Dr. Robert Howard Bierman

Dr. Robert Howard Bierman, born on April 26, 1931, in Newark, New Jersey, died on February 25, 2026, at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center. The cause of death was congestive heart failure. He was a resident of Princeton for close to 65 years.

Dr. Bierman, or Bob as he was known to his friends, grew up in Summit, New Jersey, and attended Amherst College, earning his undergraduate degree in 1953. He then earned his Doctor of Medicine from Cornell University School of Medicine in 1957 and completed his medical internship at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital from 1960 to 1961.

He then served two years as a physician in the U.S. Air Force at Warner Robins (Ga.) Air Force Base from 1960 to 1962.

In 1962, Dr. Bierman began a 15-year career in Princeton as a partner of The Pediatric Group, now owned by Advocare. He developed a large and loyal following of patients and families throughout the area. He served as the Pediatric Department chairman at Princeton Medical Center four times from 1967 to 1976.

Dr. Bierman retired from active office practice in 1977 to assume the position of Chief of Undergraduate Health Services at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where, over a 21-year tenure, he led a team of physicians, registered nurses, technicians, and social workers providing medical care to some 15,000 students.

He also taught in the Department of Pediatrics at the Rutgers Health Robert Wood Johnson Medical School for 15 years, co-authoring numerous publications and receiving hundreds of citations for his research. Working alongside the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), he was at the forefront of developing a vaccine for the Human Papillomavirus (HPV).

Dr. Bierman was an ongoing volunteer member of the school’s Institutional Review Board, responsible for protecting the rights, safety, and welfare of human research participants.

In addition, Dr. Bierman served one term on the Princeton Regional School Board of Education between 1969 and 1972, as president of the board.

Bob spent part of each year at his beloved summer home in Kennebunk, Maine, and in his residence in Paris. His interests ranged from traveling around the world to home and yard projects, and enjoying movies of multiple genres.

Bob was predeceased by his loving wife of over 60 years, Toba Barbara Dincin Bierman, in 2022. He is survived by his three sons: Bradford Dincin of Charlotte, North Carolina, Todd Andrew of Jersey City, New Jersey, Adam Gregory, and his wife, Sandra Jordan, and the pride of his life, his most cherished granddaughter, Rachel Rebecca, of Princeton, New Jersey.

Dr. Bierman will always be remembered as both a gentle and caring doctor in his interactions with the patients he treated and a true gentleman and family man in how he conducted himself with his family members, close friends, and the public.

Those wishing to honor his memory are encouraged to make a donation to Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center Pediatric Department or PBS TV.

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Lilian Hedwig Grosz
April 6, 1930 – December 14, 2025

Lilian Hedwig Grosz, a woman of steady principle and enduring belief in democratic institutions, died peacefully at her home in Princeton, NJ, on December 14, 2025. She was 95.

Born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on April 6, 1930, to Ernest Whitman Gross and Hedwig Treusch Gross, she came to the United States in 1934 after her family fled Nazi Germany. The experience shaped her lifelong commitment to democratic institutions and to personal responsibility as an act of love.

The family first rebuilt their lives in Connecticut before settling in Massachusetts. Raised in Wellesley, she graduated from Wellesley High School in 1949 before attending Boston University. In Boston she met Peter Michael Grosz, then a student at Harvard University. Their first meeting — a blind date arranged because both shared the surnames Gross/Grosz and came from German refugee families — carried a certain postwar irony and became family legend. Peter later joked they kissed all the way back to Wellesley that evening. Early in their courtship, they discovered that their parents had known one another in Berlin and had worked on the production of The Blue Angel, reinforcing the continuity of the world from which they both came.

Their marriage became the central fact of their lives. When Peter entered a room, friends said Lilian “lit up” — whether she was 21 or 76. Their devotion deepened with time. They were, by all accounts, a devoted and disciplined team, fiercely loyal and deeply bound to one another.

Peter Grosz was the son of the German Expressionist artist George Grosz, whose sharp critiques of militarism and authoritarianism made him a prominent figure in Germany before the Nazis forced him into exile in 1933. That legacy of artistic independence and political courage became part of the family life she and Peter built together — a home animated by conversation and intellectual rigor, shaped by principle, and sustained by an abiding belief in freedom and responsibility.

