William James Tate III

William James Tate III, MD of Princeton, NJ, died peacefully on Sunday, May 31, 2020 after a short battle with cancer. He was a beloved husband and brother, a wonderful father and grandfather, and a gentle healer.

Bill was born on October 22, 1932 in Hartford, CT. He was the son of Dr. William James Tate, Jr. and Regina Wahl Tate. Bill grew up in Deep River, CT, where he developed a lifelong love of sailing. He went to The Gunnery for high school and then on to Yale where he earned a degree in Art History in 1954. Following graduation he spent two years in the Army where he was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany. After his stint in the Army Bill decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a doctor. He graduated from Boston University School of Medicine in 1961 and moved to New Haven, CT, for his internship and residency. In New Haven, he met his future wife, Constance Klein, a nurse.  

Bill and Connie were married in 1964 and lived in Pittsburgh, PA, and Morgantown, WV, as Bill pursued an academic career in infectious disease research. However, he found that he missed working with patients and decided to go into private practice. A fellow medical resident and friend from New Haven, Dr. David H. Fulmer, told Bill of a vacancy at Princeton Medical Group. Bill interviewed and was offered the position. He and Connie moved to Princeton in 1969 and Bill began what was to be a 32-year career at Princeton Medical Group. 

After a successful and fulfilling career as a physician, Bill embarked on an equally rewarding career in retirement. Bill’s love of boats, which began as a young boy growing up in a small town on the Connecticut River, never dimmed. He named is first sailboat Nepenthe, which is a drug described in Homer’s Odyssey as one which banishes grief or trouble from a person’s mind. He then spent a decade rebuilding and restoring a 28-foot wooden sailboat named Welcome. He also built a wooden sailing dinghy for Welcome, aptly named Welcome’s Wagon.

When he wasn’t working on his boats or fixing something around the house, you could find Bill with his nose in a book. For years, he took great joy in auditing courses at Princeton University, finally taking all the courses he wished he had taken when he was an undergraduate. He was also a dedicated volunteer at the Bryn Mawr-Wellesley Book Sale, showing up at the collection barn on Wednesday and Saturday mornings where he perused, sorted, and stacked used books.  Finally, in retirement Bill had time to indulge his love of music through song. Bill found a musical home with the choir of Trinity Church Princeton, which challenged him musically and fed his soul spiritually. He also sang with the Yale Alumni Chorus. He (and Connie) went on singing tours with YAC to Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Singapore, Vietnam, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.

Bill is survived by his wife, Connie; his sister, Regina Tate of Deep River, CT; his son, Bill and his wife, Anne Christine Tate of Ewing, NJ; daughter Abigail and her husband, Spencer Reynolds Jr., of Princeton, NJ; his daughter Sarah and her husband, Ian Constable, also of Ewing, NJ; and his grandchildren, Spencer, Sydney, Emma, Matthew, Peyton, and James. Bill was predeceased by his sister, Emily Tate Rudolph. A memorial service and celebration of his life will take place at a later date.

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Harold Broitman

Harold Broitman died on June 1, 2020 at his home in Princeton, NJ, surrounded by family and friends. He is survived by his son Steven L. Broitman, a retired professor of molecular biology (wife: Barbara Wood a polymer scientist and avid musician); daughter Jessica Broitman, a psychoanalyst (husband: Gibor Basri, an astrophysicist and former Vice Chancellor of UCB); and three grandsons: Benjamin Wood Broitman, Adam Wood Broitman, and Jacob Avram Basri.

Harold was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1927 to Max and Jenny Broitman. His brother Kalman was two years older and preceded him in death by two years. He was a feisty kid in school, showing an early interest in how things are built and how they work. He served in the military in 1946 and learned to be a sharpshooter. He met his wife Adeline while a waiter in the Catskills and “stole“ her from his best friend Herbie. They were married in 1949; the marriage lasted for 67 years until her death in 2016.

Harold attended high school at Brooklyn Tech and college at Brooklyn Polytech, earning a BSc in mechanical engineering and immediately started working in the field. He was employed by a number of large companies, starting with The Burroughs Corp. From there he moved to Fairchild Camera, where he worked on reconnaissance data analysis and design of reconnaissance cameras, among other technical military and defense projects. He developed a talent for reading requests for proposals from the government and turning them into successful projects for his company. He was often put in the position of working on something new, and would do whatever it took to learn what was needed. He was given increasing responsibility for taking projects from beginning to end, and managed increasingly large teams of engineers. He was very fond of regaling family and friends with stories of his successful exploits and problematic supervisors. The last large corporation he worked for was RCA (Astro Division) in 1968, which precipitated the family move to Princeton, New Jersey, in 1970 from Bayside, Queens. He eventually decided to start his own company, and with Meyer Sapoff founded Thermometrics in 1970.

