Kenneth John Arnott

Kenneth John Arnott entered into the loving arms of our Lord on November 12, 2014 at Independence Manor in Flemington, N.J. He was 98-years-old. Born in Plainfield, N.J. he moved to Virginia at the age of six months and then to Princeton at the age of 13. He was the younger son of John and Flora May Arnott. At his death, his wife Beverly (nee Stratton) of 59 years and daughter Kimberly were by his side.

He is survived by a daughter, Lisa Ann Arnott of Princeton and Kimberly Ann and Michael Wolfe of Annandale N.J.; two granddaughters, Ashley Nicole Maxwell of Philipsburg, N.J.; and her three children Lola Coleman and twins Stella and Sebastian Coleman and their father Maurice Coleman; his granddaughter Vanessa Marie McKellar and her unborn daughter; Imani Breland and her father Maurice Breland; and nephew Winfield Scott Arnott II and his wife Mary Arnott.

Kenneth is predeceased by a son, Mark Kenneth Arnott; a brother Winfield Scott Arnott; and a nephew John Douglass Arnott. Kenneth attended the Friends School in his formative years.

He entered the United States Army on April 10, 1942 and served in World War II as a radar operator and Technician Fifth Grade. He fought in battles and campaigns in Central Europe, Northern France, Rhineland, Southern France, and Rome-Arno. He was honorably discharged on November 20, 1945 and received the World War II Victory Medal, Good Conduct Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal, and American Service Medal.

He owned and operated the Princeton Pet Shop and made frequent trips to Central and South America to capture wild animals for the pet trade and to establish captive breeding programs in zoos. Simultaneously he worked for the Princeton University Biology Department. He also worked in the research department of the New Jersey Neuropsychiatric Institute for two years before becoming a lab technician at Ethicon Research Foundation, Johnson and Johnson. He retired in 1981.

Kenneth was a lover of painting in oils, the beauty of nature, and had boundless knowledge of animals and their behaviors. He had many friends who considered him to be a true gentleman. He is loved and missed by us all and was truly a very special man.

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

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Eric Reichl

Eric Herbert Reichl was born December 3, 1913 in Vienna on the eve of the First World War, the only child of Fritz and Ella Reichl.

Eric grew up in Vienna, Austria with his parents, graduating from high school and eventually the Technische Unversität Wien in 1936 with a degree in chemical engineering. His spare time found him in his beloved mountains — climbing, skiing, and hunting. Upon graduation, he worked for an engineering firm that specialized in what was to become a life-long pursuit, the gasification of coal. Eric immigrated to the United States in 1938, landing roles over a 50-year career with Babcock & Wilcox, Winkler-Koch, Standard Oil, Consolidation Coal, and finally Continental Oil Company (now DuPont) where Eric retired in 1979. His professional memberships, associations, and board roles, too numerous to list completely include The National Academy of Engineering, Department of Energy/Research Advisory Board, National Petroleum Council Energy Study, Oak Ridge National Laboratory: UCC Management Advisory Council, Synthetic Fuels Corporation, Radian Corporation, Coal Conversion Panel Chairman/National Academy Energy Study.

Eric’s unique combination of skills found him awarded the rank of Captain in the U.S. Navy during World War II, placed dangerously just behind the advancing front in the European theater. His efforts to evaluate German progress toward the conversion of coal to synthetic fuels were an area vital to the Allied war effort.

Eric married Eva Neuman de Vegvar in 1939, she a 21-year-old émigré from Vienna, moving to Wichita, Kansas. Their first daughter Lynn was born in 1941; their second daughter, Helen, was born in 1943. His celebrated professional path took his family to New Jersey, Massachusetts, Kansas, Illinois, Oklahoma, California, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.

Eric moved to Princeton in 1985 where he continued consulting. Never far from a good book, he honed his ability to find the best restaurant in whatever city in the world he found himself. He traveled extensively in Europe and the U.S.

After 59 years of marriage Eva died in 1998. Eric married Frances Hofmann in 1999. Together they explored Spain, Switzerland, Scotland, England, and the many homes of their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

At his 100^th birthday in Princeton in 2013, Eric’s distinctive curmudgeonly charm was in full display as he riveted the audience with a six-minute account of the Twentieth Century. He died peacefully in his home on Thursday, November 13, 2014.

Eric is survived by his wife of 15 years, Frances Reichl; his two daughters Lynn Weyand and Helen Gilbert; three grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and two African Grey parrots.

A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 6, 2014 at the Princeton Friends Meeting House. In lieu of flowers contributions in memoriam can be made to Doctors Without Borders.

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John Wright Woodruff

John Wright Woodruff died peacefully in his sleep in the company of his family Sunday morning at his home in Washington Crossing, Pa.

A descendant of an old New Jersey family, he was born in Trenton in 1930. He was a graduate of Fisk School, Junior Three, and Trenton High School. A member of the Old Guard, he was a graduate of Rutgers University, Class of 1952. He was a longtime season ticket holder and a loyal supporter of the
Rutgers Football Team.

