Richard W. Haitch

Richard W. Haitch, 94, a former reporter, copy editor, and news columnist for The New York Times, died February 27 from complications of congestive heart failure.

Mr. Haitch joined the newspaper in 1952 and by the time he retired in the 1993 he had been there longer than almost anyone else. A copy editor on the metropolitan desk, he also wrote a column called “Follow Up on the News,” which appeared each week on Sunday. He would report on interesting developments of previously covered stories.

Born in Danbury, Connecticut, he spent his early childhood there before the family moved to New York City. He worked as a bank teller during the Great Depression, then volunteered for the Air Force during World War II. He received the Purple Heart.

After the war, Mr. Haitch went to Columbia Journalism School on the G.I. Bill. Before being hired by The Times, he worked for other newspapers in New York and in Santa Barbara, California. Later on, concurrent with his work at The Times, he ran a consulting firm that helped magazines improve their content and design.

While living in New York, he met Audrey Miller, a reporter for United Press International. After they were married, they moved to Montgomery Township, where they raised three sons, all of whom attended Princeton Day School. Mr. and Mrs. Haitch wrote a number of articles together on life in the Princeton area.

As he described it, some of his best work began after his retirement from journalism when he took up volunteer prison ministry. He was active in this ministry up to the month of his death at age 94.

He went into Mercer County Correctional Center and other prisons each week, often three times a week, to lead Bible studies and to counsel men there. He also worked with local churches to encourage their members to consider volunteer prison work, and eventually he and some co-workers started Jericho Ministries.

Mr. Haitch is survived by his sons and daughters-in-law, Douglas and Nancy of New York City, Russell and Judith of Richmond, Indiana, and Frederick of Nashville, Tenn.; a granddaughter Abigail; and a sister, Dorothy Young, of Mountain View, California.

A funeral service will be held at Stone Hill Church of Princeton (formerly Westerly Road Church), 1025 Bunn Drive, on Thursday, March 6, at 2 p.m.

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Marion Cleveland Cohen

Marion Cleveland Cohen, of Tamworth, New Hampshire and formerly of Baltimore, Maryland, died at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center on February 21 from injuries sustained in a fall. She was 87.

Known for her captivating charm and elegant style, Marion was the daughter of Francis Grover Cleveland and Alice Pardee Erdman. Her maternal grandparents were Charles R. Erdman, a Presbyterian minister, and Estelle Pardee of Princeton. Her paternal grandparents were former president Grover Cleveland and first lady Frances Folsom Cleveland.

Marion was born in Belmont, Massachusetts, and moved with her parents to New York City where she graduated from Friends Seminary before attending Smith College and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. While in New York, she studied acting and modeling before settling into a career in the travel business. Her work took her throughout Europe where she met her husband, Fred Cohen, president of the Alfred Cohen Travel Agency. They married in 1968 and settled in Rome.

When her husband retired in 1973, the couple moved to Baltimore where Marion was an active volunteer for Planned Parenthood and the Baltimore Zoo as well as the annual Smith College Book Sale. She was an energetic and generous supporter of a number of causes and organizations, particularly those that championed the rights of animals, the environment, and a woman’s right to choose.

Marion was a lively hostess and an inspired cook as well as an accomplished seamstress and formidable tennis foe. In Baltimore, she was a regular attendee at the opera and subscriber to Center Stage.

In 2008, Marion moved to Tamworth, New Hampshire, where her parents had founded The Barnstormers Theatre in 1931 and where she had spent many summers. There she folded easily into the fabric of year-round village life as an active patron and solicitor for The Barnstormers and friend to many of the town’s roughly 2800 residents.

Marion was known for her quick wit, intelligence, and definite opinions. She learned, but happily avoided, the computer. She adored her cats. She had a distinct mix of chic and flair, whether sporting a classic Pendleton jacket or her turquoise, flowered cowboy boots, or driving through town in her custom-painted, neon-yellow Subaru. She could equally enthrall a garage full of her favorite mechanics or a roomful of potential theater patrons. Her stories were legend, and she never failed to remark on how lucky she was to have lived a life as rich with friends, family, travel, and opportunities.

Marion is survived by her step-son, Livio Cohen and his wife Simonetta and two step-grandchildren, Chiara and Ricardo Cohen, numerous dear friends and cousins, including Ann Cleveland Robertson of Baltimore, Md.; Thomas Cleveland and Elaine Cleveland of Tamworth, N.H.; Frances Cleveland and Christopher Igleheart of Boston and Portland, Oreg.; George Cleveland of Tamworth, N.H.; and Margaret Cleveland of Portland, Maine. Donations in her honor may be sent to The Barnstormers Theatre, P.O. Box 434, Tamworth, N.H., 03886. A memorial service is planned for summer.

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Michael L. LaFauci

Michael L. LaFauci, 91, of Princeton, passed away on Thursday, February, 27, 2014 at University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro.

Born in New Haven, Conn., he lived in Irvington, N.J. before moving to Princeton 42 years ago.

Michael was a supermarket manager for 25 years. He left to work as Head of Security for Franklin State Bank (Bank of America) including the armored car division. Later on, he was promoted to director of operations where he managed several departments before his retirement in 1990.

Mr. LaFauci was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy after serving during World War II from 1942 to 1944.

