Elizabeth Wheeler Belshaw

Elizabeth Wheeler Belshaw, 83, of Princeton,, died at home from complications from a stroke on Tuesday, June 17, 2014.

Elizabeth (Betsy) was born in Providence, R.I., the daughter of Richard Elisha Wheeler and Wilhelmina Crapo West. She is survived by her husband, George Phelps Mellick Belshaw, to whom she was married for 60 years, who is the retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey, comprised of 14 counties in central and southern New Jersey. Two older sisters pre-deceased her.

Betsy’s children are The Rev. Richard Wheeler Belshaw of Durham, N.H.; Elizabeth Mellick Belshaw Ham of Princeton; and George Phelps Mellick Belshaw, Jr. of Greenwich, Conn.; and she had seven grandchildren, Emily and Daniel Belshaw; Elizabeth and Alexandra Ham; and Martha, Alice, and George Belshaw III.

She was educated at Miss Porters School, Farmington, Conn., class of 1948, the same school that her two sisters attended, as well as her mother, and grandmother, and daughter. Betsy loved her years at school. Then especially about Smith College, where she graduated in 1952, majoring in music, she never failed to speak enthusiastically. Over the years she would be heard to say, “can you imagine only applying to one college as I did?”

After college and before marriage she taught music for two years at Lincoln School in Providence, R.I.

Following marriage to G.P.Mellick Belshaw in June 1954 and who was ordained one week later, they went to the Hawaiian Islands, where Mellick was in charge of St. Matthew’s Church, Waimanalo, Oahu. While there, Betsy trained a youth choir. Three years later they returned to New York City, to the General Theological Seminary where Mellick was appointed a Fellow and Tutor. Then followed six years as Rector of Christ Church, Dover, Delaware, and 10 years as Rector of St. George’s Church, Rumson, N.J. During these years Betsy focused her attention on raising three children.

The funeral was held Tuesday June 24, 2014 at Trinity Church 33 Mercer St Princeton. Burial was in the family plot in Trinity All Saints Cemetery Princeton.

Arrangements were under the direction of Mather-Hodge Funeral Home Princeton.

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Mary Yun-Chen (Kao) Chin

Mary Yun-Chen (Kao) Chin, 90, passed away at her Princeton home on June 19, 2014. Born in Zhejiang, China, on June 12, 1924, Dr. Kao graduated from St. Mary’s Hall, an Episcopal senior high school in Shanghai (now called Shanghai No.3 Girls High School) in 1941. She attended the Université Aurore for two years, majoring in chemistry before transferring to Shanghai Medical College. Completing their medical curriculum and a one-year rotating internship, she graduated second in her class and received her MD in the spring of 1948.

Dr. Kao came to the United States for further training and started a rotating internship at St. Francis Hospital (La Crosse, Wis.), now part of the Mayo Clinic Health System, in July 1948. From July 1949 to June 1953, she did pediatric residency at Hospital for Women and Children (New York, N.Y.), postgraduate work at Harvard Medical School, and further pediatric residency years at Children’s Memorial Hospital (now called Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago) and St. Louis City Hospital. Among her scholarly contributions was the third case report in the English literature of nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, a genetic disorder that causes life-threatening dehydration and hypernatremia in infants. In the midst of her residency years, the Communists announced their takeover of China in October 1949. This great and generous nation called America, the “Shining City on a Hill,” not only welcomed her to stay but also provided a path to citizenship.

After staying home for many years to raise her children, she reentered the workforce and did another year of residency at Martland Hospital (Newark, N.J.) prior to becoming a staff physician at Willets Health Center, at Douglass College (now part of Rutgers University). Practicing adolescent medicine there, she retired in 1989.

Dr. Kao married Te Ning Chin in 1953 in St. Louis, Mo. They moved to Princeton in 1958. Her husband preceded her in death. She is survived by sons Alvin of Wynnewood, Pa, and Gilbert of Olney, Md.; two grandchildren Fiona and Meredith; and sisters Rose Chang, Florence Shen, Evelina Loke, Miranda Linne, and Judith Ng.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make donations to either Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad (www.pfars.org) or to www.PACTforanimals.org, a non-profit organization which gives peace of mind to families of long-term inpatients in children’s hospitals as well as to military personnel deployed overseas by placing their pets in temporary foster homes until their owners can be reunited with the companion animals they love.

Online condolences may be sent by visiting: www.TheKimbleFuneralHome.com.

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Irene O’Neil Lynch

Irene Lynch, a longtime resident of Princeton, died on June 20, 2014 at her Skillman home. She had recently celebrated her 84th birthday.

Irene Mary O’Neil was born in Boston to John Edward O’Neil and Mary Genevieve Murray, and grew up in the neighboring city of Quincy. In 1951 she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude in economics, from Radcliffe College, then a part of Harvard University. In 1952 she married Joseph M. Lynch, whom she had met when he was a student at Harvard Law School.

After living in Jersey City and Upper Saddle River, N.J., the couple moved to Princeton in 1957, where they lived until 2013. While raising her five children, Irene took part in numerous volunteer activities, especially those having to do with education. She was active in the Princeton Regional Schools Parent Teacher Organization, writing weekly and monthly newspaper columns, along with other activities. She joined with other parishioners at St. Paul Catholic Church in establishing Princeton’s first religious education program run by the laity for Catholic public school children. She also served as a teacher and Co-Chairman of Teachers in that program. She later served as president and board member of the Princeton Regional Scholarship Foundation, where she helped raise and administer scholarship funds for Princeton High School seniors who needed financial help to attend college.

During those years Irene was also president of the Radcliffe Club of Princeton and a board member of the Harvard Club of Princeton. For 30 years she interviewed applicants to Harvard College, and always enjoyed meeting new students to discuss their favorite fields of study and goals for the future.

