Roxanne Sanossian Heckscher
Roxanne Sanossian Heckscher, age 87, died on December 18, 2013, at the University Medical Center of Princeton. A resident of Princeton for over 50 years, she will be remembered by family and friends for her rare combination of warmth and toughness, her keen and unabashed insights into human nature, her beautifully expressive brown eyes, and her selfless devotion to those she loved.
Roxanne was the daughter of Armenian immigrants who had fled genocide in their native Turkey to settle in the Bronx, in an enclave of refugees. Her parents’ formal education ended before they reached their teens. Roxanne graduated with a BA in English and Music from Hunter College in Manhattan.
Roxanne worked as a secretary in the State Department in Washington, D.C., before taking a secretarial position at The Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, where she was employed for over 30 years. There she met her future husband, the art historian William S. Heckscher, who died in 1999.
In 1962, when to be an unmarried mother was scandalous, Roxanne was forced to adopt her biological daughter, which she always felt to be punitive, unjust, and “ridiculous.” Roxanne officially changed their surnames to Forster, after her favorite author, bought a wedding ring at LaVake’s Jewelers, on Nassau Street, for $11, and left people guessing. Roxanne and her mother, Pailadzou, raised the child alone until she and William married in 1973.
Roxanne is survived by her daughter, Charlotte — who is so full of admiration for her mother — and by her grandchildren, Omar and Leila Moustafa, of Princeton; stepdaughters Diana Mitchell, of London, and Kathy Heckscher, of Amsterdam; and step-grandchildren, Andrew Mitchell, of Barcelona, and Fiona Mitchell, of London; son and daughter-in-law, Mahmoud Moustafa and Shaimaa Amin, and their son Ahmed, of East Windsor.
Interment will take place in West Tisbury, Mass., where Roxanne and William enjoyed many summers together.
Memorial donations may be made to the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad or to the charity of your choice.
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Russell Thayer III
Russell Thayer III, former senior airline executive and decorated World War II pilot, died in the company of his family in his home in Princeton, New Jersey on February 5, 2014 after a long and memorable life.
Thayer was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 5, 1922 to Russell Thayer, Jr. and Shelby Wentworth Johnson Thayer.
As a child, Thayer attended Episcopal Academy in Merion, Pennsylvania. Then attended St. George’s School in Newport, Rhode Island in 1942 where he played football, basketball, and tennis. In the summers, he could be found sailing and racing speed boats on Upper Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks.
Determined to join the war effort, Thayer enlisted in the Army Air Corps immediately upon graduation from St. George’s School. He took command of a B-26 Martin Marauder, the infamous bomber commonly known as the “widow-maker,” and later a P-47 Thunderbolt. Thayer flew 143 missions: 98 bomber sorties in the B-26 and 45 fighter sorties in the Thunderbolt. A member of the 9th Airforce, 323rd Bomb Group, 453rd Bomber Squadron, Thayer flew in combat missions in Europe before D-Day, in support of the D-Day invasion, and throughout the Battle of the Bulge. He was highly decorated for his performance as a pilot, Captain and later as Group Commander. Thayer was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, 11 Air Medals, the Belgian Fourragerre, and numerous other service medals.
Following the war, Thayer attended Princeton University where he studied history and rowed crew in the varsity 8-man shell. He also became a member of the Ivy Club. In June of 1947 he married Elizabeth “Lizzie” Dercum Mifflin of Haverford, Pennsylvania. They resided in the university housing known as “The Barracks”. He graduated from Princeton in 1949, the day his first child, Elizabeth, was born.
With his abiding love for aviation, Thayer embarked upon a life-long career in aviation, as an executive with Eastern Airlines, American Airlines, and Seaboard World Airlines before becoming president, chief operating officer, and vice chairman of the board of directors at Braniff International Airways. It was on his watch that the artist, Alexander Calder decorated the Braniff fleet and the attire of the flight attendants was designed by Emilio Pucci. Eventually, Thayer moved to Pan American Airlines as senior vice president of operations. He was greatly respected among his peers in the airline industry and adored all aspects of aviation — his true passion. “If you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life,” was his oft-repeated maxim.
Following the death of his first wife, Lizzie, in 1994, Thayer married Susan Stover Soderman Thayer in 1997. They shared many happy years together in Princeton. Thayer is survived by his wife, Susan; his five children: Elizabeth Thayer Verney, R. Dixon Thayer, Samuel M. Thayer, Shelby Thayer Saunders and David A. Thayer; eight grandchildren; and three great grandchildren and six stepchildren; John F. Soderman, Peter D. Soderman, Paul S. Soderman, Sally Soderman Rabe, Jennifer Soderman Mahoney, and Polly Soderman Avignone; and eight step-grandchildren. All will remember him with great affection.
Private Funeral Services will be held at the Church of the Redeemer in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to either Princeton Senior Resource Center,45 Stockton Street Princeton, N.J. 08540 or Princeton Hospice, c/o Princeton HealthCare System Foundation, 3626 U.S. Route 1, Princeton, N.J. 08540.
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Esther Dresner
Esther Dresner (née Halpern) died peacefully after a long illness at her home in Princeton on January 26, 2014, surrounded by those who loved her most.
A resident of Princeton for 54 years, Esther was born in Iasi, Romania on June 1, 1930, but passed most of her childhood years in Antwerp, Belgium. After the invasion of Belgium by the Germans on May 10, 1940, her family, after many adventures, reached the safety of Figueira da Foz, Portugal. A year later, her family arrived in New York City, her home throughout the rest of her youth. She attended George Washington University and the University of Michigan, specializing in French and Spanish literature. Throughout her life, she maintained a lively interest in languages, becoming literate in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Romanian, and she very much enjoyed speaking with others in her various tongues. Because of her own immigrant history, she also interested herself in and considered herself a friend to all immigrants.
In 1957, she married Joseph Dresner, who had also grown up in Antwerp and whose life history mirrored her own. A treasured experience was a year living in Brazil in 1971-72 with her husband and their daughter, Lisa. Esther not only acquired a physical love of the country but made herself loved and appreciated by many people in the small city of São Carlos, forming affectionate relationships there that lasted throughout her entire life.
Esther was a long-time active member of the Princeton Jewish Center. For many years, she served as librarian of the Professional Roster, a local job clearing house for women, and worked as a volunteer at the Mary Jacobs Library in Rocky Hill. In her later years, she took an active part in the programs of the Princeton Senior Resource Center, teaching English to recent Russian immigrants and participating enthusiastically in a support group.
Esther was a woman possessed of a refined sensibility as well as very strong ethical standards. She was a truly good person; indeed, it was impossible to even imagine Esther’s having a small-minded or mean-spirited thought. She truly loved people and had a quick perceptive understanding of who they truly were and knew how to bring out the best in them. She was much loved in return.
Preceded in death by her parents, Marcel and Clara Halpern, and her beloved brother, Frank Halpern, she leaves behind her husband of 57 years, Joseph Dresner, her daughter, Lisa M. Dresner, her sisters, Mimi Halpern and Judy Miller, and a large extended family of relatives and dear friends who miss her deeply.
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