Christopher W. Benchley

PDS Graduate Christopher Benchley, 24, Son of Wendy and the late Peter Benchley, Dies in Accident in Montego Bay

Christopher Wesson Benchley, son of Wendy and the late Peter Benchley, of Princeton, died December 29, 2011, in an accident in Montego Bay, Jamaica. He was 24.

He graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in Marine Affairs and a minor in anthropology from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami. He had spent his freshman year at the University of Pennsylvania.

He was a 2005 graduate of Princeton Day School.

As an athlete, Christopher excelled at soccer. He played for the Princeton Soccer Association’s travel teams. He started with the Sparks, coached by Andrew Kalwa, at the age of six and continued with Union ’86, coached by Rob Myslik and Jim Barlow, through his teens. He also played for Princeton Day School his freshman and sophomore year and then turned his attention to crew.

He quickly became a strong oarsman and rowed for the newly developed Mercer County Junior Rowing Club. Christopher’s boat qualified to race in the Head of Charles in October 2004 and the U.S. Youth Rowing Championships in May 2005.

An avid scuba diver, he was an amateur marine archaeologist and an advocate for ocean conservation.

Aside from his mother, he is survived by his sister, Tracy Benchley Turner; his brother, Clayton Benchley; and many aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews.

A funeral service was held at Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton, on Saturday, January 7, at 11 a.m. The service was open to all.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to one of Christopher’s favorite organizations, Shark Savers: www.sharksavers.org; 419 Lafayette Street, 2nd Floor, New York, N.Y. 10003.

———

Anne G. Yokana

Anne Guthrie Yokana, of Princeton and Biddeford Pool, Maine, died Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at Buckingham (Brandywine) at Princeton.

Anne was born in Baltimore, Md. where her father was a physician at Johns Hopkins. She and her family moved to Lawrenceville where her father became the school doctor for the Lawrenceville School. Anne and her family then moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where a group of Hopkins doctors started a new hospital. Upon her father’s death, her family returned to Princeton where she has been a resident since 1932.

Anne was a graduate of Miss Fine’s School, now known as Princeton Day School. She attended Sweetbriar College, Bryn Mawr College, and was a graduate of Union Memorial School of Nursing in Baltimore. She worked as an operating room nurse at the Princeton Hospital prior to her marriage to Lucien D. Yokana in 1949. She was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church for over 80 years and its Altar Guild since the early 1950s. Anne also served as Senior Warden of St. Martin’s in the Field Episcopal Church, a summer chapel at Biddeford Pool, Maine for many years. She was a member of the Colonial Dames, Present Day Club, Bedens Brook Country Club, Pretty Brook Club, Nassau Club, and The Contemporary Garden Club of Princeton. She was a volunteer for many years for the Princeton Hospital Auxiliary. Anne was also an avid tennis player and figure skater and will always be remembered for her contagious laughter, her sense of humor and graciousness, and her love of animals.

Daughter of the late Clyde Graeme Guthrie and Isabelle Hill Guthrie; she is survived by her husband of 62 years, Lucien D. Yokana; two sons, Alexander D. Guthrie and Lucien S. Y. Guthrie; three daughters, Ariane G. Peixoto, Isabelle G. Yokana and Alice G. Barfield; and seven grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on Thursday, January 19 at 11 a.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church in Princeton.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Trinity Episcopal Church.

———

Randall Greenbaum

Randall Greenbaum, of Princeton, died suddenly on January 4, while visiting New York City. He was 60.

His two loving children, Andrew, 20, and Jemma, 18; ex-wife, Stella; and his brothers, John Greenbaum of New York City and Clint Greenbaum of Westhampton Beach, N.Y., survive him. Randy will be buried in Kansas City, Mo., where he grew up.

He received a BA in Art History from Rutgers University, a master’s degree in architecture from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., and a master’s degree in real estate finance from Florida International University in Miami, Fla. He was a member of the American Institute of Architects.

In Miami, Randy worked as an architect, a real estate agent, and a visual artist. Eventually, he pursued a full-time career as a visual artist. His paintings have been exhibited in galleries and juried shows in Miami, Princeton, and metropolitan New York City. To be closer to the art worlds of New York and Philadelphia, Randy moved his family to Princeton in 2000. In recent years he continued working on a body of paintings in his home studio and in developing an art book of figurative prints and social commentary. Randy had an impeccable eye for design, an encyclopedic knowledge of Western art history, and an unceasing passion to teach and show his love of art to his children. They loved him for his joy of sharing, and his unceasing involvement and fatherly interests in everything they did and accomplished. He will be missed by family and friends.

Donations may be made to The Making Headway Foundation (www.makingheadway.org).

———

Barbara Roberts

Barbara Roberts, formerly of Princeton, late of Islesboro, Maine, died peacefully in Camden, Maine, with her family by her side, on Sunday, December 11.

