Gertrude Rowland Healy

Gertrude Graham Rowland Healy of Blawenburg, New Jersey, died peacefully in her home on February 10, 2022.  Born to Charles Joseph Rittenhouse Rowland and Gertrude du Puy Dougherty Rowland at the Philadelphia Lying-In Hospital on November 11, 1938, Gertrude was named after her maternal grandmother who died only three weeks before she was born and had longed for a granddaughter.  She grew up at the family home, “Greenacre,” in Meadowbrook, PA. In 1940 she spent the month of July with her family at the Jersey shore in Mantoloking and she forever loved the beach. The family spent much time at the Chalfont Hotel in Cape May, NJ.

Gertrude spent many childhood days playing tennis at the Philadelphia Cricket Club with her father and her sister, Ann. They would play tennis “all day long.”  Gertrude’s father, Joe Rowland, was the 1916 University of Pennsylvania Men’s Tennis Letterwinner and Captain of the Bay Head Yacht Club Tennis Team. One of her fondest memories was being a ball girl to Billie Jean King at the Girls 18-and-under National Tournament at the Philadelphia Cricket Club.

Her formal education took place in the Philadelphia area, beginning in 1943 as a kindergartener at the Abington Friends School at Jenkintown. Gertrude then attended the Rydal School Primary Department of the Ogontz School where she learned to read music before learning to read English. Gertrude was very proud of the fact that Amelia Earhart had also attended Ogontz. She graduated from the Springside School and the University of Pennsylvania. At Penn, she played varsity field hockey and lacrosse. 

In 1961 she married John B. Healy, of Bryn Mawr, the brother of Elizabeth Healy, her Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority sister at Penn. The couple lived in New York City before moving to Princeton where they lived for 20 years, raising two children, before moving to nearby Blawenburg. John and Gertrude were happily married for 53 years before John passed away in 2015. One of Gertrude’s fondest memories was rafting with John for two weeks down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. She “slept on the beach with snakes and extreme heat to make sure that John would be okay.”

Mrs. Healy taught elementary school for the East Windsor Board of Education for over 20 years, starting with the Walter C. Black Elementary School and later with the Ethel McKnight Elementary School.  She was awarded the 1994-1995 East Windsor Regional School District Governor’s Teacher Recognition Award while teaching first grade at the McKnight school.  She had a great interest in science and enthusiastically read each monthly issue of Scientific American Magazine.  An avid horticulturalist, she earned a Master Gardener Certificate and volunteered hours for the Rutgers Master Gardeners of Mercer County Horticultural Hotline.  Gertrude was a very active member of the Garden Club of Princeton and the Present Day Club. In her later years, she served as a Eucharistic Minister for the Catholic Community of Saint Charles Borromeo in Skillman. 

Gertrude is survived by her two children, Ann Guarnaccia and John Healy; daughter-in-law, Katherine Healy; five granddaughters, Alissa Guarnaccia, Caitlin Healy, Mariah Guarnaccia, Susanna Healy, and Margaret Healy; her sister, Ann Reath; brother-in-law, George Reath; brother-in-law, Frederick Muller; nephews, Frederick Muller, Edward Healy, Christopher Healy, William Platt, Benjamin Platt; and niece, Elizabeth Healy.

A private burial was held in Philadelphia on February, 15, 2022.

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Luke William Finlay Jr.

Luke William Finlay Jr., loving husband, father, and grandfather, passed away on February 14, 2022, at Stonebridge in Skillman, NJ.

Luke was born in New Haven, CT, on May 2, 1934, to Annie Sue Tucker and Brig. Gen. Luke William Finlay. Luke was a spirited young man, determined to overcome a childhood infection which debilitated his right leg for several years.

He graduated from the Landon School in 1952 with turns in the glee and drama clubs, and as a proud member of the championship tennis team, where he undoubtedly flummoxed opponents with a crafty left-handed serve. Luke graduated from Yale in 1957 as a member of Chi Psi fraternity.

He met and betrothed Susan Wells of Rochester, NY, in 1958 and the pair moved to Long Island where Luke began a short career at Exxon before purchasing a sports car dealership in Syracuse, NY, in 1959. At this time, he embarked on a short-lived career as a professional race car driver, guiding British MGs around famous tracks such as Watkins Glen and Lime Rock.

