Ida Toto

Ida Toto, 96, passed away peacefully at the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro on Friday April 3, 2015. Born in Mozzagrogne, province CH, Italy, in 1918 and raised in Raritan, New Jersey, Ida married and moved to Princeton where she resided for more than 75 years. In 1954, she joined her husband’s family business, Toto’s Market of Princeton, and worked alongside her husband, Albert for over 35 years.

A parishioner of St. Paul’s Church, she was a member of The Catholic Daughters, The Altar Rosary Society, The Golden Agers, and the Woman’s Auxiliary of The Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad. For many years, Ida actively volunteered for the Princeton Hospital Fete and the Princeton Hospital Rummage Sale.

Daughter of the late Madelena and Antonio DiGiuseppantonio, she was predeceased by her beloved husband, Albert S. Toto Sr. and sister Frances Watkinson. Ida is survived by her daughter, Lucille Rosendorf, her husband, David of Skillman; her son, Albert S. Toto Jr. of Belle Mead; a granddaughter, Melissa Calvert, her husband Charles of Washington Crossing; a grandson, Albert S. Toto III, his wife, Kathleen of Cape Elizabeth, Maine; and five precious great grandchildren: Madeline and Pierce Calvert and Albert IV, Ava and Andrew Toto.

Ida will be remembered, with love, by her family and friends for her bountiful spirit of generosity, her friendliness to everyone she met, her many kindnesses throughout her life and for her delicious and plentiful Italian cooking.

A funeral will be held at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 9, 2015, at The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, 40 Vandeventer Avenue in Princeton.

A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday at St. Paul’s Church, 214 Nassau Street in Princeton.

Calling hours will be held on Wednesday, April 8, 2015, from 4 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Senior Care Ministry of Princeton, P.O. Box 1517, Princeton, New Jersey 08542-1517 or to Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad, P.O Box 529, Princeton, New Jersey 08542.

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Robert Earl Flory

Robert E. Flory, 82, died peacefully on March 16, 2015. He was born to Leslie and Helen (Kezeler) Flory of Oaklyn, New Jersey. The family later moved to Princeton where he graduated from Princeton High School. Mr. Flory (“Bob”) went on to receive degrees in electrical engineering from Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania. He lived and worked in the Princeton area for most of his adult life, but was enjoying retirement with his beloved wife Marjorie in Oro Valley, Arizona.

In his four-decade career at RCA’s David Sarnoff Research Center, Mr. Flory focused primarily on television disk and tape recording technology. He was also part of the development team for a broadcast camera that was used by NBC studios for more than a decade and which earned RCA an Emmy award in 1981. In the latter part of his career, he helped to develop some of the earliest standards and technologies for High Definition TV.

He was an accomplished, albeit amateur astro-photographer who particularly enjoyed eclipse chasing. He and Marjorie took a number of jaunts to remote locations to observe and photograph such celestial events. He also directed his photographic interests toward the abundant wildlife in his adopted home state of Arizona.

Bob always enjoyed symphonic music and in the last decade he and Marjorie derived much pleasure from their subscription to the local orchestral series. He also appreciated good food and word play — from crossword puzzles to puns. He was an extraordinary engineer, a loyal friend, and a devoted family man.

He was predeceased by his first wife and the mother of his children, Eleanor (Collins) and his sister, June Ann Flory. He is survived by his wife of nearly 23 years, Marjorie Jelinek Flory (previously of Pennington, New Jersey); two children, Robert G Flory (Pamela) of Hopewell, New Jersey and Janice E Flory (Eric Stabb) of Athens, Georgia; three step-daughters, Monica Housen (Tom), Marie Berrien, and Marsha Mimnaugh (Todd); five nieces, Linda, Chris, Ellen, Cynthia and Sarah; and nine grandchildren, Martin, Madeline, Katherine, Hayden, Riley, Ella, Connor, Rogan and Bryson.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on May 30, 2015 at Gravity Hill Farm (67 Pleasant Valley Road in Titusville, New Jersey). Those wishing to honor his memory might consider a contribution to The Sarnoff Collection at The College of New Jersey or to the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.

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Frances Rossmassler

Frances Branch Scott Rossmassler, 77, of Newtown, Pennsylvania and Grindstone Island in Clayton, New York, died peacefully in Newtown on March 18, 2015. She was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1937 and was the daughter of Thomas Branch Scott Jr. and Carrie Taliaferro Scott. She attended St. Catherine’s School in Richmond and graduated from St. Timothy’s School in Stevenson, Maryland, Briarcliffe Junior College in Briarcliff Manor, New York, and Richmond Business School in Richmond, Virginia.

