James Arthur Floyd, Sr.

James Arthur Floyd, Sr. was born in Trenton on March 9, 1922 to John and Adeline Floyd. He died on May 14, 2018 at Brandywine Senior Living at Princeton at the age of 96. He was predeceased by his parents, his sister Daisy Banks, and his beloved wife of 62 years, Fannie Floyd. A private funeral service was held on May 25th.

James attended the Trenton Public School System. He attended Trenton Central High School, graduating in 1939, cum laude. He also attended the Trenton School of Industrial Design. He went on to West Virginia State College and graduated in 1944, magna cum laude. He was president of his class. He was also president of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity during his college years.

After graduation, James returned to Trenton and was hired by Stokes Molded Products. In 1946, he married Princeton native Fannie Reeves and moved to Princeton. In Princeton, Jim immediately involved himself in civic affairs and local politics. During those early years he, and others, founded the Trenton Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi. He was elected to the Princeton Township Committee in 1968 and was named Mayor in 1971.

In 1972, a promotion required Jim and his wife to move to Cleveland, Ohio. The move was part of his long career with the Electric Storage Battery (ESB) Company, during which he rose from a Jr. Draftsman to Vice President of Personnel, covering domestic and international factories. In 1977, Jim returned to Princeton. In 1982, he retired from ESB and became Vice President of Personnel at the Educational Testing Service (ETS). After implementing needed changes, Jim retired from ETS in 1987.

During his life, Jim was a civic activist, serving on many charitable boards and organizing and supporting many causes for the betterment of the community. He advocated tirelessly for education, civil rights, and open housing. He was also a long-serving lay leader of Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in Princeton.

James Floyd, Sr. is survived by his two sons, James and Michael; his granddaughter, Isobel Allen-Floyd; his brother, Samuel; and extended family.

A memorial service honoring the life of James Floyd, Sr. will be held on Saturday June 23rd at Nassau Presbyterian Church, 61 Nassau St., Princeton, at 11 a.m. Floral arrangements are welcomed.

Charitable donations in the memory of James Floyd, Sr. may be made to the Mercer County Community College Foundation — Floyd Scholarship, Princeton Community Housing, The Paul Robeson House of Princeton, and the Corner House Foundation.

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Yefeng Pang

Yefeng Pang, 84, passed away peacefully at Rutgers University Hospital in Newark on June 15, 2018, after a courageous 13-month battle with esophageal-stomach cancer.

Born in Dalian, China, Yefeng graduated with a B.S. in history from ShanDong University, China and became a history professor of DeZhou University. He came to the U.S. to visit his daughter and granddaughters in 2008 and lived as a resident in the U.S. ever since. He was a bookworm and enjoyed painting, singing, playing piano and violin, and swimming.

He is survived by his wife Xuelan Xu of 52 years; daughter Jingjing of Princeton, New Jersey; son Didi of NanNing China; and three granddaughters, RanYiXiu, Megan, and Emma.

Private family services were held at Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton followed by burial in Princeton Cemetery on Tuesday, June 19, 2018.

In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the American Cancer Society.

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Robert Lathrop Bennett

Robert Lathrop Bennett, born April 21, 1945 in Princeton, died April 9, 2018 in Huntsville, Alabama, following a short sudden illness. He is survived by daughter, Jennifer (Edward); son, Joshua (Jerica); sisters Susan (Robert) and Katherine; and five grandchildren. His family was by his side during his illness. A burial and funeral service will be held June 30, 2018 at 11 a.m. at the Rocky Hill Cemetery and Trinity Episcopal Church in Rocky Hill, N.J. 

Robert was the son of Ralph and Jane (Clayton) Bennett. He graduated from Princeton High School in 1963. Upon graduation he attended Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (B.S.) and Tufts University in Boston (Ph.D. in Molecular Biology). He completed his post-doctoral work at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, which led to a faculty appointment and a subsequent faculty appointment at the Albany Medical College in Albany, N.Y. He took a hiatus from academia in the early 1980s to pursue an interest in dairy farming. He returned to the scientific community working for NutraSweet, enjoying many roles in a fermentation plant. After Monsanto purchased NutraSweet, he was transferred to a new plant in Decatur, Alabama. A few years later he made another bold career move, transferring to a Virginia company programming computerized control systems. Following the completion of that job, Bob started contract work on projects all over the country, creating or improving various computer systems which run the process industries (chemical, pharmaceutical, and water purification, among others). He had recently returned to Alabama and continued to consult on projects from home.

An accomplished scientist, mathematician, and computer programmer, Bob’s greatest pride and joy were his children, and even more so, his grandchildren who called him “GrandBob” —  a name coined by the oldest grandchild. He passed his love of trains, tractors, and music down to his three grandchildren from Jennifer and Ed, all of whom he loved to spoil. Josh shared his passion for Michigan football, and they generally went to at least one game every year. He was thrilled to watch his grandsons play sports and to be GrandBob the Builder. He would have been over the moon with Josh and Jerica’s recent pregnancy announcement.