They settled in Princeton in the early 1950s and built their home, “Rivendell,” on Pretty Brook Road largely by hand before house numbers were assigned. They laid stone walls themselves, tended fences, raised German Shepherds and later Scottish Terriers, fed birds through winter, kept the deer at bay, raised honeybees, and shaped a house that remained much as it had been for nearly 80 years. “Rivendell” became a place of long conversations, laughter, lively debate, generous hospitality, cultivated food and wine, and international exchange. Over seven decades they welcomed students from abroad, supported academic exchange programs, and traveled widely to visit former students and friends. Throughout her life, Lilian maintained a wide and enduring circle of friendships spanning continents and generations.

Characteristically frugal, Lilian and Peter valued stewardship over display and responsibility over excess, believing that what one preserved mattered more than what one displayed. Money was to be guarded carefully; institutions were to be strengthened deliberately and sustained for the next generation she cared so deeply about.

Among Lilian’s most enduring civic commitments was her early and sustained role in the founding and development of Princeton Friends School, where she remained one of its most steadfast patrons. She was also a decades-long steward of the Bryn Mawr Book Sale, with particular dedication to the art book division, and a founding force behind her beloved “Deep Think” book club, which began in the 1960s and continued for decades as a forum for rigorous reading and serious conversation. For her, conversation was not pastime but nourishment. An avid reader, she read The New York Times daily until the end of her life. She loved travel, serious conversation, cultivated food, and even better wine.

After her husband’s death in 2006, Lilian assumed responsibility for co-administering the George Grosz estate, ensuring the preservation and protection of its artistic legacy with meticulous care. Berlin remained her second home. Peter and Lilian had lived there in the 1970s and returned nearly every year thereafter. Lilian traveled solo to Berlin and Iceland two months before her death.

Mrs. Grosz was a formidable woman, a presence both steady and unmistakable. To those who loved her, she was sharp-minded and principled — not sentimental in manner, but constant in her love and unwavering in her loyalty. She devoted herself to nuclear nonproliferation, environmental protection, animal welfare, the arts, and the Quaker community. In the end, her estate reflected not only her convictions but her lifelong commitment to the institutions and causes she believed would carry forward the work she valued most. She directed the entirety of her assets to organizations devoted to preservation, education, peace, and social revitalization, including Harvard University’s Busch–Reisinger Museum and the Berlinische Galerie; Princeton Friends Meeting and Princeton Friends School; and environmental stewards such as D&R Greenway Land Trust and Isles, Inc.

Lilian and Peter were predeceased in 1977 by their son, Michael Oliver Grosz, who was killed in an automobile accident on Thanksgiving morning while a sophomore at Middlebury College. Their daughter, Karin Hedwig Grosz, a natural artist who inherited her grandfather’s gift for drawing and political humor, died of cancer in June 2006 at 52. Three months later, Peter died as well.

She is survived by her brother-in-law Martin Grosz; her nephew Tobias Grosz (Antoinette Cardamone) of Philadelphia; the extended Gross family of Boston; her sister-in-law Adelheid “Heidi” Kost-Gross; her nieces Christina Elisabet Kruczynski (Christopher) and Alexandra Lilian Gross (Rinat Sergeev); and her grandnieces and grandnephews Eliza and Nicholas Kruczynski, Felix Sergeev, and Karina Sergeeva.

Her absence leaves an enduring void in our lives — in the unfinished conversations, the ideas she refined and strengthened, and the intellectual seriousness and enduring love she gave to those she held dear.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, March 28 at 2 p.m. at the Princeton Friends Meeting, 470 Quaker Road, Princeton, NJ. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Princeton Friends Meeting, Princeton Friends School, D&R Greenway Land Trust, or Isles, Inc.

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Thomas Andrew Clark

Thomas Andrew Clark, 69, of Princeton, passed away peacefully on Thursday, February 26, 2026, at the Morris Cancer Center in New Brunswick.