She married Peter Radford Rossmassler in 1962. Peter and Frances moved from New York City to Princeton in 1965. In 2009, they moved to Pennswood Village in Newtown, Pennsylvania. She and her family spent their summers on Grindstone Island on the St. Lawrence River in the Thousand  Islands where her husband’s family has been going since 1895.

Frances worked as a secretary in New York City for Reynolds Metals Co. and for Travel Bureau Inc. She did a lot of volunteer work at Princeton Day School for the Parents Association and served on the Board of Camp Kieve for Boys in Damariscotta, Maine for 12 years. She also served on the Board of Grindstone Island Research and Heritage Center raising funds for programs and scholarships for island children. She was a member of the Garden Club of Princeton and Trinity Church of Princeton.

She is survived by her husband, Peter, of over 50 years, three sons, William R. Rossmassler III and his wife Wendy of Middlesex, Vermont; Thomas B. S. Rossmassler and his wife Sarah of Hatfield, Massachusetts; Richard R. Rossmassler of Williamsburg, Brooklyn; and five grandchildren, Colby, Louisa, Branch, Tae and Eva; her sister, Caroline S. Decazes of Lausanne, Switzerland; and six nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her twin sister, Ellen, who died at birth, her sister, Dorothea S. Adamson, two brothers-in-law, Richard and William R. Rossmassler Jr. and his wife, Sue.

A brief visitation period will begin at 10:30 a.m. with memorial services beginning at 11:15 a.m. on Saturday, April 11, 2015 at Bringhurst Funeral Home, 225 Belmont Avenue, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to SAVE, A Friend to Homeless Animals, 900 Herrontown Road, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 or to the Pennswood Village Fellowship Fund, 1382 Newtown-Langhorne Road, Newtown, Pennsylvania 18940.

Arrangements are by Bringhurst Funeral Home at West Laurel Hill Cemetery.

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Berit Smith 

Berit Blomqvist Smith, a longtime resident of Princeton, died peacefully at home on March 26, 2015. She was 77 years old.

Born in Munkfors, Sweden, she moved to Princeton in 1960 to experience the States for a few years before returning home to Sweden. Her plans changed, however, when she met Craig Gary Smith, then a graduate student at Princeton University. The two married in 1962 and she never moved back to Sweden. She became a United States citizen in 1994.

After residing for a time in California and New York, the two moved back to Princeton in 1976, where they very much enjoyed living, made a great many friends, raised two sons, and were avid supporters of the arts, attending performances and volunteering on boards.

Among her many activities in support of the arts, she served as a trustee of the Princeton Chamber Symphony (forerunner to the Princeton Symphony Orchestra) and was a subscription holder since 1980; associate director of the McCarter Theatre Center; committee member for Princeton Summer Concerts; and member of the Princeton Friends of Opera and the Princeton Festival Guild. In addition, she volunteered at the Princeton Library and was a founding member of Hands On Helpers, now VolunteerConnect.

For most of her professional career, she was employed by the former Scanticon Hotel, where she was hired in 1980 by the soon to be opened Danish-based hotel as its first U.S. employee, eventually rising to sales manager. This experience served her well when — at her husband’s behest — she assumed responsibilities for planning the Princeton University Class of 1958 Reunion Dinners. She continued to attend reunions and travel with members of her husband’s class well after his death in 2000.

She is survived by sons Erik Michael Smith and his wife, Karen Sundberg, of Georgetown, South Carolina; and Kevin Andrew Smith and his wife, Elizabeth McDowell Smith, of Charlotte, North Carolina. Also, two grandchildren, Andrew McDowell Smith and Lillian Alexandra Smith of Charlotte, North Carolina; and a sister, Gunvor Blomqvist Engdahl and her husband, Carl-Axel Engdahl, of Karlstad, Sweden; as well as a niece, a nephew and three grand-nieces, all residing in Sweden.

The Smith family invites you to the memorial service to be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 11, 2015 at the Nassau Inn, Ten Palmer Square East in Princeton. A luncheon reception will follow.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in her name may be made to the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, P.O. Box 250, Princeton, NJ 08542. Please write “In Memory of Berit Smith” on the memo line.

Arrangements are under the supervision of the Kimble Funeral Home of Princeton.

Extend condolences and share remembrances at TheKimbleFuneralHome.com.