Stephen N. Bender

Stephen N. Bender died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, August 13th in Chapel Hill, NC. He was born on January 17th, 1934 in New York City, where he was raised. He is a graduate of Alfred University where he majored in chemistry and New York University College of Dentistry. 

He served as a Captain in the United States Army, Dental Corps 82nd Medical Detachment in Giessen, Germany. After being honorably discharged from the Army, he moved to Princeton in 1962.

He practiced dentistry in Princeton from 1962 to 2004, along with his partner, the late Jack Roemer. Their office at 214 N. Harrison Street was local architect Bob Hillier’s first commercial building. 

During his time in Princeton Steve was an active member and leader of the New Jersey and Mercer County Dental Associations, the Princeton Ski Club, and the Princeton Jewish Center, and he helped to establish the Department of Dentistry at Princeton Hospital. 

He was an avid skier – braving the icy and windy conditions of skiing in the Northeast while his children were young, before discovering the pleasures of the Rockies and the Alps.  He was a passionate world traveler – something that he shared with and passed on to his children. He continued to travel and even to ski long past the time that his body deemed those activities prudent.   

While he died peacefully, he lived his life fully and loudly – volunteering as a traveling dentist in Appalachia in the early 70s; hosting Ski Club sheep roasts in his backyard; yelling at his kids to find their way down an icy ski slope; buying a windsurfer before most of us knew what the sport was; asking his wife to endure travels to remote corners of the word, including horseback riding in Mongolia; collecting Asian antiques throughout his travels; driving through Hurricane Gloria to see his youngest daughter at her college parents’ weekend; and always driving a speedy little sports car (including his beloved mustard yellow Volvo p1800 which all of Princeton seems to recall, if only for its missing muffler which allowed all to hear it from blocks away).

He is survived by his wife Phyllis Bender of Chapel Hill, NC; his four children Lauren Bender (Adrian Hyde) of Princeton, David Bender of Richmond, VA, Michael Bender (Carolyn Bender) of Hopewell, and Ruth Bender (Dan Sheline) of San Francisco, CA; his grandchildren Tyler Bender, Katharine Bender, Lola Bender, and Hudson Bender; and his sister Judy Uman. He will also be missed by his stepchildren and stepgrandchildren.  He was preceded in death by his parents Maurice and Edna Bender of New York City. 

A private celebration of Stephen’s life will be held at a later date. Donations in his memory may be made to Dental Lifeline.

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Carroll Keeley King

Carroll Keeley King, age 98, died on August 22, 2020.

She was born in New York City and grew up both there and in Fairfield, CT. She graduated from the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, CT, and attended Finch College in New York City. She was a former member of the New York and Philadelphia Junior Leagues and worked for the Red Cross during World War II.

She lived in Princeton since 1957 and spent winters in Tubac, AZ, for over 30 years. While living in Princeton she dedicated her life to raising her family, travel, and volunteering within the community. She was interested and supported the D&R Greenway Land Trust, Princeton Area Community Foundation (Women and Girls), Meals on Wheels, Princeton Hospital, and the Tubac Art Museum in Arizona. She was an avid reader, enjoyed gardening and needlepoint, and was an expert flower arranger. She and her husband were founding members of the Bedens Brook Club.

Predeceased by her husband Frederick P. King Jr. she is survived by daughter Nancy K. Carleton of Kiawah Island, South Carolina, and son Frederick P. King of Dover, MA, plus six grandchildren Emily Vaughan of Chevy Chase, MD, Elissa Fontenot of Houston, TX, William Carleton of Albuquerque, NM, Fred King of Medfield, MA, Lissy Kasschau of Boston, MA, and Charlie King of Sherborn, MA, and nine great-grandchildren. She was devoted to her entire family including seven nieces and one nephew.

A private burial service will take place at a later date at All Saints’ Church in Princeton. Arrangements were made by the Mather-Hodge Funeral Home. Gifts in her honor may be made to D&R Greenway Land Trust, 1 Preservation Place, Princeton, NJ 08540.

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Naomi Hanft Olin

Naomi Hanft Olin died on Sunday, August 9, 2020 at her home in Surprise, Arizona, just shy of her 98^th birthday.

Born September 3, 1922, in Brooklyn, she spent the majority of her adult life in Trenton, New Jersey, after her marriage in 1947.

Meeting her husband was the stuff of fiction. Harry William
Olin (neé Olinsky) was born and educated in Trenton, attended Lehigh University, and served in World War II. They met on a blind date, arranged by mutual friends, under the large clock at Grand Central Station, New York, and were married at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

Over three decades together in Trenton they raised their children, longtime Princeton resident Dr. Ferris Olin, Distinguished Professor Emerita, Rutgers University, and Arthur Olin, a retired State of Arizona Project Manager who lives in Goodyear, AZ.

