Robert H.B. Baldwin

Robert H.B. Baldwin, former Chairman and President of Morgan Stanley and Co. and Under Secretary of the Navy, died Sunday of pneumonia. He was 95. He was a resident of Hobe Sound, Florida and had a home in Princeton.

Mr. Baldwin was both witness to and agent of enormous transitions on Wall Street during his 37-year career, which was interrupted only by his service as Under Secretary of the Navy from 1965 to 1967. He started at Morgan Stanley in 1946, and was named Partner in 1958. During much of his career Morgan Stanley’s business was focused entirely on advising and raising capital for corporations, relying on other firms to distribute the clients’ securities. In 1971 Mr. Baldwin became president, and presided over the launch of a sales and trading business. Under his leadership the firm also added investment research, private wealth management, and launched the industry’s first dedicated mergers and acquisitions department. He was promoted to chairman in 1979, and retired from the firm in 1983; at that time, Robert E. Linton, chairman of the Securities Industry Association, Wall Street’s leading trade group, commented: “He represented all the things that Morgan Stanley stood for, yet was modern enough to compete in the new world.” Very active in industry affairs, Mr. Baldwin served on the Board of the New York Stock Exchange from 1974 to 1977 and then was chairman of the Security Industries Association starting in 1977.

Mr. Baldwin’s many philanthropic endeavors included The Presbyterian Hospital of New York, where he was a trustee from 1973 until his death. In the early 1980s, he chaired a highly successful capital campaign resulting in the building of the Allen Pavilion. In addition, he was particularly proud of supporting a small project on the Lower East Side of New York, started by two dedicated social reformers led by William Milliken. Dedicated to tackling the high dropout rate of underserved youth, the project, now called Communities in Schools, has grown to have locations in 26 states, serving 1.5 million elementary, middle, and high school students through 164 affiliates. Its proven model positions site coordinators inside schools to assess students’ needs and provide resources to help them succeed in the classroom and in life, and it is the nation’s largest and most effective organization dedicated to keeping kids in school. He was also active on the board of the Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge Foundation in Morristown, N.J., having been a founding Board member in 1974, and serving as president and CEO from 1987 to 1990, and chairman from 1990 to 2000. Over the 30 years that he served on the Dodge Board, its assets grew from $60 million to $288 million and over this period the foundation awarded 9,700 grants totaling $301 million.

Mr. Baldwin served on two Presidential Commissions, and during his stint as Under Secretary of the Navy he made two trips to Vietnam. At the end of his first trip in 1965, he recommended the Navy use containers for its shipments to the area. After pursuing the idea for 18 months, the first containerized ship arrived in Vietnam in 1967, his last day of office. It was estimated that containerization reduced theft and spoilage sufficiently to save the government from $12 to $18 billion.

Mr. Baldwin was born in East Orange, N.J. on July 9, 1920. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy, cum laude, in 1938 and from Princeton University, summa cum laude, in 1942. While at Princeton, he was awarded letters in football, basketball, and baseball and was winner of the William Winston Roper Cup in 1942, the highest honor for a student-athlete at Princeton. After graduation, Mr. Baldwin volunteered for service in the Navy and graduated from Officer’s Training School in December, 1942. He remained on active duty until April, 1946. He joined Morgan Stanley that month.

Mr. Baldwin is survived by his wife of 34 years, Dorothy Tobin Baldwin; five children from his previous marriage to Geraldine Williams Baldwin: Janet K. Baldwin of New York, N.Y., Deborah Baldwin Fall of Chappaqua, N.Y.; Robert H.B. Baldwin, Jr. of Princeton; Whitney H. Baldwin of Villanova, Pa.; and Elizabeth Baldwin Maushardt of Santa Cruz, Calif.; as well as two stepchildren, Mary A. Hack of Greenwich, Conn. and W. Dillaway Ayres, Jr. of Glen Cove, N.Y.; and 13 grandchildren.

A memorial service was held in his honor at the Princeton University Chapel on Saturday, January 9 at 2 p.m. He will be buried in the family plot in Bridgehampton, N.Y. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the National Office of Communities in Schools (www.communitiesinschools.org/donate).