Born on March 16, 1923, and delivered at home in Lawrence, Mass., by her father, Dr. Alfred E. Chesley and mother Geneva James Chesley, Barbara grew up in Lawrence and North Andover, Mass. Summers were spent at her mother’s family home in Deerfield, N.H.

She attended the University of Arizona and graduated from Simmons College in Boston. For a time, she wrote for the Lawrence Eagle Tribune as a reporter. It was at the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College that she met her future husband of over 40 years, Donald A. Roberts, who predeceased her in 1991.

Barbara taught English at the Northfield-Mt. Herman School before receiving a Masters of Arts degree in English from Columbia University. She and her husband then taught at the Hill School in Middleburg, Va., the Grosse Pointe University School in Grosse Point, Mich., and at Princeton Day School in Princeton. She taught in the Lower School at PDS from its inception in 1965 until her retirement in 1984. Barbara was loved and respected by legions of children and colleagues, as was evidenced by her return in 2009, to a PDS reunion, where she was welcomed and feted.

The value of education and the plight of the poor were always foremost in her mind. She fought quietly but forcefully throughout her life for planned parenthood, gun control, the Democratic party, and women’s rights. Always well informed on the issues of the day, she never failed to enjoy engaging in a lively and articulate debate about politics or unfolding events on the world stage. She embraced the internet and was one of the few octogenarians able to navigate the web on her own laptop. She was an avid reader of literature, and a lifetime subscriber to the New York Times (NYT) and the New Yorker. She completed the NYT Sunday puzzle in ink well into her eighties, and was delighted when a newspaper now and then chose to publish one of her many letters to the editor. Barbara will be remembered for her sharp intellect, quick humor, gentle laugh, and quiet graciousness — all hallmarks of another, more genteel age.

She is survived by her brother, Norman Chesley of Pacific Grove, Calif.; her children, Nancy L. Roberts of Vancouver, British Columbia, Peter C. Roberts of New York City, Diana S. Roberts of Islesboro, Maine; sons-in-law, Vinit Khosla and Stanley Pendleton; grandchildren, Arjun and Gita Khosla, Orion and Benjamin Smith, Robin and Gabriel Pendleton; and three great grandchildren, Sebastian and Scarlett Pendleton Chamier, and Katherine Khosla.

According to her wishes, there will be no formal service, but donations may be made in her name to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence at bradycampaign.org; or to planned parenthood at plannedparenthood.org.

———

A memorial service for George H. Gallup Jr. will be held at the Princeton University Chapel on Saturday, January 14 at 11 a.m. A reception will follow at Bedens Brook Country Club.

———

Ellwood “Woody” Kauffman, 83, died December 23 at home in Princeton. He was a computer pioneer whose keen intellect was matched only by his keen wit.

After serving as a technical sergeant in Japan at the end of World War II, he attended Temple University on the GI bill, graduating in 1952 with a degree in mathematics and a fascination with a new breed of room-filling “automatic computers.” He joined Remington Rand’s fledging Univac division, which built the nation’s first commercial mainframe computer, and became one of the earliest operators of that iconic machine.

Later, he turned his sights to computer software, founding and serving as president and CEO of Applied Data Research in Princeton, the world’s first independent software company, which in 1968 was awarded the first patent for a computer program. He remained active in computing for more than 40 years and founded several other computer software and consulting companies in Princeton, including Mainstream and K-Squared Systems. In 1981, he was recognized by the American Federation of Information Processing Societies as a “Univac Pioneer,” one of a group of “indomitable innovators whose foresight … helped usher in the Information Society of today.”

At college, he met his wife, Shirley, and they were married nearly 58 years until her death in July 2008. They traveled the globe together, played a mean game of bridge, and shared the curious distinction of having been named to President Nixon’s infamous “enemies list” for their work with the presidential campaign of George McGovern. He also enjoyed crossword puzzles and playing poker. His greatest pleasure, however, came from time spent with his family, whose images graced nearly every surface in his home. His heroes were his children, his grandchildren, and Albert Einstein.

He taught his children, and those whose lives he touched, the importance of hard work, compassion, and the serious business of humor. He also held the incongruous belief that obituaries should be published while their subjects are alive, so they can appreciate the breadth of their accomplishments and impact.

Predeceased by his wife, Shirley; his sister, Shirley Dashoff; and his son-in-law, James Barthman; he is survived by his sons, Scott, Matthew, and Geoffrey Kauffman; his daughter, Jane Kauffman Barthman; five grandchildren; and his “angel,” Marcia Nelson-Brown, his devoted caregiver.

A celebration of his life will be held on January 14 at 2 p.m. in the Wilson Room at Princeton Windrows, 2000 Windrow Drive, off College Road West by Forrestal Village.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Cancer Institute of New Jersey Foundation, Tower Two, Fifth Floor, 120 Albany Street, New Brunswick, N.J. 08901; or online at www.cinjfoundation.org.

Lastly, as a particularly fitting tribute, he would be thrilled if you remembered to tell your children and your parents that you love them.

———