Born on November 1, 1956, in Jersey City, he was adopted by parents he described as “the greatest anyone could ask for.” His father, Andrew V. Clark, was an attorney, and his mother, Dorothy (née Zahn), worked at Clifton Savings.

Tom grew up in Mountainside, Perth Amboy, and Edison, with idyllic summers and winters at Lake Glenwood in Vernon. He graduated from Saint Joseph’s in Metuchen, and attended Boston University before earning his undergraduate degree from Rutgers and his JD in 1986 from the Mississippi College School of Law in Jackson, Mississippi. Tom practiced law for 30 years at the family firm of Seaman & Clark, and retired prior to his passing.

Tom met his late wife, Kelly Procaccino, in a real “meet cute” at the Hudibras in 1978. For Tom, it was love at first sight, while Kelly went to the library the very next day to hunt down his contact information. They were together for 42 years and had a beloved daughter, Haley M. Clark.

Tom loved long summer days down the shore, legendary nights out with lifelong friends, perfecting new recipes, and showing off his near-encyclopedic memory of great actors in great films.

But his great love in life, besides his wife and daughter, was music. Tom went to hundreds of concerts, some legendary, mostly at prices that make us in 2026 weep with envy. He was a fabulous singer and songwriter, and was almost always in a band (or three) at any given time. He had endless stories — who can forget when Strider performed at CBGB’s and earned Hilly Kristal’s approval with a song whose title can’t be published?

After Kelly’s passing in 2020, Tom found renewed purpose in recording and performing music. He believed that creative pursuits were among life’s most meaningful endeavors, and encouraged everyone he met to “just start” with their passions, no matter how small.

Tom was predeceased by his wife, Kelly Procaccino; his parents, Andrew and Dorothy Clark; and his sister, Dorothy “Dottee” Clark-Bilgrav, and her husband, Bob.

He is survived by his daughter, Haley, and her partner Anthony Gatto; his brother, Kevin Clark, and his wife, Michele; his nieces, Emily Clark, Grace Clark, Ashley Israel, Alexis Stemler; his nephews, Andrew Bilgrav, Tommy Bilgrav, and Christopher Lanahan; as well as a host of grand-nieces.

Per Tom’s wishes, there will be no viewing or formal funeral. A celebration of life will occur at a later date, details TBD.

Arrangements are under the direction of The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home.

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Daniel M. McGuire

Fort Collins, CO — Daniel “Dan” M. McGuire, local landscaper and tree nurseryman, passed away on February 18, 2026. Dan was born on October 24,1952 to Antoinette Caruso and Eugene F. McGuire in Princeton, NJ. Dan grew up in Pennington, NJ, where he attended the public schools, was an Altar Boy, Eagle Scout, member of the Penn Brook Club Swim Team, and a lifeguard at the Jersey Shore.

Dan loved his family. He was a big kid at heart and enjoyed having fun with his daughters Laurel and Michelle as they grew up. He was so proud of what fine young women they’ve become. Dan married Helen Everhart in 1979, they started a family and built his business until their divorce in 1991. Dan’s mom, Toni, moved out to Ft. Collins in 1993 to help with the girls. Dan married Della Murphy in 1995 and together they worked to remodel their home and landscape their property into what they lovingly called “Our Piece of Heaven on Earth,” which they enjoyed together for the next 23 years. Dan appreciated the support he received from both Della and Helen, his mom Toni, and from his friend Sue Taylor in his later years.

Dan was an avid outdoorsman who loved to hike, bike, ski, canoe, and just absorb the beauty of nature. He treasured his friendships, many of which date back to grade school and his CSU days. He loved birthdays, a good party, and hosted a St. Patrick’s Day Party for many years. Dan lived life fully, worked hard, loved deeply, and laughed often. His was a life well lived.

Dan learned the nursery business and art of landscaping while working summers at Howe’s Nursery in Pennington and Princeton Nurseries, two of the largest nurseries in the Northeast at the time, and for Doerler Landscapes in Princeton, during his high school and college years. He graduated from Mercer County College in 1972 and from Colorado State University in 1976 with degrees in Landscape Horticulture.

