Memorial Announcement: Rosetta Trani Archer

There will be a Mass of Remembrance for Rosetta Trani Archer on Tuesday June 14th at 11 a.m. at St. Paul’s Catholic Church, 214 Nassau Street, Princeton. Immediately following the Mass, a service for the interment of her ashes will be held at the Princeton Cemetery, 61 Nassau Street. There will be a family reception following both services at the Dowling residence: 7 University Way, Princeton Junction, NJ 08550. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to: Samaritan’s Purse, P.O. Box 300, Boone, NC 28607.

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Eileen Vera Ogden Shahbender

Eileen Vera Ogden Shahbender of Princeton, died peacefully at Brandywine Living in Monmouth Junction, N.J. on Saturday, May 21, 2016. She was 86. A very proud Mother and talented, accomplished artist, Eileen was born in North Bierly in the county of Bradford, U.K., to Harold and Alice Ogden.

She attended the Bradford College of Art in Yorkshire prior to moving to the United States where she studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Eileen came to Princeton with her husband in 1960 where she raised her family.

Over the years she became a widely recognized artist; painting, teaching, and exhibiting her award winning work throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Her art is represented in many corporate and private collections throughout the northeast of the U.S.A. In 1972 she partnered with an artist friend and founded and managed Art Exhibition Consultants, a business that for many years, represented local artists and tailored exhibits on site at local businesses and central New Jersey corporations. Eileen maintained a private studio on Witherspoon Street in Princeton over the Army Navy store where she would be found when she was not visiting friends and family in the U.K., or her brother in Australia, or spending days with her children and grandchildren at the Jersey shore. Eileen adored the sea. Many of her best paintings are seascape views inspired by the many places she traveled to around the world. She had an exquisite sense of color and form expressed through her art and also was an avid collector of objet d’art.

She will be missed for a giant sense of humor and remembered for deep pride in both her British roots and her American citizenship.

Eileen is survived by her beloved children: Leila Shahbender and her spouse, Christopher Pike of Princeton; Tarik Shahbender and his spouse, Eileen Long of Princeton; and Randa Armstrong of Chesterfield, N.J.; and her grandchildren: Alexandra Pike of New York, N.Y. and Byron and Gillian Armstrong of Chesterfield, N.J.

A memorial service to celebrate Eileen’s life and art is scheduled for June 29, 2016, 11 a.m. at the Princeton University Chapel, Princeton, N.J.

In lieu of flowers please consider a donation in her memory to The Princeton Public Library or The Arts Council of Princeton.

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Carol Ann Cox

Carol Ann Cox (née Tafel), age 77, passed away peacefully at her home of 42 years on Tuesday, May 31. There was a private funeral held at the Princeton Cemetery. A memorial service celebrating her life will be held on Saturday, June 25 at 3:30 p.m. in the Dorothy Brown Room at 333 Broadmead Avenue, the University League Nursery School.

Carol was born on July 7, 1938 in Philadelphia to Gustav Hugo Tafel and Catherine Ann Tafel (née Kelly). She grew up in the University Heights section of Philadelphia and spent her teenage years in Avalon, New Jersey at her family’s second home. She was a registered nurse with a specialty in urology, having received her certificate in nursing in 1959 from the Nursing School of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. There, she met her husband, Edward Cox, a graduate student at Penn. They fell in love and married at Christmas-time 1960.

Ted and Carol’s first two daughters were born in Philadelphia before they moved to Palo Alto. The family moved to Princeton in 1967. Her third daughter was born in Princeton and attended the University League Nursery School, where Carol started her second career as a teacher and taught for 17 years until her retirement in 1992. Carol traveled extensively in Europe, backpacked in the Rocky Mountains, fished in North America, and skied. When she was at home, Carol enjoyed gardening, birding, crossword puzzles, visiting with friends, and helping to raise her grandchildren.

Carol is survived by her husband of 56 years; her daughters and their husbands and six grandchildren: Cynthia Cox and Wright, Will, and Catherine Abbot of Baltimore, MD; Rebecca Cox and John, Ed, and Mike McCorry of Princeton; Rachel Cox and Chris, Emily, and Ann Shenk of Bethesda, Md. She consistently provided her children with sound life advice and was a wonderful example of how to achieve a happy marriage, for which her children are grateful. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews and her younger siblings Martha Bingham (Sister Maria of the Erie, Pa. Carmelite monastery) and Hugo Tafel of Key West, Fla.. She was predeceased by her older sister Virginia Mullen of Rome, Ga.

In lieu of flowers, Carol asked that you make a donation to the University League Nursery School of Princeton for the support of young children in financial need. Arrangements are by Mather-Hodge Funeral Home Princeton.

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Ellis G. Willard

Ellis G. (Jess) Willard, 91, formerly of Princeton, and Pomfret, Vt., died May 28 at his home in Scarborough, Me. Jess, as he was known, was born, raised and educated in Philadelphia and was the son of Ellis George and Ethel Johnston Willard. He is survived by his wife, Peg, his sister Dorothy Lanier, their sons Bruce and Glenn, and their families.

Jess attended Frankford High School in Philadelphia. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy returning to attend Temple University where he graduated with a BS and played on the football team. In 1948 he moved to Princeton, to serve as the Director of Athletics, Director of Admissions, and football coach for The Hun School for 3 years before joining the staff of the Mercer County-Princeton YMCA. It was at the YMCA that Jess developed his interest and skill at non-profit fundraising and started the first fully-integrated Midget Baseball league in the country.

1954 saw a move to the Presbyterian Homes of New Jersey where Jess served as CEO until 1989, developing, building, and operating non-profit retirement communities throughout the state. Meadow Lakes Village, in Hightstown, N.J., his most ambitious and successful community, became a model for retirement communities country-wide and was the first retirement community in the country to integrate on-site healthcare. During this period he attended Harvard’s Program for Health Systems Management and devoted time to numerous charities which supported the education and recreation of underprivileged children.

An avid skater, hockey player, roller-blader, and athlete of all kinds, Jess will be remembered for his warmth, wit, and unending generosity. At his request, there will be no local memorial service. Burial, in Vermont, will be private. Arrangements are under the guidance of Hobbs Funeral Home, 230 Cottage Road, South Portland, ME. On-line condolences may be shared at: www.hobbsfuneralhome.com.

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Muriel Van Kirk Silcox Schafer

Muriel was born on October 12, 1925 and died on May 26, 2016. She was 90 years old.

Muriel grew up in Lawrenceville and moved with her family to Princeton when she was 13. She graduated from Princeton High School, where she was selected to sing with the All State Chorus, one of her proudest achievements. She attended Trenton State College.

In 1944 Muriel married her high school sweetheart, Carl Schafer, who died in 1993. Muriel is survived by her three daughters, Carolyn (Michael) Bledsoe of Cincinnati; Carla (Bruce) Hogg of Washington, N.J.; and Susan (Dean) Carmeris of Plymouth, Mass.; as well as her brother John (Susanna) Van Kirk Silcox of Hanover, Pa. She also leaves five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Muriel worked as a school secretary in West Windsor School District. She was a member of The Present Day Club, Princeton Garden Club, Hopewell Valley Golf Club, the DAR, and the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville. She loved spending her summers at the family home in Normandy Beach with friends and family. If desired, donations may be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation, PO Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741

A Memorial Service was held at the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church on Thursday, June 2, 2016 at 1:30 p.m.

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