Family life beckoned however, and in 1964, Luke began a lengthy career with Rochester-based Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Company, first at company headquarters, then leading up their Washington, DC, operations in 1972. The family moved to Annapolis, MD, in 1979, and the Chesapeake Bay area quickly became home for the Finlay family.

Luke’s greatest love was Cherry Point, the family’s waterside retreat on the eastern shore of Maryland, which over the years hosted countless gatherings of friends and family. He played a major role in its conception and design in 1992 and while there, was always at the beck and call of his 11 grandchildren.

Luke is predeceased by his parents and his grandson, Nicholas Frederick Finlay. He is survived by his wife Susan, of Skillman, NJ; son Luke (Lee Ann) of Simpsonville, SC; daughters Lisa, of Durham, NC, and Laura Hanson (Alex), of Pennington, NJ; son Matthew (Teresa) of Mendham, NJ; and grandchildren Will, Hanna, Fritz, Sam, Noelle, Eliza (Taylor), Abby (Nate), Perry, Walker, Oliver, and Christian.

In lieu of flowers, Luke may be remembered with a memorial contribution to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 6 Herndon Avenue, Annapolis, MD 21403, or at cbf.org/memorial.

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

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Richard Warren Davis

“For my sake turn again to life and smile, nerving thy heart and trembling hand to do, something to comfort others’ hearts than thine.”

The selflessness embodied in Mary Lee Hall’s “Turn Again to Life,” one of Richard Warren Davis’ favorite poems, was definitive of his life, which quietly drew to a close on December 27, 2021, in Princeton, NJ. A deeply kind, compassionate, and generous husband, father, grandfather, friend and teacher, Dick’s remarkable ability to connect with others made a lasting impression on everyone he met — from local baristas to lifelong friends

Born in 1921 to Della Mae (Clark) Davis and Edgar L. Davis and delivered at home by midwife in Yonkers, NY, Dick was the younger of two boys. He graduated from the Taft School in 1940, and from Princeton University in 1944. After returning from WW II, he completed his PhD in Education at Yale University.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943 and fought with the 3rd Army, 752nd FA Battalion across France and Germany as a 1st lieutenant forward air observer and was awarded the Air Medal. After the war, he pursued a career in education, teaching history at Syracuse University and serving as headmaster at the Buffalo Seminary, Miss Porter’s School, and the Renbrook School. Under his leadership, he helped Miss Porter’s become a strong academic institution that took women and their education seriously. At each of the schools he ran, he is remembered for his progressive approach to education, one that was focused on students and their individual development.

Dick experienced almost the entire 20th Century through the eye of a historian and educator. He was first and foremost a student, whose curiosity about history and the natural world informed his career and many hobbies. He loved to study American history, Native American and early man culture, and military history. He enjoyed sharing his knowledge not only with his students, but with his friends and family, many of whom shared his passions. Teaching was his lifelong passion.

Above all else, Dick loved his family. He was a devoted and loyal husband to Nancy Mynott Davis, who predeceased him in February 2021, after 72 years of marriage. Together, they raised four children, Deborah P. Davis (Randolph C. Ludacer), Christine D. Rubino (Francis Rubino, dec.), Margaret M. Davis (Andrew C. Gomory), and Richard T. Davis (Robyn LeDrew Davis).

Dick’s children remember him as a kind, compassionate listener with a self-deprecating sense of humor. His strong sense of virtue and morality guided his parenting. He was gentle but strong. His children loved, respected, and admired him, building their lives in accordance with his values.

He was equally adored by his grandchildren Robert Ludacer (Sophia Zell), Ray Ludacer, Matthew Rubino (Alivia Atwood), Ellen Gomory, and Henry Gomory; great-grandchildren, Finnian and Gemma Rubino; and many nieces and nephews. They will always fondly remember cold mornings in the much-loved house in Andover, Vermont, when they would climb under the covers with him and Grammy to read together.

The outsized impact that Dick’s warmth, kindness, and generosity had on those around him cannot be overstated. He will always be missed.

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Ann Dickinson Dale

Ann Dickinson Dale, “Polly,” 92, of Princeton, died on February 15, 2022, after a brief illness.

Born in Princeton, Polly was the daughter of John and Pamela Dickinson, and the widow of G. Ernest Dale Jr. (Princeton University Class of 1939), who died in 2007. She graduated from Miss Fine’s School (now part of Princeton Country Day School). She went on to graduate with a degree in history from Bryn Mawr College, Class of 1952.

