Claire Matz Anderson
June 3, 1924 – July 10, 2023

Claire Matz (“Patty”) Anderson died peacefully at home in Princeton, New Jersey, on July 10, aged 99 years and 1 month. She was born in Evanston, Illinois, on June 3, 1924, daughter of Charles Henderson and Claire Dutton (McGregor) Matz. She grew up in Brookline and Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, and attended the Beaver Country Day school. She was 17 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and she soon joined the war effort, working as a photographer’s assistant at the Harvard Underwater Sound Laboratory. Her father worked on a machine gun trainer at Polaroid Corporation, a top-secret project, and her mother drove a Red Cross ambulance and saw off troops leaving Boston for overseas assignments. Patty recalled unusually silent family dinners in those days in which no one was allowed to discuss their secret activities in support of the war effort.

In 1944 she met Major Harry Bennett Anderson of Memphis, Tennessee, who at the time was on leave from the Marines visiting his sister in Boston. Harry and Patty met at the U.S. National Doubles Tennis Championships at the Longwood Cricket Club in Boston, which perhaps accounts for their lifelong interest in following tennis championships. On February 10 of the following year, they were married during a heavy snowstorm in Boston and then had a brief honeymoon in Poland Springs, Maine. Within 10 years, they were the parents of four sons and had moved to the north shore of Long Island, Harry by then securing an executive position at Merrill Lynch in New York. In 1958 they settled in the village of Sands Point, where they built and later expanded their house overlooking Manhasset Bay.

Harry became Chairman of Merrill Lynch International, a position that put him in charge of all of Merrill Lynch’s international offices. In that capacity, both Harry and Patty were expected to visit all of the international offices on a regular basis and entertain the office managers and their spouses. It was a job perfectly suited for Patty, who loved traveling and meeting interesting people, and each visit would usually result in some funny incident that she would love to retell. They visited exotic places such as Beirut, Tehran, Johannesburg, Brasília, Buenos Aires, Beijing, and Moscow, as well as all the large financial centers of Europe and Asia. Patty made lifelong bonds with many of the managers and their families, and summers in Sands Point frequently included visits from their international friends passing through New York. A visit to Sands Point always included a relaxing environment, lots of good food cooked by Patty, and entertaining conversation.

Harry and Patty were very involved with the Family Service Association of Nassau County, an organization that helped families in need all over the county. They eventually became board members, retiring from the board only when they moved to Princeton in 1999, at which time FSA honored them at a black-tie banquet and presented them with an ornate plaque commemorating their years of service. In 1967 Patty came up with the idea of hosting a round-robin professional tennis tournament to raise money for FSA. The idea took off quickly and Patty was able to secure the Conolly Gynasium of C. W. Post College on Long Island (converted to an indoor tennis court) and she put together, according to The New York Times, “the biggest amateur indoor tennis event to be held on the island.” Patty was the Tournament Chair and headliners at the event included Billie Jean King, the then-current Wimbledon champion; Chuck McKinley, former Wimbledon title holder and Davis Cup player; Arthur Ashe, who at the time was the ranking amateur player in the country; and other top players. The event was played over two nights to a standing-room only crowd and was covered by the famous tennis journalist Allison Danzig in The New York Times. It was a big success for FSA, and the tournament was held again several times in subsequent years.

Patty and Harry were exceedingly devoted to their family, and they regularly organized extravagant family vacations to exciting places around the country, the Caribbean, and Mexico. They also often invited family on trips to Europe — France being their favorite country — and for more than 20 years they spent part of the summer in Basin Harbor, Vermont, where any family member could join them for a week relaxing on the lake or playing golf.

Patty was probably born 50 years too soon, as she had the executive qualities of organization, planning, and imagination. Given the opportunity, she would have been very successful in any business endeavor she set her mind to. Whenever she undertook a project, she did it with enthusiasm and energy, whether that be organizing a tennis tournament or putting on a sumptuous banquet for guests and family. She was the self-appointed family photographer, a task no one else wanted, but one for which we are eternally grateful when we look back through her beautiful photograph albums commemorating so many happy times. And her signature raspberry pie was so good that it has been adopted by the next generations and will adorn Thanksgiving tables for years to come. She was the glue that held the family together and she was the last surviving member of her generation. Her memory will be forever cherished.

Harry died in 2006 and Patty lived her remaining years at the Windrows retirement community in Princeton. She is survived by sons Alexander M. Anderson (Rebecca), Joseph C. Anderson (Philippa), Jeffrey M. Anderson; daughter-in-law Joie A. Anderson (widow of son Harry, who died prematurely in 1990); grandchildren Claire M. M. Anderson, Elizabeth A. Ray (Neel), Alexander M. Anderson Jr. (Carmen), Christopher A. Anderson, Sara B. Anderson, Louise E. Anderson, and Stephanie M. Anderson; and great-grandchildren Harry Ray and Ella Anderson.

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Filomena Procaccini

Filomena (Carnevale) Procaccini, 91, of Princeton passed away on July 10, 2023, at Penn Medicine in Plainsboro surrounded by her loving family.

She was born in Pettoranello del Molise, Italy. Filomena immigrated to the United States in the 1960s. She started a cleaning service business in the Princeton area. Her customers became like family to her. Filomena had a passion for cooking and baking. She loved to spend time with her family sharing her homemade recipes. She was a member of St. Paul’s Catholic Church. Filomena was a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother. Her two grandchildren were her world.

Wife of the late Antonino M. Procaccini, daughter of the late Sebastiano and Ermelinda (Paolino) Carnevale, sister-in-law of the late Filomena Carnevale, Luigi Antenucci, Almerindo Sferra, and Gennaro Buono.

Filomena is survived by a daughter Maria A. Procaccini; two grandsons Francesco Montano and fiancée Erin Lortz, Anthony Montano and wife Candice; two brothers and a sister-in-law Raffaele Carnevale, Nicola and Bambina Carnevale; three sisters Annunziata Antenucci, Antonietta Sferra, Vincenza Buono; and many nieces, nephews, and extended family members in Italy. 

A mass of Christian burial was celebrated on Monday, July 17, 2023 at St. Paul’s Catholic Church, 216 Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ. Burial followed in Princeton Cemetery, 29 Greenview Avenue, Princeton, NJ.

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