Mary C. Saltzman

Mary Crum Saltzman, a resident of Princeton, died Sunday, May 27, 2012. Mary was born January 19, 1920 in New York City and later moved to Plainsboro before spending the last 30 plus years residing at the Princeton Community Village (PCV) in Princeton.

Mary worked for 20 years at the Princeton Acme where she held various positions from check-out clerk to inventory. She loved working at the Acme. Mary loved to walk and garden including having her own vegetable garden while also maintaining the PCV’s common flower garden. In her spare time after her retirement, Mary enjoyed taking care of her six great grandchildren.

Mary was an active member of St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church and a woman who put family above all else.

She was predeceased by her sister, Jeannie Cormack. Surviving are her beloved daughter, Barbara Rossi and son-in-law Felix; son Robert Crum; three grandchildren, Chris Rossi and wife Beth, Joseph Rossi and wife Sue, and Mary Ellen Mandatta and husband Eric; six great grandchildren, Christopher, Malinda, Amanda, Dominic, Michael and Maria; and several nieces and nephews. She will be greatly missed by all whose lives she touched.

A private funeral was held on June 1, 2012. Burial was at Brainerd Cemetery in Cranbury.

Arrangements were under the direction of the Kimble Funeral Home, Princeton. Extend condolences at TheKimbleFuneralHome.com.

John J. Hamel III

On April 29, John Jacob “Jake” Hammel III, 85, died peacefully at home in Eugene, Ore., with his loving wife and family at his side. He was a rare example of a man of culture and learning, a scholar outside the academy, and an art enthusiast of the creative arts who ardently believed in the role of the arts and education in the everyday lives of citizens.

Jake was born in Detroit, Mich., 22nd of October, 1926. He was the son of the late Genevieve Booth and the late John Jacob Hamel II, and predeceased by his sister, Barbara Hamel Miller.

Jake spent his young years living between Sarasota, Fla. and Bloomfield Hills, Mich. He attended Howe Military School, where he was a boarding student at the age of nine. He graduated from high school at Cranbrook Schools, Bloomfield Hills, in 1944 and went on to Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1947. Simultaneously he was an Ensign in the United States Navel Reserve Training Corps and discharged honorably in 1946.

In 1948, Jake entered Virginia Theological Seminary, Alexandria, Va., graduating in 1951 with a Bachelor of Divinity, cum laude. Soon thereafter he was ordained at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Ypsilanti, Mich. He married Sara Morledge in 1948.

In order to pursue graduate studies, Jake moved to New York City and entered a degree program at Union Theological Seminary. While at Union, in 1953 and 1954, Jake studied under the renowned scholars Paul Tillich and Reinhold Niebuhr. During his graduate studies, he was an assistant minister at All Angel’s Church in Manhattan. Upon being asked to become rector at St. Andrews Church, Arlington, Va. in 1955, Jake moved back to Arlington and taught at Virginia Theological Seminary from 1955-1957 while continuing his graduate studies.

In 1959 his first marriage ended in divorce. Because Episcopal laws at the time were very strict concerning divorced clergy and remarriage, Jake resigned from the ministry in 1958. Jake’s second marriage took place in 1959 in Orange, N.J. It was while living in New York City that Jake began a second career. His first job was as personnel director at Philipp Bros. He worked at Harris Upham until 1962 in the research department as an analyst editor and became a registered representative of the New York Stock Exchange. From 1962-1967, he was co-founder of the investment counseling division at Estabrook and Co. He and Phyllis moved to Princeton in 1960. Jake commuted to Wall Street on the Reading Rail Line from Belle Mead.

In 1967, he reversed his commute and joined Drexel, Firestone, Inc. in Philadelphia where he became a vice president, director of institutional sales, traveling extensively in Europe and Canada. Retiring from commuting, he began to work for several firms in Princeton including Wm. Sword & Co. and Commodities Corporation. In the mid-1980s, Jake formed his own consulting business. This allowed him time to become involved with various nonprofit groups in Princeton.

Jake loved music. He had a fine ear and lovely baritone voice. He believed very strongly in the importance of music in peoples’ lives. He began his singing career as a choirboy. To his great disappointment, his voice changed just as he was to have a solo part in his church choir. In the early 1960s, he sang in prestigious Canterbury Society at the Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York City. In mid 1960s, Jake was invited to join post-graduate men’s octet, The Palmer Squares, started by Princeton University graduates and modeled after the Princeton Nassoons.

