Mary Eva DiDonato
Richard Anthony Carroll Jr., 88, of Princeton, died September 21 at the Princeton Care Center.
Born in Princeton, he was the son of the late Richard and Ida M. Davidson Carroll, and brother of the late Donald Davidson Carroll.
He was a 1939 graduate of the New Jersey School for the Deaf in West Trenton, now know as the Marie Katzenbach School for the Deaf. While at the School for the Deaf he excelled in sports and cabinet making, and earned the rank of Eagle Scout.
Following graduation he was employed by Princeton University, where he worked for 54 years in the Mail Services Department, retiring in 1994. He is survived by a brother, the Rev. Douglas James Carroll of Cohocton N.Y.; and two sisters, Margaret C. Pazdan of Princeton and Joyce C. Moffett of Hamilton Square.
A memorial service will be held at a later date at Trinity Church, Rocky Hill.
Memorial contributions may be made to Trinity Church, P.O. Box 265, Crescent Avenue, Rocky Hill 08553.
Arrangements are under the direction of The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home.
Inez Tillotson Taylor Crawford, 98, of Princeton, died September 25 at home.
Born in Walhalla, S.C., she had been a resident of Princeton for the past 70 years.
She received her education in the public schools of Seneca, S.C. It was there that she began her career in private duty service for many years. She was devoted to her family and especially loved being a grandmother.
She came to Princeton during the early 1940s and retired from private duty service after many years of working in New Jersey and New York. She was an active member of the First Baptist Church of Princeton.
She was predeceased by her parents, James and Mamie Prater; her first husband, Robert Tillotson; her second husband, Robert Taylor; three sisters, Earline, Viola, and Lucy; and four brothers, Roman, Navy, Edward, and Melvin Prater.
She is survived by her husband of 33 years, Jerry Crawford; three children, Betty Jacobs of Bristol, Pa., Shirley Poole of Hamilton, and Melvin Tillotson of Anderson, S.C.; two stepdaughters; a sister, Joella Skelton of Seneca, S.C.; 20 grandchildren; and many great-grandchildren.
The funeral service was October 3 at First Baptist Church, Princeton. Interment was at Colonial Memorial Park, Hamilton.
Arrangements were by the Hughes Funeral Home, Trenton.
Mary Eva DiDonato, 76, of Lawrenceville, died September 24 at the University Medical Center at Princeton, in the presence of her family.
Born in Montgomery, Ala., she had been a resident of Lawrence Township for the past 50 years.
She was a graduate of Alabama's Auburn University with a B.S. in early education. She taught school in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, and New Jersey. For 20 years prior to her retirement, she served as director of the East Trenton Day Care Center.
A lifelong active Democrat, she served as the elected committeewoman in her district for over 20 years. She was also a dedicated member of the Tuesday Morning Bridge Club at the Lawrence Senior Center, where she also served as a member of the board of directors.
She particularly loved being a grandmother.
Daughter of the late Simon-Peter and Mary Eva (Darby) Knighten of Montgomery, she is survived by her husband of 52 years, S. Leonard DiDonato; a daughter, Debra Massimo of Princeton; two sons, Brooks of Columbus and Dale of Lawrenceville; three sisters, Nancy Forrester of Montgomery, Dr. Edna Smit of Grand Rapids, Mich., and Rose Nini of Princeton; and five grandchildren.
The funeral was September 29 at the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church, Lawrenceville. Burial was private in the Lawrenceville Cemetery.
Arrangements were by Poulson & Van Hise Funeral Directors, Lawrenceville.
Irene F. (Patko) Emann, 70, of Princeton, died September 26 at the University Medical Center at Princeton.
Born and raised in Franklin Township, Somerset County, she lived in Princeton most of her life.
She retired as a supervisor with Educational Testing Service in 2001 after 55 years of service.
She was a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad. She was an avid reader and enjoyed crossword puzzles and cooking. She lived for her family gatherings and reunions.
Daughter of the late Joseph and Ethel Patko, she was predeceased also by her husband, Walter V. Emann, and three brothers, Joe, Bob, and Frank Patko. She is survived by three sons, Mark of Lawrenceville, Michael of Princeton, and Daniel of Ringoes; two daughters, Renee Garth of Victoria, Australia, and Michelle Emann of Goochland, Va.; three sisters, Ethel Ughetta of Neshanic Station, Ilona Dragert of Pennington, and Joanie Grosse of Mercerville; five grandchildren; and one great-grandson.
