amerman "Doc? Buyers, former President and CEO of C. Brewer & Co. Ltd. in Hawaii, of Honomu, died May 20, 2006 at Keystone Hospice in Wyndmoor, Pa. He suffered from Alzheimer?s disease and bladder cancer but died peacefully in his sleep. He was 77.
Doc Buyers? life embodied the American Dream. By taking advantage of educational opportunities and combining them with determination and hard work, this charismatic man rose from humble beginnings to become a visionary leader in the Hawaiian business community.
He was born on July 17, 1928 in the town of Coatesville, Lancaster County, Pa., to the late Rev. William Buchanan Buyers and Rebecca Watson Buyers, the fifth of five children. He attended Scott High School in Coatesville, Pa. and graduated from The Stony Brook School in Stony Brook, New York in 1946. Mr. Buyers served in the U.S. Marine Corp, from 1946-48, before enrolling at Princeton University. His teammates on the Princeton football team gave him the nickname "Doc? in honor of Doc Blanchard, the 1945 Heisman Trophy winning Army fullback. He graduated with the class of 1952, and then joined Proctor & Gamble?s sales force.
On April 11, 1953, he married Elsie Parkhurst Buyers in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. and they settled in suburban Philadelphia and started a family. From 1953 to 1966 Mr. Buyers worked his way up from traffic engineer to division operation manager at The Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania. In 1963, he earned a Masters degree in Industrial Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a Sloan Fellowship. He won national acclaim for his thesis, "Wings of the Morning,? an analysis of space communications.
Starting in 1966 Mr. Buyers served as the director of operations at General Waterworks Corp., a subsidiary of International Utilities (IU) Corp. Two years later he became an administrative vice president at IU and, in 1971 he was promoted to President and CEO of General Waterworks.
Doc and Elsie Buyers moved to Honolulu when Doc was chosen to run C. Brewer & Co., Ltd., one of Hawaii?s "Big Five? sugar companies, after IU gained a controlling interest in the company. He served as President and CEO of Brewer from 1975 to 2001 overseeing the company?s many business segments in Hawaii and abroad. In addition to growing sugar, C. Brewer owned the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Company and other specialty food companies, related agribusiness interests and real estate.
In 1981 and 1985, Mr. Buyers led successful lobbying efforts in Washington D.C. to include sugar in the U.S. farm bill. In addition to his other responsibilities, he was voted Chairman of the Board of C. Brewer in 1982.
In 1986, Mr. Buyers led a successful leveraged buyout, purchasing all of Brewer?s common stock from IU to form a holding company, Buyco, Inc. The largest shareholder, Mr. Buyers served as the chairman and CEO of Buyco from 1986 until its dissolution in 2001. At that time he purchased many of the company?s assets and founded his own private company, D. Buyers Enterprises, LLC, based in Hilo, Hawaii.
In addition to running his own businesses, Mr. Buyers served as a director on many other boards, including First Hawaiian Bank, Outrigger Enterprises, Inc. and John B. Sanfilippo & Sons.
Throughout his life he as served on numerous charitable boards on the East Coast as well as in Hawaii. He was a founding member of Waynesborough Country Club in Paoli, served as a trustee at the Hawaii Preparatory Academy and The Stony Brook School. He loved trees and, in 1985, together with Hawaii?s first lady Jean Ariyoshi, led a campaign to replant trees in Hawaii called "A Million Trees of Aloha.?
In 1986, Mr. Buyers was recognized as the Salesperson of the Year by the Sales and Marketing Executives of Honolulu. In 1999, he was given the Father Damien Award by the Hawaii Island Food Bank. And in 2004 he received the Robert J. Pfeiffer Medal from the Bishop Museum.
Mr. Buyers was most recently a member of Hilo Coast United Church of Christ in Honomu, Hawaii and while living on Oahu was an elder at the First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu. In Pennsylvania, he was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Paoli.
Doc and Elsie Buyers were divorced in 1998 and in 1999 Mr. Buyers married Elizabeth K. Lindsey, of Kamuela, Hawaii. The couple separated in 2004. Since November of 2005 Mr. Buyers has been on the East coast being cared for by his first wife, Elsie P. Buyers and their daughters.
Mr. Buyers will long be remembered for his graciousness, generosity, self-confidence, competitive spirit and boundless energy. Everyone who knew him, loved him.
He is survived by his sister Charlotte Farr of Clarksville, Indiana; his widow; his first wife; his three daughters and their husbands: Elsie and J. David Viehman of Chestnut Hill, Pa., Rebecca and William Buyers-Basso of Bar Harbor, Me., and Jane and John Russo of New York City; six
grandchildren: Sara E. Viehman, J. Alexander Viehman, Mark W. Viehman, Marisa Buyers-Basso, John James Russo, Jr. and William Christopher Russo, as well as numerous nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, other relatives and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, and brothers Dr. Robert Buyers (1996) James Watson Buyers (1992) and his sister Jane Arntz Vale (1997). Funeral services for J.W.A. Buyers will be held in Pennsylvania. Memorial services will be held in Honolulu and in Hilo at a date yet to
be determined.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in his memory to either the Keystone Hospice or the Hawaii Island Food Bank. Mr. Buyers? family would like to thank all of the staff at Dresher Estates, Chestnut Hill Hospital, Keystone Hospice and the Alzheimer?s Association chapters in
both Hawaii and Pennsylvania for their help and support. We are grateful as well to his many friends, colleagues and faithful employees.
Edmund H. H. Caddy '52 died on April 17, 2006, his 78th birthday. We learned of his death from his Princeton roommate Jim Rockwell through Dan Duffield. Ed joined our class after two years in the Marine Corps. He earned his master's degree in architecture at Princeton in 1955. He became a member and, from 1980 to 1983, president of an architecture firm in New York City. From the New York area, Ed and his wife Mary moved to San Francisco and then, on Ed's retirement in 1997, to Bolingbrook, near Chicago.