Harold loved the work of technical development, manufacturing processes and sales, and loved running a company. His prior experience in industry served him well and Thermometrics developed into an extremely successful company. It was a major supplier of thermistors (temperature sensing devices) to manufacturers and in medical applications. He enjoyed giving employees gifts, life advice, and help when they needed it. The company provided a profit-sharing option to employees. It was one of the early companies to take advantage of off-shoring, and Harold paid many visits to plants in Puerto Rico, Mexico, and China. Thermometrics was sold to a large British conglomerate in 1995 and Harold continued to consult with them for three years before full retirement.

In 1989 Harold and Addie built their dream house in Princeton, participating in every detail. The home reflects his engineering creativity and sophistication, and had many advanced features. In the basement he put together an amazingly equipped “dream” shop, where he built and repaired things and indulged his talent for sculpting. He was an engaged citizen of Princeton and sat on various local boards, particularly in the Jewish community. He was passionately philanthropic — interested in making the world a better place. Projects he supported included Columbia University research on Alzheimer’s and dementia, many mental health programs, support for seniors at home, and creating a safe and strong Jewish community as well as national and international Jewish projects that serve the needy of all backgrounds. Harold was fond of saying “We are put on this Earth to help improve humanity. The prize is not winning, the prize is the satisfaction of accomplishment in moving the mountain a little.” He indeed did that and had that satisfaction, and enjoyed the accomplishments of his children as well.

Private funeral services and burial will be at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Flushing, NY.

To leave condolences for the family, please visit OrlandsMemorialChapel.com.

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Edmund Allenby Wilson Jr.

Oh, baby! What a life!!

Edmund Allenby Wilson Jr., 82, of Princeton, New Jersey, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, June 2^nd, 2020 at his home, surrounded by his loving family.

He was born in Helena, Arkansas, to Edmund Allenby Wilson Sr. and Dorothy Lillian Wilson. He attended the University of Arkansas, and graduated in 1964 with dual degrees in Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Architecture. In 1962, he moved to Massachusetts, where he worked for the architecture firm of Alderman & MacNeish. He enlisted in the Air National Guard, from which he later received an Honorable Discharge as a Staff Sergeant. In 1968, he accepted a position with The Hillier Group in Princeton, New Jersey, where he became a principal in the firm. He subsequently worked with Looney Ricks Kiss of Princeton, and then he embarked upon a solo practice as an architect and planner.

His years as a consultant for Robbinsville, NJ, were some of the most professionally gratifying of his career. During this time, he was able to facilitate the construction of the beautiful BAPS Akshardham Hindu Temple, and this brought him tremendous joy.

Amongst his numerous personal and professional accomplishments and accolades, in February 2020, he was honored to be a 2020 Inductee into the John G. Williams Fellowship at the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design.

An avid traveler, he and his loving wife, Darleen, explored the world together, which afforded him many opportunities to exercise his love of photography. These adventures also provided diverse and delightful locations to pursue his lifelong passion for the arts. He held a deep appreciation for fine art, not only in the many museums and churches they visited, but those pieces carefully collected and displayed in the Wilson home.

Trains, planes, and automobiles were a special source of enjoyment. He was a subscriber of several automotive magazines, and always happy for the chance to discuss the newest models and technology.

He was a great music enthusiast, with tastes ranging from classical and jazz to the country of his Southern roots. These were a frequent accompaniment to the rich and varied discussions he so loved, on topics traversing philosophy and religion to politics and culture.  In addition, they provided comforting background to his lifelong love of the mystery novel; in particular, the exploits of his favorite sleuth, Jules Maigret.