Most of her working life was spent with the American Heritage Publishing Company in New York, where she was a publicist for Horizon magazine.

At various times she was active in a number of Princeton organizations: The Historical Society of Princeton, The Garden Club of Princeton, The Friends of the YWCA, and The Reading Group book club. She was a member of the Pretty Brook Tennis Club, The Nassau Club, and The Present Day Club.

Her major interests were horticulture and landscape design. She and her husband worked together to create and maintain an award-winning garden behind their house where they entertained over many years. Polly’s garden, Grey Shutters, is documented in the Smithsonian Archives of American Gardens. The Archives collects and preserves records that help document the history of gardens and garden design in America.

She was an avid bridge player and highly sought-after partner. She is survived by her many friends and admirers who especially want to acknowledge the support, care, and dedication of her caregiving team in her final years.

Burial will be private. Contributions in her memory may be made to the Historical Society of Princeton, 158 Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ 08540.

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Sara Mills Schwiebert

January 29, 1936 — February 19, 2022

Sara Mills Schwiebert was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, to Turner Thomas Mills, Sr. and Kathryn Grove Mills. She grew up in the small town of Cadiz, Ohio, in the eastern Ohio coal mining country. She attended The Ohio State University and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education; there, she met her husband of nearly 50 years, Ernest “Ernie” George Schwiebert, Jr. Sara and Ernie were married in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she was an elementary school teacher and where he worked on the architect and planning team that built the Air Force Academy.

Sara lived in Princeton, New Jersey, for almost all of her adult life. She was an elementary school teacher at Johnson Park School before joining the Lower School faculty at Princeton Day School. She began teaching as a substitute and then as a first-grade teacher. Later, in a complete surprise to her, she became a candidate for Head of the Lower School at Princeton Day School, a leadership position that she held for more than 20 years; during that time, she oversaw the construction and opening of a new school wing dedicated to the Lower School. Her great joy was greeting children at the start of the school day in carpool and saying goodbye to them at carpool in the afternoon. Our family’s favorite memory was when she would dress up for the Halloween festival as a kind witch in a full mask and a faux black velvet and fur costume with a cane and a basket of old bones. She wore the same costume every year and stumped many a student, colleague, or parent about her true identity. Throughout her tenure, she would write plays and songs for the students. Sara had a wonderful network of active and retired teachers at Princeton Day School and visited with them often at school or nearby where the family lived.

She cherished the family home on Stuart Road in Princeton. She loved her many Siamese pet cats that lived with and loved us. Our family designed and built the home as one of the original three houses on this road across from Stuart School more than 50 years ago. It is a well-known house of modern design in the woods near the southernmost advance of the glacial rocks of the last Ice Age. Sara was an avid gourmet cook and loved to treat family and friends to elegant meals in the dining room. Late in life because of difficulties with mobility, she moved to be near immediate family in Birmingham, Alabama, where she made many friends and enjoyed her apartment at Danberry of Inverness. We enjoyed many outings and meals and gatherings as an immediate family.

She is survived by her son, Erik Mills Schwiebert, the daughter that she never had, Lisa Marshall Schwiebert, and wonderful grandchildren Elisabeth Marshall Schwiebert and Turner Marshall Schwiebert. She is survived by two cherished nieces, Julie Mills (Skoulis) and Sarah Mills (Fitz), and her favorite nephew, David Mills. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Ernie, and by her only brother, Turner Thomas Mills, Jr.

She died on February 19, 2022 after a sudden illness.

The Schwiebert family would like to thank Danberry at Inverness for being a lovely home for her late in life. We thank their 24-hour Companion Care team, as well as the therapists and skilled nurses from Amedisys Home Health and the skilled doctors in the Grandview Medical Center ER and UAB Medicine.

A Celebration of Life event is being planned for later in the year at Princeton Day School. In lieu of flowers, please make donations in her name to the Princeton Day School, her work home for countless years and where she was blessed to have countless friends and colleagues.

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Gilbert Harman

Gilbert Helms Harman, age 83, died after a long illness with Alzheimer’s on November 13, 2021.

Gil was the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University when he retired in 2017, having started his academic career at Princeton in 1963. His 54 years on the faculty at Princeton University makes him one of the longest serving professors in Princeton’s history. He is widely regarded as one of the leading American philosophers of the last half-century, having made significant contributions in philosophy of language and linguistics, epistemology, philosophy of mind and cognitive science, and moral philosophy and moral psychology.  He was the author or co-author of eight books, including Thought, Change in View, and The Nature of Morality. 