The funeral was October 2 at Westerly Road Church, Princeton, with the Rev. Matthew P. Ristuccia officiating.
Memorial contributions may be made to Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad Ladies Auxiliary, P.O. Box 242, Princeton 08542.
Arrangements were by The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home.
Claire "Marie" Foster, 74, of Sacramento, Calif., formerly of Princeton, died June 25 at home with family at her side.
Born to Mary and Frank Servis in Trenton, and raised by her Aunt Mamie and Uncle Andy McIntosh in Princeton, she graduated from Princeton High School and worked at the Princeton Medical Group and Princeton University.
She married Vernon Foster Jr. in 1951. The couple met at age 13, married at age 20, and cherished family more than anything. They lived in and raised their family in Princeton and in Hamilton Square until 1970, when they moved to Salinas, Calif. They later moved to Sacramento.
Predeceased by her husband in December, 2002, she is survived by a daughter, Patricia (Morgan) Cook; two sons, Vernon Foster III and Timothy D. Foster; two sisters, Alma Benoit and Edith Conklin of Salinas; four grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Private memorial services will be held both in Sacramento and New Jersey. A scattering at sea will be held in Florida. Condolences may be sent c/o Vernon Foster III, 6045 Jeanine Drive, Sacramento, Calif. 95842.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Hospice Charitable Fund, Vitas/Hospice, 3841 North Freeway Blvd., Suite 210, Sacramento, Calif. 95834; or to a local hospice organization of the donor's choice.
Esther Harris Highland, 90, of Princeton, died September 23 at the University Medical Center at Princeton.
Born in New York City, she lived for 46 years in Elmont, Long Island, New York. She had lived at The Residence at the Pavilions at Forrestal, Princeton, since 1998.
She retired as a college professor with City University of New York, Queensboro Community College, Queens.
She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, author and co-author of a number of college textbooks in business mathematics, co-author with her husband, Harold, of several How and Why Wonder Books for children, and editor of a variety of journals and encyclopedias.
Daughter of the late David and Pauline Singer Harris and wife of the late Harold Joseph Highland, she is survived by a son, Joseph of Skillman; a sister, Sylvia Kleinberger of Jerusalem, Israel; and three grandchildren.
A private graveside service was held October 3 at Princeton Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to Childreach, 155 Plan Way, Warwick, R.I. 02886-1099; or to a charity of the donor's choice.
Arrangements were under the direction of the Star of David Memorial Chapel of Princeton.
Cynthia A. Eney "Cindy" Hoebel, died peacefully in her sleep September 19, surrounded by her family. The cause of death was liver failure following two and a half years with cancer.
A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, she was the choir director and organist at the Abbington Presbyterian Church and Christmas concert organist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. She was also a music therapist at a Philadelphia mental hospital, which she said changed her life. She later became the pianist for the Unitarian Fellowship of Devon, Pa., where she married Bart Hoebel, a neuroscientist. They had met on a youth hostel bicycle trip to Cape May.
She became the pianist and choir director for the Princeton Unitarian Church in the 1970s.
Her joys included friends, gardening, swimming, and playing the steam calliope. After eleven major surgeries, including nine on one hip, she settled for a wheel chair, but continued to give comfort to many others with her camaraderie, advice, and laughter.
She is survived by her husband; three children, Valerie, Carolyn, and Brett; and two grandchildren.
A service celebrating her life will be held this Sunday, October 8 at 1:30 p.m. at the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Princeton.
Memorial contributions may be made to the YWCA Aquatics Program, 59 Paul Robeson Place, Princeton 08540; or to the Ocean Conservancy at www.oceanconservancy.org; or to The Curtis Institute of Music at www.curtis.edu/html/60100; or to the Delaware River Steamboat Floating Classroom at www.steamboatClassroom.org.
David Edward Kauffman Sr., 95, of Lawrenceville, died September 26 at the University Medical Center at Princeton.
Born in Little Plymouth, Va. to Essau and Mattie Kauffman, he was educated in Virginia public schools and moved to Trenton at an early age. He had lived in Lawrenceville for more than 70 years.
He was employed at the Belle Mead General Depot for many years. He then became the head of the custodial department at the Lawrenceville School, retiring in 1980.
