Andrew Hicks

Andrew Crozer Reeves Hicks, longtime Princeton resident, lawyer, and community leader, passed away on November, 30, 2016, at his home at Stonebridge in Rocky Hill, with his family by his side. He was 92 with eyes of blue.

Reeves, “Reevo,” was born in Trenton, on October 12, 1924, son of Thomas Edward and Mary Lucille Reeves Hicks, and grandson of Sarah Conrad Reeves and New Jersey State Senator, Andrew Crozer Reeves of Lawrenceville. He lived in Princeton from 1932 until his move to Skillman in 2002.

Reeves attended Princeton Public schools as a child. In 1938 he attended Phillips Exeter Academy and in 1942 was admitted to the class of 1946 at Princeton. While at Princeton, Reeves enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and was assigned to the V-12 Officers Training Program. Reeves resumed his studies at Princeton where he has served as the class president of the great class of 1946. Reeves attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School, receiving his law degree in 1949. He married Joan Stewart of Huntington Valley, Pa., the love of his life, in 1947, while in law school.

After law school Reeves worked with the Warner Lambert Company and Gallup and Robinson until returning to the law in 1950. He was a partner in the law firms of McCarthy and Hicks and later Smith, Lambert, Hicks, and Miller. Reeves served as a partner in the law firm of Drinker, Biddle, and Reath until his retirement in 1995. Reeves also served as magistrate for West Windsor Township from 1958 to 1966 where he was known for his kindness and fairness. His most memorable case was the West Windsor School Board vs. Trifan, in which the Trifan family was sued for schooling their musical children at home. Reeves found the family ‘not guilty’ because evidence showed the children were receiving an ‘equivalent education’ at home.

During his years in Princeton, Reeves was a member and/or officer and trustee of the New Jersey Bar Association, Princeton Chamber of Commerce, Princeton YMCA, Princeton Arts Council, the Nassau Club, the Princeton Investor’s Group, the Nassau Gun Club, and other organizations including the Tred Avon Yacht Club in Oxford, Md. He received many citations and awards for his community service, including the National Conference for Community and Justice award for his interest in the subject of community diversity and the Bud Vivian Award for dedication and commitment to the Princeton Community. In 2002 Reeves and his wife, Joan, moved across the county line to a new retirement community, Stonebridge at Montgomery. Reeves was the first president of the Residents’ Association, a position he held for five years.

Reeves referred to himself as a ‘townie’ and was a proud Princeton graduate, Marine, husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Throughout his life Reeves worked for the common good of the Princeton community. He has been described by community leaders and friends as a gentle, sure-handed navigator who steered diverse interests of the town, borough, and university to common ground, and as a gentle listener and troubleshooter who brought diverse interests together to move Princeton forward. Reeves was involved in the expansion of the Princeton Public Library and formed the coalition that worked to bring the town and borough to an agreement on its expansion.

As a lawyer, Reeves was active in the purchase of the 102 Witherspoon Street building for the Arts Council, again bringing diverse groups together to move the project forward. He was the first president of the Arts Council under its new governing structure. Reeves served twice as president of the Chamber of Commerce and worked tirelessly to preserve and improve the quality of living of the community as well as to create a better business climate. He served on the Chamber Advisory Council and the Princeton Business Association, which strove to enable town and university to develop ideas and solve their common problems in the Central Business District. Reeves was an active Rotarian. At the university, Reeves has served as secretary and president of the class of 1946 and was a member of the Chapel Advisory Committee.

Reeves was an avid sailor. As a boy he sailed his dinghies on Lake Carnegie and in Mantoloking on the Jersey shore. He sailed and raced star boats, including his favorite Osopeachee, on the Chesapeake Bay. He later enjoyed traveling and sailing throughout European and Aegean waters with his family and friends. At home, Reeves enjoyed gardening, especially tending his roses. A quiet Quaker, Reeves was also a lover of music, in particular the music of the 40s, Dixieland, and New Orleans jazz. He was well-known for his dapper dress and his wonderful dancing. Reeves had a wonderful sense of humor and was known to enjoy many a martini with good friends and family. A longtime member of Pretty Brook Tennis Club, he also enjoyed a rowdy game of tennis.