Jake sang and acted in several musicals put on by the amateur company PJ&B (Princeton Junction and Back). In the 1960s and early 1970s he made appearances in many plays, beginning with Showboat in 1964. In the early 1980s he auditioned and won a place in the 100-voice choral group, Princeton Pro Musica. The pinnacle of his early singing career was two concerts at Carnegie Hall in 1985 with this group. He joined the board, became treasurer, and then president of Princeton Pro Musica.

He joined the board of the Princeton Chamber Symphony as trustee and treasurer in 1997. His love and vast knowledge of music helped to guide the board for many years. He was a major force in creating a larger role for the orchestra in the community, especially as the leader of the effort to establish BRAVO!, a successful children’s program within the organization. As president in 1999, Jake presided over its budget and to see the orchestra’s name change to the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) in order to reflect its status as a fully professional ensemble. Many of the organization’s current strategies in programming, fiscal discipline, and community outreach can be traced back to his initiative, vision and leadership. As Melanie Clark, PSO executive director stated, “He steadied us often and set us up for all good things that followed.”

He prided himself on his music library, his tastes running the gambit from Randy Travis to Bach. Jake was a tireless reader. His range of interests was very broad, but of particular fascination to him were American history (the period of the Constitution and the Civil War), theology, politics, literature, music, and art. Whenever Jake traveled, he would thoroughly research local museums and churches, never missing monuments considered important by many.

Throughout his life, Jake liked to write; in graduate school he wrote book reviews published in the Virginia Theological Seminary Journal. In a 1986 volume of Witness, a journal of theology, he published an article entitled “The Cosmic Nature of Christmas.” He researched and wrote an article on a painting long in the possession of his wife’s family. In this article he made thorough arguments that the painting was in fact an early portrait of one of his wife’s ancestors painted by Benjamin West who lived in Philadelphia. The painting is now hanging in the Winterthur Museum. In 2008, Jake acted as consulting historian for the Morven exhibit, Picturing Princeton 1783. He also served on the 1783 committee. He was a valued resource and is among those thanked in the forward of the catalogue for the exhibit titled, “Princeton 1783: The Nation’s Capital.”

As a relaxing hobby and diversion for his steady hands, he built expert wooden model trains and ships. Jake was a passionate and avid tennis player. He played with several groups and on weekends he could be found on the court at Pretty Brook Tennis Club where he was a member. He was also president of the club in 1977.

Jake and his family attended Trinity Church of Princeton. For many years he was Head Usher as well as having other duties at Trinity. He gave the Sunday sermon on two occasions at Trinity. Through his reading and writing, Jake kept an active interest in theology and the concerns of the Episcopal church.

Jake is survived by his wife, Phyllis. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary a year after moving to Eugene, Ore. Children from his first marriage are John Timothy Hamel and wife Debbie, and Sara Christine Hamel and husband Wes Sowers; five grandchildren; and two great grandchildren. He is also survived by the children of his second marriage, step-daughter Gwyneth Hamel Iredale, Jennifer Potter Hamel, and his son, John Eric Hamel; and two grandchildren; one nephew and two nieces.

A memorial service with burial will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 30th at Trinity Church, Princeton.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Jake’s memory to the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, P.O. Box 250, Princeton, N.J. 08542; Virginia Theological Seminary, Chapel Fund, 1737 Seminary Road, Alexandria, Va. 22304; or SAVE, 900 Herrontown Road, Princeton, N.J. 08540.

Claude G. Sutphen

Claude G. Sutphen, age 79, died Friday, June 1, 2012 at the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro.

Born in Princeton, Mr. Sutphen worked and later served as superintendent of Princeton Cemetery for over 45 years.

He was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed spending time hunting and fishing.

He is preceded in death by his parents, James and Salena (McCrone) Sutphen; brothers Douglas Sutphen and Bob Sutphen; and sisters Jeanette Thompson, Zabeth Maksymovich and Ethel Wallen.

Mr. Sutphen is survived by his wife, Averil (Duncan) Sutphen; his daughters, Claudia Bazewicz and her husband Robert, and Diane Christiansen; his son Douglas Sutphen and his wife Mary Jane; and grandchildren Dawn Payne and her husband Paul, Kristina Sinsimer and her husband Daniel, Douglas Sutphen Jr. and his fiancé Tara Crane, Robert Bazewicz and his wife Nicole, and James Bazewicz.

He is also survived by his sister, Evelyn Whitlock; four great grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

Calling hours were held on Tuesday evening from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Cromwell-Immordino Memorial Home, 71 E. Prospect Street, Hopewell.

Services and Interment were held privately.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Crohn’s Disease Initiative, www.thecrohnsdiseaseinitiative.com; or to the New Jersey SPCA at www.njspca.org.