He was predeceased by a son, Oliver "Chico" Kauffman; a daughter, Janet Kauffman; three brothers, Richard, Jeremiah, and John; and two sisters, Florence Harris and Ida Womak. He is survived by his wife, Helen; two sons, David Jr. of Morrisville and Richard of Atlantic City; five daughters, Dolores Smalls, Joan Howard, Jean Kauffman of Lawrenceville, Mary of Verona, Pa., and Carol Johnson; a sister, Mary Harris of Virginia; 16 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, and four great-great-grandchildren.
The funeral was October 3 at Shiloh Baptist Church, with the Rev. Gail Moore officiating. Interment was private.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Childrens' Scholarship Fund of Shiloh Baptist Church, 340 Rev. S. Howard Woodson Jr. Way, Trenton 618.
Funeral arrangements were under the direction of the Hughes Funeral Home, Trenton.
Edith Langmuir "Teddy" Leverenz, 89, of Williamsburg, Va., formerly of Princeton, died August 24 at Hospice House of Williamsburg.
Born to Edith Ruggles and Charles Herbert Langmuir, she grew up in Englewood, N.J., where she attended the Dwight School. After graduating from Smith College in the class of "39 Forever," she married Humboldt Walter "Lefty" Leverenz and moved to Princeton where they raised their four children.
In Princeton she was active in the Smith College Club, the Trinity Episcopal Church altar guild, and the Parent-Teachers Association. As president of the PTA, she developed a pioneering program for drug awareness and education.
After her husband's retirement from RCA, the couple moved to Indies West in Naples, Fla., where they played tennis and enjoyed sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico. Following her husband's death in 2003 she moved to Patriots Colony in Williamsburg.
In the course of the Leverenzes' 63-year marriage, they traveled throughout the United States, to Europe, and around the world.
In addition to her husband, she was predeceased by her oldest daughter, Edith "Ditty" Leverenz Stunkel. She is survived by three children, David Leverenz of Gainesville, Fla. and Eagles Mere, Pa., Julie Leverenz of Williamsburg, Va., and Ellen Leverenz of Los Gatos, Calif. and Chilmark, Mass.; and by numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Memorial donations may be made to Hospice House & Support Care of Williamsburg, 4445 Powhatan Parkway, Williamsburg, Va. 23188.
John F. McKee Jr., 21, of Florence, formerly of Princeton, died September 26 in the Virtua Memorial Hospital of Burlington, Mt. Holly.
Born in Princeton, he was employed as a tree surgeon.
He is survived by his mother, Jane Villa; his father, John F. McKee Sr. and his wife Donna; and his grandparents, John and Rita Gibson.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated September 30 at St. Paul's Church, Princeton. Burial was in the parish cemetery.
Arrangements were by The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home.
Hanna Moessner, 95, of Kingston, died September 29 in the University Medical Center at Princeton.
Born in Romania, she had been a Princeton-Kingston resident since 1952.
She was a longtime member of the Lutheran Church of the Messiah, Princeton.
Daughter of the late Georg and Katarina Fischer Necker, wife of the late Adolf Moessner, and mother of the late Emilie Jeschke, she is survived by two daughters, Berta Birk of East Hanover, and Erna Sassman of Monmouth Junction; 14 grandchildren; and several great-grandchildren.
The funeral service was October 3 at the Mather-Hodge Funeral Home. Burial was in Kingston Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Lutheran Church of The Messiah, 407 Nassau Street, Princeton 08540.
Edyth Kearney Myers, 81, of Blue Bell, Pa., formerly of Princeton, died September 16 at home.
Born in Flushing, N.Y., the only child of Edward Henry Kearney and Edith Seymour Kearney, she attended elementary school in Flushing and Bayside High School, where she graduated in 1942.
She earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Wilson College, Chambersburg, Pa., followed by a master's degree in education from Rutgers University in 1962.
Before moving to Princeton in 1948, she was a researcher at the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation in New York City, where she met and married her husband, Charles Thomas (Chuck) Myers, who predeceased her in 2000. When Mr. Myers joined the staff of Educational Testing Service, the couple moved to Princeton, but she continued to commute to New York City, working in the Human Resources Department of Macy's on 5th Avenue.
She then joined Princeton University as a research assistant. After starting a family in Princeton, she continued to contribute to the community by organizing and teaching in the nursery school at Trinity Church. She was a founding member of All Saints' Episcopal Church in 1960.