Naomi Olin, unlike most mothers in the 1950s, went to work as the office manager for a Trenton-based lace factory while her husband was first employed as a paper salesman and then worked at the NJ Department of Transportation. He was also an entrepreneur, co-owning and co-founding Tele-Rent, a business that provided televisions to patients in all of Trenton’s hospitals from the 1950s-1970s.

Naomi Olin later became an interior decorator helping many householders in the area to place their already existing furnishings in more interesting ways as well as assisting clients to select new furniture, wall hangings, and rugs. She never imposed her own style on her clients, but rather helped her clients to identify their personal styles.

The Olins retired in mid-1970 to Delray Beach, Florida, where Naomi Olin took up tennis and golf — sports she had never played before. They fulfilled their dream of seeing the world. In 1989-1990, they spent a year traveling the world by flying westward across the Southern Hemisphere. They were in Tiananmen Square when the student-led demonstrations took place. She loved to tell the story about needing to replace clothing and suitcases at least three times during their travel, as well as saying that the trip allowed them to fall in love, all over again.

In 2000, when she was 77 years old, Naomi Olin fulfilled another lifelong dream — to get a college degree — something not available to her during the Depression, when she was forced to enroll in a two-year secretarial/business course which she finished in six months. She applied to Lynn University in Boca Raton, which had never had a returning student who was so old. She received credits for her life experiences by writing up her world trip as a modern version of Homer’s Odyssey and was tutored by a high school student who taught her to use computers and also helped her pass her math courses. When she received her BA in Liberal Arts at 80 years old, her proud family attended her graduation. She then worked for a number of years as a museum docent and volunteer. Perhaps following in her feminist art historian daughter’s footsteps, she gave several lectures on women artists, among them women artists in 1920s Paris and the work of Georgia O’Keeffe, as fundraisers for the local museum.

Soon after her graduation, the Olins decided to re-retire and moved to Surprise, Arizona, nearby where her son Arthur and his family lived. Moving to Arizona provided Harry and Naomi with new pleasures as they got to spend many hours with their grandchildren and then their great-grandchildren. Son Arthur and his wife Nancy spent much time with the elder Olins, both socially and then as companions and helpers when they were no longer able to get around. Their sons, Jarrett (wife Ashley and children Harrison and MacArthur) and Justin (wife Megan and sons Tanner and Cameron), were constant visitors. Naomi Olin set up tea dates with Tanner and Cameron and had overnight pajama parties at their home so she could watch them play team sports. She also traveled to Denver to spend time with Jarrett and his family.

Ferris visited often from her home in Princeton. When her daughter, Anya Olin-Leon, moved to Waltham, Massachusetts, she and her mother helped her decorate her new home. Naomi Olin is also survived by Ferris’ son, Noah Leon (wife Nicole and daughters, Nicole, Olivia and Mia) of Miami, Florida. The last major family event that Naomi Olin attended was the first birthday party for her great-granddaughter, Mia, which was held virtually in July due to the pandemic.

After moving to Arizona, Naomi Olin continued to work in local museums and led art history and art appreciation classes for public school students in grades 4-7. She organized an exhibition of the students’ works in one of the local museum. For many of the students and their parents, visiting the exhibition was the first time they had even been to a museum. 

During her years in Surprise and until the Covid pandemic, Naomi Olin played bridge several nights a week. She and her partner were well matched, and she often took home the winnings for the night.

After her husband’s death and well into her 90s, Naomi Olin continued to satisfy her wanderlust by cruising from Los Angeles to Tahiti, from Los Angeles to Seattle, Miami to Montreal, around the United Kingdom following the route of the Titanic back to Brooklyn, and to Spain and Portugal. Her travel companions were her son and daughter-in-law, and her daughter, with whom she roomed. These were her “last hurrah travels” which allowed her and her children to gather up many memories, sight-see, and enjoy lots of adventures together.

Naomi Olin fell on August 2nd, developed embolisms in her lungs, and died less than a week later. During her illness, she was constantly and lovingly attended by Arthur and Nancy Olin.

Due to Covid-19, there will be no funeral or memorial services. The family asks that if anyone wishes to honor the memory of Naomi Olin, to make a donation to the Naomi H. Olin Endowed Scholarship at Douglass College. The scholarship was established in 1992 by Dr. Ferris Olin in honor of her mother’s achievements by providing funds for non-traditionally aged women returning to college. Donations can be made at the Rutgers University Foundation website at support.rutgers.edu. Please specify that it is a memorial gift to the Naomi H Olin Endowed Scholarship.