A devotee of American history, he was a member of the Sons of the Revolution and the Society of the Colonial War. His great-great grandfather George W. Woodruff was appointed Attorney General for the Georgia District by John Adams, second president of the United States. The attorney general summered at his home “Oakland” in West Trenton, now the home of the Trenton Country Club.

Mr. Woodruff graduated from the U.S. Naval School Officer Candidate College in Newport, R.I. and served during the Korean War as a Lieutenant aboard the minesweeper, USS Revenge.

After beginning his business career with the Burroughs Corporation, Mr. Woodruff moved to Berwyn, Pa. where he joined Wyeth-Ayerst International Inc. and served as vice president of international relations.

Mr. Woodruff was a man of many interests and talents. An avid collector of antiques, he prided himself on his family’s collection of clocks and American furniture from Philadelphia. He spent many happy hours in his garden and was considered something of an expert on English boxwoods, holly, and azaleas. He was a regular Pied Piper for his 20 grandchildren and loved sharing knowledge of birds, fishing, and introducing them to the joys of poetry. He enjoyed spending his summers in Avalon, N.J. … “at the shore.” And after his retirement in 1995, he began to escape the cold winters by heading south to Jupiter, Fla.

Pre-deceased by his parents, Marion and George E. Woodruff and his brother George H. Woodruff; he was also pre-deceased in 1987, by his first wife Margaret Hoff Woodruff. He is survived by his present wife, Linda Hoff Woodruff; a sister, Betsy Brewster and her husband Jim; daughter, Susan Howard, her husband Matt and their three children, Grace, Lilly and Liam; four sons, John H., his wife Stacey and daughter Samantha; William H., his wife Stephanie and their three children Natalie, Will, and Peter; Tom W., his wife Lisa and their children, Katherine and Jack; and Robert H., and his dog Bo. Four stepchildren Courtney White, her husband George and sons Reed and Charlie; Harper Collins her husband Dan and sons, Hutch, Jack and Ford; John F. Hoff his wife Heather and their four children, Margaret, Elizabeth, John, and William; William C. Hoff, his wife Amy and their daughters, Chloe and Hannah. In addition, Mr. Woodruff was uncle to a drove of nieces and nephews.

Mr. Woodruff was also a member of various organizations and clubs, including Newtown Presbyterian Church, the Coast Guard Auxiliary, Trenton Country Club, and Nassau Club in Princeton.

Services were held at Newtown Presbyterian Church on November 14 at 11 a.m. A calling hour was held before the service at 10 a.m. in the church reception rooms.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society or to the Parkinson Alliance in Kingston, N.J.

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Jamesena Lois Johnson

Jamesena Lois Johnson, or “Jimmy” as she was affectionately known, passed away on Wednesday, November 5, 2014 at home, with her family by her side.

A life-long Princetonian, she was born on November 26, 1940, to the late James L. Dugger and Lois Stockett-Dugger. She was one of two daughters.

Jimmy attended the Witherspoon School (for colored children), The Bordentown School for Manual Training and Industrial School for Colored Youth, and Princeton High School.

Jimmy met and married the late Donald A. Johnson, Sr. Through this union, three children were born: Debra A. Johnson-Wilson, Donald A. Johnson, Jr., and DeAndrea A. Johnson-Hall.

She worked at Princeton Day School, and then Merrill Lynch, in West Windsor, in the late 80s and early 90s where she quickly became manager of one of its many cafeterias. After retiring, she felt the need to do more and went back to work part-time with Princeton Public Schools as a cafeteria aide, until she was no longer able.

Preceded in death by her husband of over 50 years, Donald A. Johnson, Sr., and parents James and Lois Dugger, her memory will be celebrated and remembered by her children Debra Wilson, Donald Jr., and DeAndrea Hall; two devoted sons-in-law, Richard Wilson, Sr. and Wade Hall, Jr. all of Princeton. Grandchildren Ayisha Johnson, of Atlanta, Ga.; Donisse Kelton (Donny) of Somerset, N.J.; Ricara Wilson, Richard Wilson, Jr.; Skylar J. Hall, and Jaden Hall all of Princeton. Great-grandchildren Amaia Willis, Dallas; Donni Nicole, and Dallen Kelton. Jimmy also leaves one sister, Beverly Phox of Princeton; brothers-in-law Marvin Trotman, Sr. (Martha) of Virginia Beach, Va.; and Roscoe Trotman (Joann) of Mint Hill, N.C. A sister-in-law, Joyce Trotman — Jordan (Kevin) of Trenton. Her Goddaughter Lia Moore-Brim of Atlanta, Ga.; and Godson Eric McEwen of Princeton. A host of nieces, nephews, other relatives, and friends.

Funeral services were held on Saturday, November 15, 2014 at noon, at The First Baptist Church of Princeton. Calling hours were at 11 a.m. until the time of service at the church. Interment was private. Reverend Carlton E. Branscomb Pastor officiated. Arrangements were by the Hughes Funeral Home of Trenton.

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A. James Meigs

A. James Meigs, 93, of Princeton, died November 17, peacefully at home.

A leading economist of the monetarist school, he was also an avid scuba diver, fly fisherman, world traveler, and a dedicated husband, father and grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend.

