Elizabeth J. Steward

Elizabeth J. Steward, 87, of Princeton died Wednesday, November 13, 2013 at home. Born in Princeton, she was an active and lifelong resident. She was the daughter of the late Emily (Maione) and Joseph Palumbo. Elizabeth retired in 1996 with over 20 years of administrative service with the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies at Princeton University. She was previously employed by Gallup and Robinson, ETS, and RCA. An active member of St. Paul’s Church, Golden Agers, Health Care Ministry, Red Hat Ladies, and Grand Pals at Riverside Elementary School, she loved her role as a community servant. She also had a zest for life and was involved with Princeton Singles, Princeton Ski Club, the Princeton Free Wheelers, and the Kingston Garden Club. She was an avid and accomplished gardener as well as a loyal Yankee fan. Above all, she was passionately devoted to her family. She will be deeply missed.

Elizabeth was a devoted wife and daughter, a selfless mother and grandmother, a loving sister, and caring friend. She was predeceased by her beloved husband Henry of 25 years as well as her older sister Anita Anderson. She is survived by son David and daughter-in-law Beth Steward; daughter Robin and son-in-law Paul Geise; younger sister Ruth Baggitt; 4 grandchildren Emily, Katie, David, and Chris as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

The funeral was held at 10 a.m. on Monday, November 18, 2013 at the Mather-Hodge Funeral Home 40 Vandeventer Avenue, Princeton. Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at 11 a.m. at St. Paul’s Church, 214 Nassau Street in Princeton. Burial followed in the parish cemetery. Friends were able to call on Sunday, November 17, 2013 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the funeral home.

Memorial Contributions may be made to St. Paul’s Church, the Princeton Public Library, Mercer Engine Co #3 Scholarship Fund, or Princeton First Aid Squad.

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Victoria Velie O’Donoghue

Victoria Velie O’Donoghue passed away November 16, 2013 surrounded by her loving family. She was the mother of Pierce McKellar and Nicholas McKellar. She was the daughter of Fleury Velie Mackie and the late Jack Terhune Valdes, and sister to Stacy Lorenceau, Midge Valdes and Kelly Valdes.

In 1984 Vickie married Winston McKellar and moved to Phoenix Arizona where she had her two sons. Later in life she moved to Raleigh North Carolina with her second husband, John O’Donoghue, whom she married in 2007. More recently Vickie returned to Princeton to be nearer to her family and friends.

Vickie was born September 30th 1953 in Princeton and graduated from Newport School for Girls in 1972, and Franklin College in Switzerland in 1974. She was involved in many aspects of the arts and lived in New York City to study voice and theater, worked professionally in interior design in Phoenix Arizona, as well as catering and running a bed and breakfast there.

Later in Raleigh North Carolina she pursued jewelry design and community service. A vivacious, beautiful woman, Vickie acquired a large set of dear friends who helped her cope with a breast cancer diagnosis in 1997. She was known to her family and loyal friends as incredibly brave, tenacious, and humorous all through her long struggle.

A celebration of life will be announced and arranged at a later date. Fond memories and photographs of Vickie may be shared at vickie.memories@gmail.com. Donations in her memory are welcome to the Princeton Home Care, 208 Bunn Drive, Princeton NJ 08540.

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Daniel J. Shanefield

Daniel J. Shanefield, 83, of Honolulu, Hawaii, formerly of Princeton, died peacefully November 13 in Honolulu. He had lived in Princeton for 40 years with his late wife, Libby, before moving to Hawaii in 2006.

Born in Orange, N.J., he attended Yale University for three years until drafted into the U.S. Army, serving in Korea from 1953 to 1954. He obtained a B.S. (1956) and a Ph.D. (1962) in physical chemistry from Rutgers University.

Dr. Shanefield worked at ITT Laboratories in Nutley, N.J. until 1967 and then at Western Electric (later Bell Laboratories) in Hopewell. From 1986 until his retirement in 2001 he was a distinguished professor of ceramic engineering at Rutgers. Dr. Shanefield also taught ceramic engineering in the Netherlands every summer for 15 years at the Center for Professional Advancement. He was associate editor of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society from 1989 to 1999.

While at the Hopewell laboratory, Dr. Shanefield’s many inventions with coworkers included a ceramic insulator for microcircuits later sold worldwide by Western Electric and installed in almost every telephone line in the United States. He developed 38 patents and wrote textbooks on ceramic engineering and industrial electronics.

His hobby was writing about audio for popular magazines. Dr. Shanefield was notable for first describing the “equalized double-blind comparison” of audio components in 1974, the cover story of Stereo Review in May 1976. This showed that some perceived differences in sound were being imagined by the listeners, especially when expensive equipment was involved. The test is now used worldwide for determining whether measurable improvements in music reproduction equipment are actually audible.

Dr. Shanefield was the recipient of four AT&T Outstanding Achievement Awards. He received the Best Paper Award of the American Ceramic Society, Engineering Division, in 1993 and the Man of the Year Award of the Ceramic Association of New Jersey in 1996. He was a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemists and of the American Ceramic Society, and a Life Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Son of the late Benjamin and Hannah L. Shanefield; husband of the late Elizabeth (Libby) Davis Shanefield; he is survived by his daughter, Alison Bixby Buckley of Chicago, his son, Douglas Shanefield of Honolulu, and two grandchildren.

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