Gil was born on May 26, 1938, in East Orange, NJ, and grew up in Lower Merion, PA, along with his brothers William and Roger. He loved jazz and played the alto saxophone. He was very involved in both jazz and philosophy during his time in college, graduating from Swarthmore College in 1960. If it had been a bit more practical as a career path, he might have become a professional jazz musician. Instead, he decided to become a philosopher. He attended Harvard University for graduate school, writing a dissertation under the supervision of the eminent philosopher W.V. Quine. He was hired to start teaching at Princeton in 1963, he finished his Ph.D. in 1964, and he became an assistant professor later that year in 1964. Gil was promoted to associate professor in 1969 and full professor just a few years later in 1972. 

Gil’s work reconfigured ideas about morality and moral relativism, reasoning, language and meaning, the mind, and many other topics. He was a miraculously fast reader and drew on a vast range of empirical disciplines — including linguistics, psychology, cognitive science, computer science, and statistical learning — to inform his philosophical ideas and arguments. He is one of the people most centrally responsible for bringing sophisticated understanding of linguistics into debates in contemporary philosophy of language, for bringing psychology into debates in moral philosophy, and for building bridges between philosophy and cognitive science. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2005 and received the prestigious Jean Nicod Prize in Paris in that same year, in addition to receiving numerous other honors throughout his career.

Gil’s influence extended far beyond his own work. He was a remarkably dedicated teacher and advisor. He was so popular, and his philosophical expertise was so wide-ranging, that he advised one in every seven of the graduate students who completed dissertations during his long time at Princeton. These students now teach at colleges and universities all over the English-speaking world. He was a kind, light-hearted mentor in an environment that was often intense and forbidding. In an interview a few years ago, Yale Philosophy Professor Joshua Knobe told this story about being Gil’s student:

“I was trying my best to defend a particular view, and Harman was going after it with objection after objection. At some point, it was becoming clear that my attempts to defend the view against these objections were completely falling apart, and at that point, I said, ‘But Gil, this view I’m trying to defend — it is actually your own view! It is the view that you yourself have defended in a whole series of articles.’ Harman looked at me quizzically and then brushed aside this point, saying ‘That’s just some other guy.’ … Basically, Harman did everything he could to make you feel like you weren’t really the student of that monumental figure, that the monumental figure was just ‘some other guy’ whose papers you could read if you wanted to but who had nothing to do with what you should be doing in your work as his grad student.”

Gil took philosophy seriously, but he wasn’t overly serious or self-important about it. And he was a kind, thoughtful, deeply moral person. He was very conscious of the sexism and ageism in the profession of philosophy. In the 1980s, he argued that Princeton’s recommendation letters for students seeking professorships should use initials only, disguising who was a man and who was a woman. He was appalled that a department chair, decades ago, told a professor she couldn’t bring her baby to department meetings.  So, his advice became:  bring your baby and don’t ask first. And he was very critical of universities encouraging people to retire. He pointed out that the professors being encouraged to retire are often very productive, no less productive than earlier-stage faculty. He loved his job and waited as long as possible to retire, remaining creative and productive throughout his career.

Even more than his work, though, Gil loved his family. He was a loving and beloved husband to his wife, Lucy. And he was an adoring father to his daughters, Elizabeth and Olivia. He would bring the whole family to philosophy conferences and his daughters attended many philosophy lectures when they were very small. He talked to them about whether a car was still red even when it was parked in a dark garage. He loved films and music and poetry and shared those joys with those around him. He was a good listener, loving and generous, and consistently mirthful, a sly smile always ready to appear. 

Gil was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and brother. He is survived by his wife, Lucy; his daughter Elizabeth and her husband Alex Guerrero, his daughter Olivia Carosello and her husband Sean Carosello; his grandchildren Annalucia, Rosalinda, and Finnegan; and his brothers William and Roger.

He was extraordinarily devoted to his family and his work. His sharp intellect, loving, generous nature, and wit will be dearly missed.

A memorial service will take place in spring of 2022.

The University notice of Gil’s death appears at princeton.edu/news/2021/11/17/gilbert-harman-obituary.

Memories of Gil from philosophers have been posted at dailynous.com/2021/11/14/gilbert-harman-1938-2021.

Summaries of Gil’s major contributions to philosophy are at philosophy.princeton.edu/about/great-and-good/gilbert-harman.