Ed was predeceased by his mother, Lillian Burke Wilson, and his father, Edmund Allenby Wilson, Sr. He is survived by his beloved wife, Darleen Wilson, of Princeton, NJ; daughter Elise Courtney Wilson, of Los Angeles, CA, and son Christopher Allenby Wilson of Manhattan, NY; daughter Artelia Lyn Ellis of Danbury, NH, with first wife Linda Ray Wilson; sister Gail Smithson Robinson and her husband, Danny; as well as caring uncle to numerous nieces and nephews residing in Arkansas, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Tennessee.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Ed and Darleen Wilson Travel Award in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas. Gifts may be mailed to the following address: Mary Purvis, Sr., Director of Development, Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, 120 Vol Walker Hall, Fayetteville, AR 72701.  Please make checks payable to the University of Arkansas Foundation.  Credit card gifts may be made by calling (479) 236-0675, or by using the online giving link at onlinegiving.uark.edu.

In all his years, Ed never met a stranger. He made friends wherever he went, whether at the local grocery store, or halfway around the world. Father, son, brother, husband, he filled all his earthly obligations with honor and grace. He will be deeply missed, and remembered with love and laughter in perpetuity.

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Renate Giller

Renate Giller passed away peacefully at home on June 8, the result of complications from recently diagnosed cancer. 

Born in 1941 in Buenauburg, today the Czech Republic, she and her family were forced to flee their home in 1945 to escape the Russians. They re-settled in Hameln in the West German State of Lower Saxony, where she grew up. Always a practical person, Renate became a technical designer. She met her future husband Peter in January 1960, when he invited her to a Carnival ball. She went as Cleopatra and he as Caesar. Renate and Peter married in 1966, thus celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary in March of this year.

When Peter and Renate were offered jobs in the U.S. with Westinghouse Electric, the Gillers emigrated to America in 1969, where they resided initially in Media, Pennsylvania, then moved to Princeton in 1976. Renate became the mother of two children, Oliver in 1974 and Michelle in 1978, today Mrs. Michelle Clark of Seattle. Both gave her two grandchildren: Julia, Maika, Alexander, and Taggart. Unfortunately, Oliver passed away from brain cancer in 2018, which caused Renate great pain until her final moments.

First and foremost a wife, a mother, a grandmother, and a friend, Renate was an active member of the Lutheran Church of the Messiah since 1978, of the German Club in Princeton, and of her neighborhood, where she was always there to help when needed, likewise a wonderful hostess, both done with love and grace. She was especially proud to have become an American Citizen in 2018.

There will be a private burial at the Princeton Cemetery this week. It will be followed by a memorial service and reception after the coronavirus is no further threat to the participants.

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Sylvia Yarost Tumin

Sylvia Tumin, daughter of the immigrants of Poland Isadore and Esther Yarost, wife of Melvin Marvin Tumin of Newark, mother to Jonathan Tumin and Zachary and their wives Kathie Tumin and Laura Dawn Barbieri, and grandmother to Remy Tumin, Rachel Tumin, Ben Tumin, and Ariel Tumin, and step-grandaughters Kathleen Rigby and Alexandra Rigby, died in her sleep June 4 at her home at Stonebridge, Montgomery Township, New Jersey. She battled lung cancer for four years, but said “no more” to her treatments in late May, vowing to let nature take its course, which it did within the week.

She was born on the Lower East Side of New York January 29, 1927. The family moved to the Bronx, then to Detroit, Michigan, all in search of work during the Great Depression. She graduated from Detroit’s Central High School in 1944, then Wayne State University, whence she married Mel, then a young instructor at Wayne, and soon a professor at Princeton University’s first glimmers of a Sociology department. They made their life there, first in apartments at 120 Prospect Avenue, then 110 Prospect Avenue, then in 1965, moved around the corner to a house at 119 Fitzrandolph Road. This would be their home and neighborhood for 50 years.

As Jonathan made his way to Haverford, then Harvard, and Zach to U-Penn and on, Sylvia reinvented life in the empty nest, first as a trained interior designer, then, when no jobs came her way, in social work and the caring of the aged with a MSW from Rutgers, and work at Greenwood House, Jewish Home for the Aged in Ewing, where she retired a decade ago as the director of social work.

Her husband passed away of lung cancer in 1993, leaving her to face the future full blast as a widow, which she did for 27 years, with grace, fortitude, and a steely love always enduring in a lifelong marriage to one man, resolute and empowering. She died with his ring on her finger, his gift of love, a gold necklace, around her neck. She is buried by his side, as they lived, in Princeton Cemetery

We loved her madly, and she, us. We will miss her, and will carry on in her name and embrace.

Greenwood House, Jewish Home for the Aged of Ewing would welcome your contribution in her name (www.greenwoodhouse.org).