Born in Balboa, Panama, to Alexander Edgar and Della Welch Meigs, he grew up in the colony of U.S. workers who operated the Panama Canal. He graduated from Balboa High School and Panama Canal Zone Junior College.

At age 18, he went to work in the canal’s mechanical division machine shop as an apprentice machinist, learning to craft the parts needed to repair passing ships and keep the canal’s equipment running. By age 21, he had earned the rank of journeyman machinist. In a long life of many accomplishments, that was one of his most treasured. For the rest of his life, he would talk about how much he respected the older master craftsmen — those “good mechanics” — who taught him the importance of hard work and craftsmanship.

During World War II, he served in the Army Air Corps, where his mechanical skills were highly valued. After the war, at the urging of his high school librarian, he applied to Harvard University and matriculated with the class of 1948. Harvard expanded his world dramatically: he saw snow for the first time and discovered the field of economics.

Economics brought him to the University of Chicago, where he earned his MA and PhD degrees, studying under iconoclastic economist Milton Friedman, who became a mentor and lifelong friend. In Chicago, he also met a young Wellesley graduate named Grace Lester Cobb. They were married in 1950 and would have four children. Life in the Meigs family involved deep intellectual curiosity, passionate dinner-table conversations, adventurous road trips, and abundant love.

His early career included a teaching position at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and a stint at the Saint Louis, Mo., branch of the Federal Reserve Bank. In 1961, his work took the Meigs family east. From their home in his beloved Princeton, he commuted to work in New York City, where he held positions in the economics departments at the New York Stock Exchange, First National City Bank (later Citbank), and Argus Research.

In 1975, he joined the faculty of Claremont Men’s College (today, Claremont McKenna College), holding an endowed chair in economics. While there he founded the Claremont Economics Institute, a forecasting group that advised the Reagan White House. In 1981 he joined California’s First Interstate Bank (today Wells Fargo) as chief economist.

Throughout his career, he advocated for free markets and advanced the monetarist theory of economics. He was a longtime member of the Mont Pelerin Society, the Shadow Open Market Committee, the Downtown Economists Club, and other groups dedicated to sound economic policy. He published two books, Free Reserves and the Money Supply (1962) and Money Matters (1972), as well as numerous papers.

He was a loyal parishioner at Princeton’s All Saints Church, where he served in numerous lay roles over the years. He was also a longtime member of the Harvard Club and an active
participant in the Forum, a discussion group at Princeton Windrows, where he lived.

He is survived by his wife, Lester; his children Margaret, Susan, James, and Barbara, and 11 grandchildren. He was predeceased by his beloved younger sister, Margaret Meigs Molloy.

The funeral service will be held on Saturday, November 22, 2 p.m., at All Saints Church, in Princeton.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a donation be given to All Saints Church or the Wounded Warrior Project.

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

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Leslie Aldridge Westoff

Leslie Aldridge Westoff died on November 9, 2014 at home in Palm Beach, Florida, after several years with Parkinson’s disease. She was born in Manhattan and educated at Duke and at the University of Arizona as well as in Paris and Zurich. Married to John W. Aldridge, a noted literary critic, she first lived in Princeton in the mid-1950s when he was the writer-in-residence at the university. After years abroad, they went to the University of Michigan in 1964 where he was on the faculty. In 1968 they divorced and she returned to New York and in the following year back to Princeton where she married Charles Westoff, a long-time professor of demography and sociology at Princeton University. In 1999, she moved to Palm Beach.

She was a prolific writer of non-fiction. Over the years she published four books including Corporate Romance, 1985; Breaking Out of the Middle Age Trap, 1980; The Second Time Around, 1978; and From Now to Zero, 1971, the latter with her husband Charles Westoff on population growth in the U.S. She published over 200 articles in the New York Times, New York Magazine, the Princeton Alumni Weekly, and various Palm Beach newspapers and numerous national magazines. Many of these articles reflected her warmth, her sense of adventure, and her love of international travel. She is survived by her only son Geoffrey Aldridge of Palm Beach and a grandson Nicholas Aldridge of West Hartford, Connecticut.

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Donald R. McCauley

Donald R. “Don” McCauley, 81, of Franklin Park, N.J., entered into eternal rest on Thursday, November 13, 2014 at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

Born in Hackensack, he moved to Franklin Park over 30 years ago.

He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Air Force.

Don retired as a teacher from the Bridgewater School System. He was a member of St. Augustine of Canterbury Church and its choir and VFW Post 9111, Men’s Auxiliary, Kendall Park.

Predeceased by his beloved wife, Mary Lucy McCauley, on September 5, 2013, he is survived by several nieces and nephews.

Relatives and friends may gather at the Kimble Funeral Home, 1 Hamilton Avenue, Princeton, N.J. 08542 on Wednesday, November 19, 2014 from 2 to 4 p.m.

Funeral services will begin on Thursday, November 20, 2014 at 9 a.m. at the funeral home. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. at St. Augustine of Canterbury Church, 45 Henderson Road, Kendall Park, N.J., followed by entombment at Holy Cross Burial Park, Cranbury Road, Jamesburg, N.J.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tenn. 38105.