Lila Ruth Rugg
June 22, 1931 – December 22, 2025
Born Lila Popper in Manhattan, Lila grew up in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. From a very young age Lila showed a keen passion for the arts with a particular aptitude for ballet. Her talent for ballet developed into an extraordinary professional career, first with The American Ballet Theater and culminating with the New York City Ballet, under the leadership of George Balanchine. Lila danced all over the world with American Ballet Theater, which would later inform her love of travel, world culture and geopolitical studies.
Lila’s impressive professional ballet career branched into performing shows on Broadway, the Hamilton Trio, and popular television shows of the day such as Sid Caesar’s Show of Shows. In addition, she studied acting with the legendary Lee Strasberg at the Actor’s Studio.
Lila eventually settled in Princeton where she was a founding faculty member of the Princeton Ballet Society and the ballet mistress of the Princeton Regional Ballet. She was happily married to Walter Brunner (1929-1974), raising two children, Mark and Eugenie. Lila later helped establish her daughter’s medical practice in Princeton, acting as the office manager until her retirement in 2018.
Lila is survived by her son Mark, daughter in-law Karen Seater, and granddaughter Emmi Brunner of Breckenridge Colorado, as well as her daughter Eugenie, son in-law Paul Egan, and granddaughters Mariel and Olivia Egan of Princeton New Jersey.
Lila left an indelible mark on the countless people she touched over the years and will be greatly missed, but will live on in their many hearts.
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Paul Jerome Hansell
Paul Jerome Hansell of Princeton, NJ, passed away December 23, 2025, at the age of 78 following a nearly three-year battle with cancer. He was born March 18, 1947, in Norristown, PA, to Paul Augustine Hansell and Bertha Firuta Hansell and grew up in Bridgeport, PA. He was the third of their four children.
Paul graduated from Bishop Kenrick High School in 1964 and enrolled at Villanova University where he joined the Navy ROTC. He graduated in 1968 and was commissioned an Ensign. He was eventually stationed aboard the USS Yosemite in Newport, RI, where he met Barbara Ann Knowles. They were married in a military wedding in 1971 at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Portsmouth, RI. He was the Operations Officer on the USS McCloy from 1972-1974 and later served as First Lieutenant on the USS Seattle located in Norfolk, VA, where their first son, Paul Jeremy, was born in 1974.
From 1974-78 Paul served as Chief of Naval Personnel at the Bureau in Washington, DC, where their second son, Jonathan Michael, was born. The Navy selected him to attend the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies where he earned a Master’s Degree in Economics and International Relations. Following Destroyer School in San Diego, CA, the family moved to Pearl Harbor, HI, where Paul served as Executive Officer aboard the USS Benjamin Stoddert and attained the rank of Commander. The family returned to Washington, DC, when Paul was stationed at the Pentagon where he served as Action Officer for the Caribbean Basin and North American Branch, briefing the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1980s. He retired from the military in 1988 after 20 years of service to our country.
Paul and his family then moved to Princeton, NJ, in 1989 where he began the next chapter of his professional life as a Financial Advisor for the Edward D. Jones Company. He opened the company’s first New Jersey office in 1990 and enjoyed a successful career spanning more than 30 years helping many clients achieve their financial goals. He was a mentor to many, a Regional Leader, and a Partner in the firm.
Paul enjoyed music (especially Doo-Wop!) and played the saxophone and Hammond organ. He loved playing sports in the street with his boys and neighborhood kids. He liked spending time around stables watching PJ ride and carting Jon’s drums to musical events. While growing up, he had been an altar boy at St. Augustine’s Church. More recently here in Princeton he was a lector and Extraordinary Minister at St. Paul’s Parish. He liked woodworking in his barn, using the skills he learned from his father. He especially loved European travel with Barbara and his boys. He enjoyed lasting friendships over many years.
He is survived by his beloved wife of 54 years, Barbara, as well as his sons Paul and Jonathan, his daughter-in-law Kristin, his grandson JJ, his sister Paula and her husband Albert Imperial, in addition to his brother-in-law Walter Fromm and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his sisters Constance Hansell and Barbara Fromm.
Funeral arrangements are private under the direction of Mather-Hodge Funeral Home in Princeton, NJ. A gathering to celebrate Paul’s life will be held at a later date (TBA). In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to Saint Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital (stjude.org) or The American Cancer Society.
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Virginia Louise Bower
Virginia Louise Bower, 75, of Princeton, New Jersey, and Lansing, Michigan, passed away on December 13, 2025, after an extended illness.
She was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Martha Ann Bower and Edward S. Bower. As a young child, she and her brother came to live with relatives Spencer and Charlotte Bower in Lansing, Michigan.
Virginia graduated from Sexton High School in Lansing and from Michigan State University in East Lansing. In 1971, she moved to New Jersey, where she completed her graduate work in Chinese art and archaeology at Princeton University.
She was an adjunct associate professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and a frequent visiting instructor at Bryn Mawr College, as well as at Kean University, Rutgers University, and Franklin and Marshall College.
Her special interests were Chinese ceramics and the arts and culture of the early Chinese imperial dynasties.
Virginia visited Asia numerous times — first as a student of Chinese in Taiwan, and later while conducting research and serving as a tour lecturer in China for groups sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, the Princeton University Art Museum, and the Smithsonian Institution.
A frequent lecturer at galleries and museums, Virginia contributed to numerous museum catalogues, including Brush, Clay, and Wood: The Nancy and Ed Rosenthal Collection of Chinese Art (Taft Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2008); Recarving China’s Past: Art, Archaeology, and Architecture of the “Wu Family Shrines” (Princeton University Art Museum, 2005); and Asian Games: The Art of Contest (Asia Society, New York, 2004).
Virginia was the primary author of From Court to Caravan: Chinese Tomb Sculptures from the Collection of Anthony M. Solomon (Harvard University Art Museums, 2002). She also contributed an essay on Chinese art to Sunnylands: Art and Architecture of the Annenberg Estate (2010) in Rancho Mirage, California, and was one of three co-editors of and a contributor to the ground-breaking volume Chinese Ceramics: From the Paleolithic Period through the Qing Dynasty, published by Yale University Press (2010).
Virginia had a lively and sympathetic interest in her fellow human beings and was beloved by her many friends for her kindness, generosity, and gentle wit. She had an extensive knowledge of movies and fashion, which she delighted in sharing.
In 2023, she moved to Brandywine Living Serenade, an assisted living community in Princeton, where she made many new and treasured friends.
Virginia was preceded in death by her parents and by her sister, Catherine Hornbach. She is survived by her brother, Bruce E. Bower, and sister-in-law, Christine Altese, of Lansing; her cousin David Dieffenbacher of Chicago, Illinois; her nephew Erich Hornbach of East Lansing, Michigan; and her nieces Christina Hornbach of DeWitt, Michigan, and Cara Hornbach of East Lansing, Michigan.
Memorial services will be held at a later date in Lansing, Michigan, and Princeton, New Jersey.
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Linda Scasserra Masada
Linda Scasserra Masada, 82-year-old, Princeton, New Jersey, born resident of Santa Monica, passed away on January 7, 2026. Per her wishes, no services will be held.
She is survived by her husband, Richard “Dick” Masada; sister, Andrea “Andy” Scasserra; daughters, Cyndy (Jeff Pepe) Masada and Lynn (Eli Akiba) Masada; grandchildren, Nicole, Anthony, Sami, and Talia; great-grandchildren, Naomi, Elena, and Emi; she is also survived by nieces, nephews, and other relatives.
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