Bob has been a devoted member of the Episcopal Church throughout his lifetime and enjoyed serving as a deacon and lay-reader as well as participating in many of the churches outreach programs.

Bob’s travels around the country allowed him to pursue (and combine) his two favorite hobbies — trains and photography. An accomplished amateur photographer, he loved to hang out at train junctions and watch the trains and photograph them. He loved model railroads and was an avid collector — sadly he never achieved his goal of a whole house model train track! Given his interest in trains and layouts and his computer programming knowledge, it surely would have been amazing!

Bob’s cremated remains are to be interred in the Rocky Hill Cemetery, an area he loved and played in as a child. The service will follow in his childhood church. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that donations be made to the American Heart Association, 7272 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75231 or the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, 521 20th Street North, Birmingham, AL 35203.

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LouEtta Carroll Santucci

LouEtta Carroll Santucci, age 102, of Princeton passed away peacefully on Monday, June 11, 2018. She was born and lived in Hopewell, until her marriage to Royal James Carroll. She and he resided in Princeton for more than 32 years until Royal’s passing in 1973.

Prior to her marriage, LouEtta was a conscientious employee of N.J. Bell Telephone. During her time with the company she performed her operator’s duties during the infamous night of October 30, 1938. Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater production performed a radio adaption of H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. Some listeners mistook the program to be real, (convinced that Martians were invading Grovers Mill, N.J.). They made numerous calls to police, newspaper offices, and radio stations. The show caused nationwide hysteria. During that evening LouEtta worked through the entire night tirelessly reassuring callers that the show was not real.

In 1996, when LouEtta was 80 years old, her son and daughter-in-law arranged for her to appear in the PBS American Experience production, the Battle of Citizen Kane, (a documentary about the battle between Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst over Welles’ Citizen Kane and the Mercury Theater production of the radio show). LouEtta was fascinated by the filming process and enjoyed her role in the production.

Dedication to work and caring for others continued during LouEtta’s lifetime. She worked at the Princeton Medical Group for many years, managing the Records Department. She was a devoted wife, sister, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend sharing her cooking knowledge, gardening, crafting, and sewing talents with all who asked for assistance and she regularly made original creations which she gifted to many friends and relatives.

LouEtta remarried after her husband, Royal passed. She resided in Palm Beach County, Florida for several years with her second husband, John Santucci. She returned to New Jersey after his death to be near her family.

LouEtta is survived by her son, Royal James Carroll II, his wife Bonnie Lee Carroll and a daughter, Hope Sudlow; her husband, Richard B. Sudlow, and grandsons, Royal James Carroll III and his wife, Janice Carroll; Brooke T. Sudlow; granddaughter Jean Simpson and her husband Bob Simpson; sister, Adele Larason; and great-grandchildren, Royal James Carroll IV, Johanna Lee Carroll, Caroline Simpson, Willard Simpson, and Emma Simpson.

At LouEtta’s request there will be a private memorial. Arrangements are under the direction of The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.

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John Stanley Brown Jr.

John Stanley Brown Jr. died in Coral Gables, Fla. on June 6, 2018 at the age of 88. Born in Jersey City, John graduated from Rutgers University in 1953, and subsequently enjoyed a 41-year career at Johnson & Johnson. At the time of his retirement, John was Vice President, Employee Relations Worldwide.

John married Aljean Del Rosso in 1956. Together, they lived a devoted family and community life in North Brunswick and Princeton with their three daughters. John was well-known for his many volunteer efforts; he served on the boards of Stuart Country Day School in Princeton, the Crawford House in Skillman, and the Parker Home in Highland Park. In New Jersey and beyond, John and Aljean were involved in multiple cultural organizations including the Nassau Club, Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Among his many other activities, John was an enthusiastic fisherman, a determined golf and tennis player at the Bedens Brook Country Club, and an avid ham radio hobbyist. John and Aljean were prolific travelers, frequenting both family trips to Puerto Rico and parts unknown. Their latest adventure was a relocation to Coral Gables, Fla.

John is survived by his wife Aljean; daughters, Deborah Murdock of Vero Beach, Fla. and husband Brian, Kathryn Wyrough of Miami, Fla. and husband Penn, and Elizabeth Brown of New York, N.Y.; 11 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren; brother Arthur; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A memorial service and celebration of John’s life will be held in Coral Gables in August. For those who wish to make a donation in honor of John S. Brown Jr., the family requests that you direct your gift to RWJ University Hospital Foundation, 10 Plum Street, Suite 910, New Brunswick, NJ 08901.

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Laura K. Hill

Please join us for a celebration of Laura K. Hill on Sunday, July 1, 2018 at 11 a.m. at the Butterfly House Watershed Center, 31 Titus Mill Road in Pennington, NJ 08534.

Children are very much welcome and encouraged as this would have been my Mom’s wish. Let’s all share a delicious lunch, filled with Mom’s Favorite foods, while enjoying the Butterfly House, flower gardens, and discovery room after the ceremony.

If you would like to share any memories, please let us know prior to the celebration, as it will be included in the ceremony.

Please RSVP by June 24, 2018 to jmhill221@gmail.com or call (609) 613-6224.