Dan pursued what would become his lifelong passion and career by starting his own business, Earthpower Landscaping, the summer he graduated from CSU. He landscaped hundreds of homes and properties in the Ft. Collins area during the next half century. Dan took enormous pride in his work which was recognized by the Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (ALCC) with its highest award. Dan was actively involved with ALCC serving as President of the Northern Chapter, on the State Board as Treasurer, and as a teacher in its continuing education programs.

In the early 1990s Dan started Trees on the Move, a tree transplanting service and a tree nursery on his nine-acre property, work which continued into his 70s. In 2003 Dan donated and planted a 13-foot Colorado Blue Spruce on the CSU campus in honor of Albert C. Yates’s 13 years as President. Dan leaves a legacy of beautiful landscapes and trees throughout the Fort Collins area.

His legacy continues with his daughters Laurel Abbott (David) of Littleton, CO, and Michelle McGuire of Vancouver, WA, and granddaughters Maya and Emily Abbott, all of whom survive him. He is also survived by his brother James McGuire of Pennington, NJ. His parents predeceased him.

A Celebration of Life will be held for family and friends on March 21 from 4-7 p.m. at Dan’s residence. Friends may wish to plant a tree in Dan’s memory as a visual reminder that his spirit lives on. Arrangements are being handled by Vessey Funeral Service, Fort Collins, CO; vesseyfuneralservice.com.

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Frank W. Sinden

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Frank W. Sinden, 98, on February 14, 2026, with family by his side. He was a mathematician, inventor with many patents, environmentalist, and more. He lived in Princeton for almost 50 years before moving to Stonebridge retirement community in 2024.

Dr. Sinden was a research mathematician at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ, for almost 40 years, retiring in 1995. He divided his time for 10 of those last years in research at Princeton University’s Center for Energy and Environmental Studies.

In the 1960s Frank was an inventor of two popular children’s toys: “Booby Trap,” to which Parker Brothers bought the rights; and later he invented another game, “Avalanche.”

Frank produced significant work in a wide range of areas from linear programs to energy efficient building to electronic voting machines. He is the author of numerous academic papers and a recent book of essays. Always a tinkerer, in his later years he designed and built sailboats. His lakeside neighbors got used to seeing him on the water at the helm of his latest unusual boat.

Frank W. Sinden was born in Aurora, Illinois, on November 30, 1927. His father, Alfred, was an engineer. His mother, Theo, a college professor, went to Stanford University in 1918 on a full scholarship. Frank left high school early to enroll at the University of Chicago in 1944 in a special program. Inspired by his uncle in the Foreign Service, Frank spent several years after college studying German and traveled to Zurich, Switzerland, to earn a doctorate in mathematics in the 1950s at the Swiss Federal Technical Institute.

After service with the U.S. Army’s Scientific and Technical Corp, Frank joined Bell Laboratories. He contributed to the early development of computer-generated movies, advances in econometric modeling and computer handwriting analysis, among other projects. He always felt privileged to be at Bell Labs during its golden age of basic research.

An environmentalist, Frank joined the Sierra Club’s 1970s campaign to block the proposed Tocks Island Dam across the Delaware River. This brought him to the attention of the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies at Princeton University within its Engineering School, which invited him to serve as a visiting principal researcher which he did for a decade. This resulted in a book he co-authored, Boundaries of Analysis: An Inquiry into the Tocks Island Dam Controversy. This analysis of the dam’s financial projections concluded that the volume of visitors to its 40-mile reservoir would require enormous infrastructure investment affecting the decision on the dam, thus preserving the Delaware River as the longest remaining free-flowing river in the Eastern United States.

Friends and family remember Frank as a kind and loving man. Not one for small talk, he had a seemingly insatiable intellectual curiosity about many topics, but especially for science.

Frank is survived by his wife, Grace Sinden, and his daughters, Rebecca Sinden and Amy Sinden, six grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and extended family. Frank’s body was donated to the Rutgers Medical School for science and student training.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to The Watershed Institute (thewatershed.org), Sustainable Princeton (sustainableprinceton.org/donate), and/or the Natural Resources Defense Council (nrdc.org).