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

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Patricia Beard

Patricia Durkin Beard, 56, of Pennington, and formerly of Wood-Ridge, passed away on Sunday afternoon, January 10, 2016 surrounded by her family. Patricia was a 1981 alumna of Montclair State University, receiving her BA in Broadcasting and going on to a career in freelance television production and direction. Active in her community, she served two terms as president of the Princeton Day School Parents Association and concentrated her philanthropic efforts into Princeton area arts organizations. Beloved wife of David D. Beard. Devoted mother of David Andrew and Christopher James. Loving daughter of John and Grace Durkin of Wood-Ridge. Dear sister of Maureen McCormick and her husband David and Carol Trinker and her husband Michael. Sister-in-law of Fred Beard and his wife Dorothy. Cherished aunt of Faith Trinker, Susan Sobkowicz, Debra Curran, and Lisa Hagy. Funeral at Costa Memorial Home, Boulevard and Central Ave., Hasbrouck Heights on Saturday, January 16 at 9:30 a.m. Funeral Liturgy from Church of the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady Wood-Ridge at 10:30 a.m. Entombment to follow at Holy Cross Chapel Mausoleum, North Arlington. Visitation Friday, January 15 from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the John Theurer Cancer Center at HUMC, Hackensack, NJ 07601.

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David Latin Williams

David Latin Williams, 81, of Princeton died Friday, January 8, 2016 at Merwick Care Center in Plainsboro.

Born in Philadelphia, Pa. he resided in Princeton. He was a professor at Essex County College in Newark. David was the first Naturalist at the Churchville Nature Center in Churchville, Pa.

There will be a book signing event there on Saturday, January 16 at 1 p.m. All are invited. Visit www.churchvillenaturecenter.org.

David was a naturalist at the Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve. A student of the famous botanist Dr. Edgar T. Wherry Hill, his life and work will be remembered. He was also a wonderful photographer of plants and wild flowers.

Son of the late Dr. S. Culver and Barbara (Latin) Williams, he is survived by his wife of 57 years Idaherma Williams, a son Evan Jan Williams, and a sister Dr. Deborah Williams Holmes.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m., Thursday, January 14, 2016 at The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, 40 Vandeventer Avenue, Princeton.

Donations in his honor may be sent to Friends of the Bordentown Marsh, Trenton, NJ.

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Barbara Sorgento

Barbara “Bobbie” Sorgento, 78, of Newtown, Pa., passed away Saturday, January 9, 2016.

Born in New Brunswick, Bobbie grew up in Metuchen, N.J. She lived in Trenton and Morrisville, Pa. before relocating to Newtown, Pa. in 1999. Bobbie earned a Masters of Arts Degree from Rider University. For over 35 years, Bobbie had a fulfilling and successful career at Mercer Medical Center in Trenton as director of the Cardio-Pulmonary Department. Her second career was as a partner of AAA Secretarial Service in Princeton. Bobbie also served as a New Jersey State Representative of the National Heart Association and provided administrative support for the National Alliance for Autism Research.

Bobbie was a self-taught artist who loved to paint. For many years she was an avid tennis player, golfer, and traveler, taking cruises, skiing adventures, and visiting friends in foreign countries. Bobbie also enjoyed attending Princeton Symphony Orchestra concerts.

For the past several years, Bobbie courageously struggled with a myriad of illnesses, always maintaining her dignity and elegance, her kindness and compassion to others, and sense of humor, as she did her best to live her life to the fullest.

Predeceased by her parents Phillip and Anne Sorgento and her sister Frances White, Bobbie is survived by her brother Jerry and his wife Rosalie of Clarksburg; her sister Phyllis Kalman and her husband John of Manalapan; her aunt Vera Switras of Metuchen; and a large extended family, including cherished friends and supportive caregivers.

The funeral will be held on Thursday, January 14 at 9:45 a.m. from the Costello-Runyon Funeral Home, 568 Middlesex Avenue (Route 27), Metuchen followed by a 10:15 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial at St. Francis Cathedral, Metuchen. Interment will be at Hillside Cemetery, Metuchen. Visitation will be on Wednesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. To send condolences visit www.costello-runyon.com.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Autism Tissue Program, the National Parkinson’s Foundation, or the National Kidney Foundation.

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