In his leisure time, he was an avid fisherman and enjoyed cooking.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas and Sadie LaFauci, brothers Angelo and Albert, sister Lillian DiMartino and a nephew Robert LaFauci.

Michael is survived by his beloved wife, of 42 years, Gratina A. Zoccola LaFauci; 3 sons and daughters-in-law; Michael and Donna LaFauci, Jr., Thomas M. and Sonia LaFauci, Gerald and Donna Watko; a daughter Michele Wagner; nine grandchildren; 13 great grandchildren, a sister-in-law, Donna Zoccola Soultoukis and her husband Dimitrios; and several nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will begin on Thursday, March 6, 2014 in the Kimble Funeral Home, 1 Hamilton Avenue, Princeton at 9 a.m. followed by a 9:30 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial at St. Paul Catholic Church, 214 Nassau Street, Princeton. Interment will be in St. Paul Catholic Church’s Cemetery.

Visiting hours are on Wednesday, March 5 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Salvation Army N.J. Division, PO Box 3170, Union, N.J. 07083 (donate.salvationarmyusa.org), or Health Care Ministry of Princeton, PO Box 1517, Princeton, N.J. 08542.

You may extend condolences and remembrances at TheKimbleFuneralhome.com.

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Benjamin M. Wright

Benjamin M. Wright passed away at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, in Needham, Mass. on February 24, 2014 at the age of 87.

Ben is survived by Lieske, his loving wife of 55 years. He is dearly remembered by his four children, Donald A. Wright (and his wife, Ellen DeVoe) of Newton, Mass.; Steven B. Wright (and his wife, Joanne) of Cumberland, R.I.; Marjanneke N. Wright (and her husband Ted Yoos) of Waltham, Mass.; and Susan P. Bodor (and her husband Laszlo Bodor) of Lynchburg, Va.; his eleven grandchildren and four sisters; Emily Metz of Ithaca, N.Y.; Priscilla Smythe of Upper Sandusky, Ohio; Marcia Wright of New York, N.Y. and Sunapee, N.H.; and Janet Schreiber of Madison, Wis. and Denver, Colo.

Ben was born on July 21, 1926 to the late Donald K. Wright and Frances N. Wright in Jackson Heights, N.Y. Ben graduated from Mamaroneck High School in 1943 and attended Yale University. He left Yale to serve two years in the Army in Italy and the Philippines during World War II and returned to graduate with a BA in history in 1949. After college, Ben attended medical school at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating in 1953. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and an internship in Rochester N.Y. He joined the Princeton Medical Group in 1957. In 1958, Ben married Elize (“Lieske”) Poestkoke. He served the Princeton community as a primary care physician for 28 years. During that tenure he served as director of resident training at Princeton Hospital for five years, and as director of the Merwick Nursing Home Unit. Dr. Wright’s philosophy and practice of medicine was broad and humanistic. He considered each of his patients in the continuum of their lives and honored their niche in the community. He loved working with his patients and helping to solve their problems. Many of his former patients and colleagues recall the old-style personal care, which Dr. Wright provided, in his office, in the hospital and on many house calls. One of Dr. Wright’s greatest achievements was conceiving of, and establishing in 1966, Princeton Hospital’s Home Care Program, the first home care program in the region to which he contributed his services on a pro bono basis. Home health care, while an integral part of our healthcare system now, was a new concept at the time that fit well with Dr. Wright’s philosophy of holistic care. Princeton’s program met an essential need in the community, grew quickly and continues to thrive today. Ben retired from private practice in 1985 to join Princeton University Health Services. At Princeton, he served as the founding director of the University’s new occupational health program, which he oversaw for nine years until he retired in 1994.

Ben was active in the Princeton community in many ways including his membership in the Witherspoon Presbyterian Church and then the Unitarian Church where he pursued his love of music as a member of the church choirs. Dr. Wright was an avid history buff and enjoyed learning about and sharing the stories of the many notable figures and events of U.S. history connected to Princeton. Due to his interest in Paul Robeson, the African American scholar, athlete, singer, and actor who was born in Princeton, Ben organized a community-wide celebration of Robeson’s 75^th birthday in 1976.

Ben was dedicated to his family and always made a point to be home for dinner, despite typically having to return to the hospital to complete rounds in the evening. He took great interest in his children’s activities, often attending rehearsals of concerts or musicals in addition to the final performances. Ben, an Eagle Scout, himself, served on Princeton Troop 43’s leadership committee for several years during his sons’ tenure as scouts. He was proud that both his sons also reached the rank of Eagle Scout. Ben organized bi-annual family “road trips” covering some section of North America or Europe, always featuring a healthy dose of history as well as camping and outdoor adventures.

In 2011, Ben and Lieske moved from Princeton to the North Hill Retirement Community in Needham, Mass. to be closer to family.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 29, 2014 at First Parish in Needham Unitarian Universalist, 23 Dedham Avenue, Needham, Mass.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Dr. Wright’s memory may be made to Princeton Hospice and Home Care, a unit of Princeton Health Care Systems, at 88 Princeton-Hightstown Road, Suite 202, Princeton, N.J. 08550, or online at Princetonhcs.org.

Remembrances of Ben and condolensces may be offered online at www.Memorialwebsites.Legacy.com.