We have received the news that our Classmate Robert S. Van Dyke died April 17, 2006. The last address we have for Bob and his wife Beth was in Florida, with a second home in Saco, ME, but he spent most of his working life in Cedar Grove, NJ. Bob left Princeton in June of 1950 to join the Rae Publishing Co., of whch he was CEO at the time of his retirement in 1989. Beth, two sons, and a daughter survive him.
We lost an outstanding classmate on Friday, April 28, 2006. Ruth Kahn reported that her husband Don Kahn '52 had died early that morning after a short battle with cancer. A service for Don took place Sunday, April 30, at the Temple Neve Shalom, 250 Grove Avenue, Metuchen, NJ.
Don was an active member of the Class Executive Committee. Among his many contributions to the Class, he was primarily responsible for the Class's Enduring Marks program - the projects by which the Class and its members have made numerous gifts to the University that represent a permanent legacy of the Class of 1952. He was preparing a list of such projects for posting on this website at the time of his death.George Newlin has provided the following report of the service for Don:
I attended the service for Don, which began at 1 pm this afternoon at the Congregation Neve Shalom in Metuchen NJ. Rabbi Gerald L. Zelizer officiated and gave the principal address. He was eloquent and touching, having known Don and Ruth for decades. Ruth and her three children and five or six grandchildren were present. Don's son Jonathan spoke, at length and very affectingly, with his brother and sister by his side. It was a beautiful service and a major tribute to Don for all his contributions to Metuchen (there is a pedestrian bridge called Kahn's Crossing in a park he was a major influence in creating), and to his Princeton Class. Which latter was represented on the occasion by Emery, Helm, Malehorn, both Murdochs, Newlin and Saunders (with his wife Carol).
Mary and Bill Murdoch added:
[Don's] son Jonathan . . . paid grand tribute to his father on behalf of his family. Along with his devotion to his family, temple, community, environmental and other causes was noted his affection for the Class of 1952.

Classmate John M. Stadter died December 7, 2003. Dan Duffield learned this news at this late date from the Alumni Records Office.
John's favorite quotation, as reproduced in the Book of Our History, was "It is better to be silent and permit ignorance to be susptedcd than to speak and remove all doubt."
True to these words, his BOH text entry is pretty much limited to laudatory comments about several outstanding professors of our time on campus.

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