Wayne T. Cooke

Wayne T. Cooke of Princeton, passed away on April 9, 2012 at the age of 78, after an 8½-year battle with colon cancer.

Raised in Bowling Green, Ohio, Wayne earned a BA with distinction from the University of Michigan. Following three years in the United States Navy, he returned to Michigan and earned his MBA with distinction.

After thirty years with IBM — and management positions that took him and his family to The Netherlands, Paris, and Hong Kong — he took early retirement and joined his wife Patricia in selling residential real estate with Coldwell Banker in Princeton.

Wayne was kind-hearted and loving, with a passion for travel, (including four international trips in the past years alone), music, and a wonderful sense of humor. He sang with the Princeton United Methodist Church Choir and the Voices Chorale, with whom he toured across Europe. He served as an inspiration for many as the author of On the Far Side of the Curve: A Stage IV Colon Cancer Survivor’s Journey, which set forth his personal program for survival. He is also the author of The Life and Times of Papa Vark, which is pending publication.

Wayne is survived by his wife, Patricia P. Cooke; a son and daughter-in-law, Scott and Cristina Cooke of Westfield, N.J.; a daughter and son-in-law Kelly and Ante Galic of Hong Kong; and four grandsons, Xavier, Rafael, and Felix Cooke; and Ante Wayne Galic. He is also survived by three brothers, Allen, Dan, and Jim, and a sister, Janet, and their respective spouses. He is predeceased by his brother, Dean.

A funeral service was held at Princeton United Methodist Church on Friday, April 13.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org.

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Edward F. Batutis

Edward Francis Batutis, born July 4, 1924, died on April 9, 2012 at the Stonebridge retirement center in Skillman after a protracted illness.

The third son of Michael Batutis and Anele Sapiega, he was born in Mahanoy City, Pa. After graduating from Minersville High School in 1942, he enlisted in the Navy and saw action in the South Pacific as a Torpedoman Second Class on the destroyer USS Franks. Ed was honorably discharged from the Navy at the end of the war and attended Penn State on the GI bill, where he earned a BS in chemistry in June 1950.

He married Gertrude Kessler in 1951 and held a variety of positions as a research chemist at Mine Safety Appliances, General Electric, and ultimately at his own consulting firm. He worked on many scientific projects, among them a power generator left on the moon by the Apollo astronauts, and an underwater kelp farm to grow biomass as a renewable energy source. He obtained patents for an oil/water separator that cleaned bilge water from Navy ships so that it could be discharged safely into the ocean. From 1969-1970 he participated in General Electric’s “Project Tektite”, during which he became one of the few “aquanauts” to spend an extended time living in a habitat on the ocean floor.

He and Gertrude had four children, and helped raise two nephews and a niece in the Valley Forge, Pa. area. He was an avid fisherman and golfer, and participated in community theater productions by Forge Theater in Phoenixville, Pa., where he was a founding member, and helped with funding its current production space. Ed served a term on the Phoenixville school board, led Chester County Pennsylvania Boy Scout Troop 73 for over 10 years, and served as a lector and choir member of St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church for 40 years.

He is predeceased by his parents, brothers, and wife. He leaves his four children: Claire Robinson and husband Michael of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Edward J. Batutis and wife Susan of Newton, Mass.; Cathryn Heath and husband John of Belle Mead, N.J.; and Joseph E. Batutis and wife Gail of Long Island City, N.Y. He also leaves nine grandchildren and a host of friends and relatives. We will miss his easygoing nature, positive mentoring, and his love of the outdoors, both land and sea.

A funeral mass was held on Friday, April 13, 2012 at St. Charles Borromeo RC Church, 47 Skillman Road, Skillman, N.J. Burial followed in St. Ann’s Church Cemetery, Phoenixville, Pa.

Condolences can be extended online at TheKimbleFuneralHome.com.