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David Aaron Friedman

David Aaron Friedman, of Lawrenceville, NJ, and Boynton Beach, FL, passed away on June 6^th after a long battle with heart disease.

David was born in Trenton, NJ, on May 19, 1933, to Max and Janet Friedman. Max was an obstetrician at Helene Fuld Hospital in Trenton, having moved from Brooklyn shortly after receiving his medical degree and marrying Janet, who had been a hat model in New York.

After graduating from Trenton Central High School in 1951 where he excelled on the swim team, David attended Duke University undergraduate and Law School, graduating in 1957. It was at Duke that David discovered the true love of his life, Marilyn Nelson, who survives him. They married on June 30, 1956. Marilyn always said David’s favorite things were golf, Chinese food, and her, in that order, but everybody knew Marilyn was number 1; although, golf was surely a close second.

After graduating law school, the newlyweds moved back to Trenton, where they began an impressive and exciting life together. David began practicing law working with State Senator Sido Ridolfi, forming the law firm Ridolfi and Friedman in the early 1960s. His law career encompassed an extensive array of land use and development work, and he was involved in development and redevelopment projects throughout New Jersey and especially in Mercer County. He represented many local builders and some national developers building apartments, office parks, single family houses, and many other land use real estate projects.

One of his proudest career achievements was stewarding the approvals and advancing the development of Eggerts Crossing Village in Lawrenceville, which provides low income housing in an historically African American section of Lawrence Township. Years later, Fred Vereen Jr., past president of Lawrence Non-Profit Housing, Inc., recognized David as an integral component to the completion of the project.

Amongst David’s additional professional accomplishments were developing low income, senior citizen and family apartment projects, extensive involvement in several community banks, and being a leading force in bringing cable television to Hamilton Township.

David’s favorite place to be was on the golf course. David played golf his entire life, from joining the golf team at Duke to winning the club championship at Greenacres Country Club (now known as Cobblestone Creek) in five different decades. His involvement with Greenacres extended to serving on the Board and as President. His life-long dedication and commitment ensured the ongoing viability of the Club, including spearheading the recent land sale to construct housing, renovating the golf course and clubhouse, and creating a fresh environment for members and guests.

He was an original member of the Falls Country Club in Lake Worth, Florida, and he and Marilyn spent each winter in Boynton Beach for over 40 years. He had the first hole in one recorded at both the Falls and Metedeconk National in Jackson, NJ, where David was also an original member. One of his crowning golfing achievements was playing at over 1,000 golf courses around the world, including some of the all-time greats in Scotland and Ireland, and even Augusta National while a member of the Duke University golf team. His list of golf friends and acquaintances is endless; David always said he never met anyone he didn’t like on the golf course. He was also one of the original creators and board members for the First Tee of Greater Trenton which provides golf opportunities and life skills to young people.

One of David’s greatest and longest lasting traits was bringing people together. He was a connector always looking to create mutually beneficial personal and business relationships. Countless people looked to David as a resource of knowledge and leadership. His business and personal network was extensive, and he was always looking to combine the expertise of numerous people when starting a new project. He had an uncanny ability to build a team while providing guidance.

He loved to travel, especially to the south of France, developing lifelong relationships with many couples. Enjoying delicious food and wine with Marilyn as his favorite companion made him especially happy.

Most of all, he loved spending time with his family. Although spread throughout the country, he had very close relationships with his children and grandchildren, always providing guidance and insight when needed (and sometimes when not).

David is predeceased by his parents, Max and Janet Friedman, his son, Eric Friedman, and brother Richard Friedman. In addition to his wife of 63 years, Marilyn, he is survived by his brother Robert Friedman and sister-in-law Adele of Los Angeles, California; son Jeffrey Friedman and daughter-in-law Kathy Lee of Berkeley, California; son Steven Friedman and daughter-in-law Heath of Lawrenceville, NJ; daughter-in-law Amy Gutmann of Seattle, Washington; and seven loving grandchildren: Kelly (and husband Dan Buyanovsky), Margot, Ally, Ben, Lily, Julia, and Louisa Friedman.

He will be dearly missed by many, but he leaves a lasting impression on all who knew him.

Services will be private. The family will hold a memorial service when public gatherings are possible.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to either The First Tee of Greater Trenton (www.firstteegreatertrenton.org/ways-to-give) or The American Heart Association (www.heart.org).

To leave condolences for the family visit www.orlandsmemorialchapel.com.