For more than 20 years she was an elementary school teacher, first in West Windsor Township at the Dutch Neck Elementary School, and then in Franklin Township, initially at the Hillcrest Elementary School, followed by many years at the Kingston School where she taught first grade.
She was an early organizer and long-term volunteer at the Princeton YM/YWCA and with the Princeton Chapter of the American Red Cross. Through the "Y" and the Red Cross she taught many classes in swimming and first aid. She was an avid swimmer and tennis player.
She is survived by two daughters, Kit Donner of Siler City, N.C., and Pamela Bagdis of Blue Bell, Pa.; and two grandchildren.
A memorial service was held October 2 at All Saints' Episcopal Church.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to Wilson College Chaplain's Fund, 1015 Philadelphia Avenue, Chambersburg, Pa. 17201, attn. Ann Terry.
Mary Dix Sproles, 93, of Stonebridge in Montgomery Township, died September 26 at the University Medical Center at Princeton.
Born in Montgomery, Ala., she was educated in Decatur, Ala. She lived in Philadelphia, settled in Alexandria, Va., and then lived in Arlington, Va. for 48 years before moving to Montgomery Township in the spring of 2006.
She was formerly an active member of the Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church in Arlington. She had also been active in The Antiques Club in Arlington and had been an avid gardener all of her life.
Wife of the late Edward S. Sproles, she is survived by a son, Edward Jr. of Lawrenceville, and many nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held tomorrow, October 5 at 11 a.m. at Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church, Arlington, Va. Burial will be in Columbia Gardens Cemetery in Arlington.
Memorial contributions may be made to Princeton United Methodist Church Air Conditioning Fund, 7 Vandeventer Avenue, Princeton 08542; or to Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church, 1500 North Glebe Road, Arlington, Va. 22207.
Arrangements are under the direction of The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home.
Everett "Ted" Tower, 78, of Seattle, Wash., formerly of Princeton, died in Seattle.
Born in New York City, the son of G. Nelson Tower and Emma Everett Tower of Princeton, he attended Princeton Country Day School, The Lawrenceville School, and Columbia University.
He served four years in the U.S. Air Force, then married Leora Stepp, daughter of Howard and Dorothy Stepp of Princeton.
Following his service in the Air Force he joined American Airlines in New York City in the freight department, culminating with his position as Director of Freight Operations. He was instrumental in the development of the SABRE system, which computerized the airline's freight operation. He also served as American Airlines' representative at the International Air Transport Association. His job eventually took him to Dallas for several years before retiring to Edmonds, Wash. to be near his two children.
During retirement he became a computer consultant working with many local businesses to implement or improve their computer systems. He was also involved with many charitable organizations, contributing his time and expertise. One of his most rewarding contributions was teaching adults to read and write.
With his wife he loved to travel, logging thousands of miles exploring the globe. He also enjoyed kayaking, hiking, and other outdoor activities.
He took an active role in the community by serving on the Snohomish County Board of Equalization.
He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Leora; a son, David, and a daughter, Cynthia Tower, both of Seattle; and two grandsons.
Natalie White Vaughan, 69, a lifelong resident of Princeton, died July 3 at home.
The daughter of the late Frances Blackler Kennedy Vaughan and Richard Farries Vaughan, she graduated from Goucher College, earned a master of arts from Princeton Theological Seminary, and completed additional graduate professional coursework at Rutgers University. For almost three decades, she served as a social worker and social work supervisor for the state of New Jersey, primarily in the Division of Youth and Family Services.
An active participant in social justice initiatives of Trinity Episcopal Church, she was a member of the Order of St. Luke the Physician, Princeton Historical Society, Pilgrim John Howland Society, Society of Mayflower Descendents, Old Sturbridge Village, and National Wildlife Federation. She regularly attended orchestral and choral performances, historical celebrations, and Princeton University basketball games for more than a half-century.
She is survived by several cousins, including Harris Kennedy of Maine; and Eleanor Beckwith, Mary Lou Crosby, Donald Kennedy, and Marilyn Pierce of Massachusetts.
A memorial service will be held at Trinity Episcopal Church at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 14. Interment will be in the Memorial Garden at the church.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Trinity Episcopal Church, 33 Mercer Street, Princeton 08540.
Arrangements are by the Blackwell Memorial Home, Pennington.