Reeves and Joan were married for 69 years. They have four daughters and a son. Reeves is predeceased by his parents, his son, Ted, in 2012, and his sister, Patricia McNitt. He is survived by his wife, Joan; his sister, Joan Mitchell; daughters, Andrea, Lindsey, Daren, and Libby; his sons-in-law; his nine grandchildren; many loving nieces and nephews; and his first great granddaughter.

A joyful Gathering of Remembrance for Reeves will be held on December 26, 2016 at 2 p.m. at Stonebridge.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to the Princeton YMCA or a local charity in his name.

———

Louise Jefferys Morse

Louise Jefferys Morse, a longtime Princeton resident, died peacefully November 29, 2016. She was 105.

Mrs. Morse was the wife of the late Professor Marston Morse, a mathematician who was among the first generation of faculty at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Born in 1911 in Hanging Rock, Ohio, Mrs. Morse attended both the Academy and the College of the Sacred Heart in Cincinnati, Ohio, before enrolling at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Nursing in Baltimore, Maryland, where she earned her R.N. After graduation she was a head nurse on a medical research unit at Johns Hopkins’ Osler Clinic for three years. She also worked at Queen’s Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii, for two years.

From January 1940, when Louise and Marston Morse were married, until his death in 1977, the Morses opened their home on Battle Road to Institute visitors from all over the world. They gave welcome parties in the fall and spring for new members particularly of the school of mathematics, and Mrs. Morse was deeply involved in helping the new members get settled in Princeton. Many became lifelong friends.

Mrs. Morse and her husband were among a group of parents who shared a dream of founding an independent Catholic school in Princeton, serving on the Stuart Country Day School Founders Committee in 1962. They were also instrumental in establishing the Friends of the Raissa Maritain Library shortly after Stuart opened. For almost 50 years, Mrs. Morse continued to be active in organizing the ongoing funding of the library.

In addition to her interest in Sacred Heart education, Mrs. Morse volunteered for many community organizations. Early in her years in Princeton she supported the Princeton Nursery School on Leigh Avenue. Later she helped found the Crossroads Nursery School at the Institute for Advanced Study. She served as a board member of the Princeton Family Services Society and the Diocesan Catholic Welfare Board. She also helped the Princeton YWCA raise funds to purchase the Bramwell House.

Mrs. Morse had a strong interest in peace and justice issues throughout her life. She was active in the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Freedom Writers for Amnesty International, Pax Christi, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Coalition for Peace Action, and the Mercer Alliance for the Mentally Ill. In 1997 she was honored as one of a group of senior citizens selected for their history of volunteer service and their continuing involvement in the Princeton community. In 2010 the Princeton Committee of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund gave her its annual service award, honoring her for her tireless work over three decades within that organization.

Mrs. Morse was an avid gardener who shared her expertise and perennials with many friends throughout the Princeton community and beyond. When a severe storm in 2000 destroyed the 300-year–old Mercer Oak in Princeton’s historic Battlefield State Park, Mrs. Morse donated an offspring of the ancient tree, an 8-foot sapling she had nurtured in her front yard.

Beloved wife, mother, stepmother, mother-in-law, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Mrs. Morse is predeceased by her husband Marston Morse and her children Meröe Marston Morse, Dryden Phelps Morse, and Peter Farnsworth Morse. She is survived by her daughter, Louise A. Morse, who lived with her for the last several decades of her life; and her granddaughter, Maria Fortiz-Morse, whom she co-parented; as well as her children Julie, William, Elizabeth; her sons-in-law Thomas Cone and Daniel Reardon; her daughters-in-law Teri Beck Morse, Cece Saunders and Melissa Gabel Morse; 16 other grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.

A Memorial Mass and celebration of her life will be held at St. Charles Borromeo Church, 47 Skillman Road, Skillman, NJ, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 14, 2017. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Raissa Maritain Library Endowment Fund of Stuart Country Day School, 1200 Stuart Road, Princeton, NJ 08540, or to the Marston Morse Lecture Fund of the Institute for Advanced Study, 1 Einstein Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540.

———

Irene M. Perna

Irene M. Perna, 78, of Lawrenceville, passed away on Sunday, December 4, 2016 at St. Joseph’s Skilled Nursing Center, Lawrenceville.