When her own children had finished school, Irene returned to her early interests in writing and reading. She was elected to the board of The Friends of Princeton Public Library and, for several years, wrote their press releases. She became a member of two local organizations: the LPG Writers’ Group and the Last Monday of the Month Book Club, and remained active with both until recently. Her writing included short fiction, family memoirs, and travel pieces. She also employed her considerable literary talents while editing her husband’s book on the early political and judicial history of the United States Constitution, Negotiating The Constitution, a History Book Club selection.

Irene enjoyed family vacations in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, as well as frequent travels to Europe with her husband Joe. Together, they attended numerous opera and theater performances and museum exhibitions in New York City. For many summers, she swam daily in the Community Park Pool, considering it a special achievement when she was reported to the lifeguard for “swimming too fast to be a senior.”

She is survived by her husband, Joseph Lynch, and her children and their spouses: Anne Lynch and Peter Hadekel of Montreal; Peter Lynch of Princeton; Teresa Lynch and Rick Terry of Black Mountain, North Carolina; Mark Lynch of Berwyn, Pennsylvania, and Patricia Lynch and Trevor Dickie of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her grandchildren include: Kathleen, Christine, and Tashi Hadekel; Valentine and Rudyard Lynch; and Nathaniel, Eliza, and Rachel Dickie. She also leaves her brother, Philip O’Neil of North Quincy, Massachusetts and Genevieve McCarthy of Braintree, Massachusetts, as well as several nieces and nephews. In Princeton, she leaves many longtime, dear friends.

Visiting will be held on Wednesday June 25, 2014 between 3 and 6 p.m. at Kimble Funeral Home, 1 Hamilton Avenue, Princeton. A funeral mass will be celebrated at St. Paul’s Church, 214 Nassau Street, Princeton at 11 a.m. on Thursday, June 26, 2014. Interment to follow at Princeton Cemetery.

Memorial gifts may be made to TASK, the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, PO Box 872, Trenton, N.J. 08605 or to The Friends of Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon St., Princeton, N.J. 08540.

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Charlotte W. Shapiro

Charlotte W. Shapiro, 94, who was a resident of Princeton for 52 years, died at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick on Sunday, June 22, 2014.

Mrs. Shapiro graduated from James Madison High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., Brooklyn College, and New York University with a master’s degree in retailing. She worked in New York and Philadelphia before getting married in 1948.

Mrs. Shapiro was a life member of Hadassah and a member of Congregation Beth Chaim in Princeton Junction. She was very active in those organizations.

Charlotte was the wife of the late Dr. Frank M. Shapiro, DDS with whom she shared 43 loving years. Surviving are her son Edward Shapiro and daughter-in-law Merle Hyman of Swampscott, Mass.; and two grandsons, Matthew and Eric.

The service will be held at Congregation Beth Chaim in Princeton Junction on Thursday, June 26 at 10:30 a.m. with burial at King Solomon Memorial Park in Clifton.

Memorial contributions may be made to Congregation Beth Chaim, 329 Village Road East, Princeton Junction, N.J. 08550.

Arrangements are by Kimble Funeral Home, Princeton, N.J.

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Tanis Virginia Cox

Tanis Virginia Cox, 100, of Bradenton, Fla., passed away on Monday, May 12, 2014 at Westminster Towers and Shores in Bradenton.

Born in New York City, she grew up in the Princeton area and moved back to New York City before relocating to Florida in 1975.

She was a graduate of Princeton High School and attended both NYU and Hunter College.

Most of her working career was spent as a receptionist for law firms specializing in the fields of International Law. Tanis was an active volunteer during her life, opening the United Service Organizations (USO) club in New York City during World War II and was a founder and longtime volunteer of Volunteer Services for Children, INC., under the direction of Dr. Tom Dooley.She also worked at Maas Brother’s Department Store in Sarasota, Florida for several years where she made many friends who enjoyed her cheerful outlook on life.

Ms. Cox was honorably discharged from the US Navy (WAVES) as a Pharmacists Mate 3C after serving her country from 1943 to 1945.

Tanis was predeceased by her parents Wallace S. and Nellie Pryor Cox; two brothers, George C. and William Cox; and her niece and namesake Tanis V. Cox. She is survived by four nephews: Scott Cox of Hamilton, N.J.; George C. Cox of Port Charlotte, Fla.; George C. Cox, III; Scott M. Cox, Jr.; and a niece Katherine Cox.

Graveside services will be held on Saturday, June 28, 2014 at noon in Princeton Cemetery.

Donations in her memory may be made to the Marine Corps League Wounded Warriors Fund, Trenton Detachment #207, 547 Schiller Avenue, Trenton, N.J. 08610.

Arrangements are by Kimble Funeral Home, Princeton, N.J. To extend condolences and to share remembrances visit The
KimbleFuneralHome.com.

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Guilluame Masseus

Guilluame Masseus, 56, of Lawrenceville, passed away peacefully on Saturday, June 7, 2014 surrounded by his loving family.

Born in Saint Marc, Haiti, he was a former resident of Princeton, before moving to Lawrenceville 26 years ago. Guilluame was employed with the Grounds and Maintenance Department at Princeton University for many years.

He is survived by his sister, Bertha Toussaint; his daughter Anecia Masseus; his nieces and nephews Romy Toussaint (John Annand), Marjorie Young (Peter Young Jr.), Carine Toussaint, Paule Johanne Toussaint (Layton Parrish), Moshe Toussaint (Vasti Toussaint), and a host of great nieces, great nephews, and loving friends.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Poulson & Van Hise Funeral Directors, Lawrenceville, N.J.

To make a condolence to family or for directions, visit www.poulsonvanhise.com.