Born on May 17, 1938 in Lawrenceville, she remained a lifelong resident of the area. Irene graduated from Princeton High School in 1956 and graduated from Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women, which became the Ambler Campus of Temple University in 1958. She married Alfred R. Perna on October 29, 1960. Throughout the 1960s she worked at various flower shops in the Princeton area including Applegate’s and the Flower Basket. In 1974, she became a partner in Mazur Nursery, plant nursery started by her father, George E. Mazur in 1933 and became the owner of Mazur Nursery with her husband Alfred in 1975. In 1976, Irene and Alfred opened Perna’s Plant and Flower Shop in West Windsor. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Mazur Nursery was one of the leading wholesale and retail bedding plant nursery establishments. In 1991, Irene decided to focus on her local retail customers, offering the broadest and largest and most unique selection of annuals, perennials, and vegetables in the area. Irene continued to actively lead the nursery through this year, taking great enjoyment and pride in growing the types and varieties of plants her customers came to appreciate. When not working at her business, Irene enjoyed reading, traveling with her husband, visiting Atlantic City, dining out, and watching and attending NASCAR races.

She was predeceased by her parents, George E Mazur and Stephanie (née Zepka) Mazur; her sister Dorothy Guzikowski; she is survived by her husband of 56 years, Alfred R. Perna; her daughter Sarah Conte and husband Scott; her son Steven Perna, and wife Maria (née Wood); grandchildren, Nicole, Michael, and Christina Conte; and her devoted cousin Christine Braun.

The funeral will begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday, December 10, 2016 at Poulson & Van Hise Funeral Directors, 650 Lawrence Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 9 a.m. at St. Hedwig Church, 872 Brunswick Avenue, Trenton, NJ 08638.

Interment will follow at St. Hedwig Cemetery, Ewing, NJ.

Relatives and friends can call on Friday evening from 5-8 p.m. at the funeral home.

To send a condolence to the family or for directions, please visit www.poulsonvanhise.com.

———

Patrick J. Dolan

Patrick J. Dolan, 89, of Lawrenceville died Thursday, December 1, 2016, at the University Medical Center of Princeton surrounded by his loving family. Born in West Orange to the late Matthew J. and Rose M. Dolan (née Keenan) of Co. Roscommon and Co. Monaghan, Ireland, respectively, he was predeceased by his sisters, Mary and Kae, and brothers, Matthew, John, and James and his infant son Mark. For most of his life Mr. Dolan resided in West Orange and Princeton.

He is survived by his loving wife of 68 years, Janice (née Gallagher); his two daughters, Nadine Podd and Colleen Hayles, and their respective husbands, Bill and Kent; his five grandsons, Brad and his wife Courtney, Sean, Kevin and his wife Chelsie, Ryan, and Derron and his wife Megan; and his three great-grandchildren, Olivia, Ian, and Shelby.

After graduating from Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair, New Jersey, in 1943 he volunteered for the Army, entering into the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) where he concurrently undertook college studies and military training. During the Second World War he served in the Philippines and received an honorable discharge.

In his professional life he was a management information systems executive. His career spanned more than five decades at IBM, CSC, Itel, and SBU. Mr. Dolan was an alumnus of St. Bonaventure University and the Stern School of Business at NYU. He was a Pre-Cana facilitator at his Church, served on numerous municipal boards, and for decades worked as an election-day poll volunteer.

A couple for 75 years, Mr. and Mrs. Dolan won their high school’s dance competition in 1942. In 2009 at the wedding reception of Kevin and Chelsie Hayles they delighted the guests with their dancing ability. With his wife always by his side, he enjoyed going to parties, eating out, and having coffee with his family and friends, especially his three sisters-in-law. He attended every recital, school play, soccer match, birthday party, and graduation that he could. He always woke up early, often to attend weekday Mass and to go to the gym. A model husband, father, and grandfather, his unwavering friendship, generosity, loyalty, kindness, and warmth will be missed by his friends and large extended family, including his many nieces and nephews and their children.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at 11 a.m. on Monday, December 5, 2016, at St. Paul’s Church, 216 Nassau Street, Princeton. In lieu of flowers, Mr. Dolan requested that donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.