Angelina Cilenti

Angelina Cilenti, 96, of Princeton died on December 20, 2023 at home surrounded by her loving family.

Born and raised in Rionero in Vulture, Italy, she immigrated to the United States in 1949. She met and married her husband while on vacation in Italy in 1952. The couple settled in Plainfield, New Jersey, moving to Warren, NJ, in 1972. She worked for Aramark, at the former Bell Laboratories, for over 20 years. She enjoyed entertaining, gardening and most of all cooking. Following the death of her husband in 2010, she moved to
Princeton. She was a member of the St Paul’s Rosary Society where she developed many treasured friendships.

Daughter of the late Antonio and Rosa (Cardillo-Catena) Iannetta, wife of the late Armando Cilenti, she is survived by four daughters and three sons-in-law: Rosemary and Herman Parish, Gilda and Stan Piltin, Diana Cilenti, Lisa Cilenti and Allan Quinn; seven adoring grandchildren: Stan, Philip and Margaret Parish, Chris and Mara Piltin, Sumaya Cilenti, and Roger Quinn, and four great-grandchildren.

A Funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 6, 2024, at Trinity Church, 33 Mercer Street, Princeton. The Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. on Saturday until the time of the service at the Trinity Church. Entombment in Somerset Hills Cemetery will be private.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton. Memorial Contributions can be made to The Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (trentonsoupkitchen.org) or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (stjude.org).

———

Donald Bernard Gibson

Donald Bernard Gibson, 90, of Princeton, New Jersey, died peacefully at his home in Princeton on November 18, 2023. He is survived by his partner Linda Fitch, his former wife JoAnne Gibson, his sons David and Douglas, and grandchildren Olivia, Harrison, and Mia. A service of remembrance and a reception will take place at the Unitarian Church of Princeton on Saturday, January 6, 2024 at 2 p.m.

Donald Gibson was born in Kansas City, Mo, on July 2, 1933 of Oscar J. and Florine C. Myers Gibson. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Missouri in Kansas, and his Ph.D. from Brown University. He taught at Wayne State, the University of Connecticut, Brown University, Harvard, and Rutgers. In 1972 his Twentieth-Century Interpretations of Modern Black Poets was published. In 1974, he was on the editorial board of the Black American Literature Forum. He retired from Rutgers in 2001.

Professor, author, and critic, during his lifetime a particularly notable achievement was his creation of a university course previously unknown in most colleges, that of African American literature. During 40 years of teaching and scholarship, and through his books, essays, articles, and public lectures, Gibson helped to establish the study of literature created by black writers as a legitimate university course.

As he has written, “When I was a student, during the 1940s and 1950s, Kansas City was entirely segregated, and so all of my teachers, the school staff, and even the janitors that I knew, were black. My teachers took the time to teach us about black history, black literature, and black culture. The whole effort of the system and of our teachers was to prepare us to attend college and to be successful there.”

By the time he completed high school in 1951 the University of Kansas City was becoming integrated and Gibson was invited to apply. As an undergraduate Gibson found that for the first time he was a member of a minority group in school. His teachers, along with most of his classmates, were white.

Though an exemplary graduate student at Brown (as he had been in schools throughout his education), superior grades and strong recommendations did not lead to many job offers for black scholars. He once wrote, “It was 1962. Segregation and some of the first rumblings of racial unrest resulted in limited job opportunities for black men, even well-educated black men. I was finally hired as an assistant professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.”

Shortly after his arrival in Detroit, he met JoAnn Ivory, whom he married in 1963. In December of 1963, he received a Fulbright Fellowship to teach in Cracow, Poland, where the couple lived from 1964 to 1966.

Subsequently he returned to Wayne State where he proposed to teach African American literature. Through the years he had been steadily building an extensive collection of books by African American authors, but his proposal met with resistance as it was a subject that most white academics knew nothing about. After some effort he was permitted to teach one course on African American literature on the graduate level.

In 1967 Gibson took a position as an associate professor at the University of Connecticut where he was actually encouraged to teach classes in African American literature. During the late 1960s and early 1970s he published several articles including “Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, Native Son and the Tyranny of Social Convention by Richard Wright” and “The Politics of Literary Expression: A Study of Major Black Writers” (Contributions in Political Science). In 1970, Gibson was awarded a study grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a research grant by the American Council of Learned Services. He also accepted an appointment to the editorial board of the Langston Hughes Society Journal. 

At the same time, Gibson edited two books. The first was a collection of essays, Five Black Writers: Essays on Wright, Ellison, Baldwin, Hughes and LeRoi Jones published in 1970 by New York University Press. The second, Black and White: Stories of American Life, was a collection of short stories by W.E.B. Du Bois for which he wrote the introduction, edited with Carol Anselment, and published in 1971. Other essays included “Is there a Black Literary Tradition? (1971), Ralph Ellison and James Baldwin (1971), and The Good Black Poet and the Good Gray Poet (1971).

In retirement his travels took him to Senegal and South Africa where he lectured at local universities. His final years were spent in both Princeton, New Jersey, and Isle La Motte, Vermont, with his partner, Linda Fitch.

Not only was Donald a distinguished academic — he was a man of many interests and talents. Most people would remember his humility (he would never have written a long list of his achievements!) and his unending kindness. His sly humor and shoulder shaking laughter was well known to all who knew him. He loved folk singing and was an excellent tennis player well into his 80s. He was a carver of wood as well as his famous smoked turkeys.

Gibson’s legacy will live on as a notable scholar of African American literature, distinguished, by his introduction to the world, of some of the great writers of our time. He will be deeply missed by family and a host of friends and colleagues.

———

Peter E.B. Erdman

Peter Edwin Bulkley Erdman of Princeton, NJ, and Edgartown, MA, passed away peacefully on December 20, 2023. He was 95 years old. Peter was the third of five sons born to Lucy Kidder Bulkley and Dr. Charles R. Erdman, Jr.  His father was a professor of political science at Princeton University, a two-term mayor of Princeton Borough, and the Commissioner of Economic Development for the State of New Jersey.

Peter was educated at Miss Fines and Princeton Country Day schools (graduating in 1943), Phillips Exeter Academy (Class of 1946), and Princeton University (Class of 1950), where he majored in the basic engineering program. While at Princeton he also pursued his love for ice hockey and lacrosse, and served as an officer of Dial Lodge. 

Upon graduation Peter immediately went to work for Bethlehem Steel Company in Bethlehem, PA. When the Korean War started, he applied and was accepted for service as a naval aviator.  But he ultimately served as an officer on the U.S. Navy Destroyer, USS Conway, participating in operations in Korean waters and around the world from 1951-53.

Peter married Hope Hamilton English (“Patsy”), daughter of William H. and Margaret English of New York City and Edgartown, MA, on October 16, 1954, Reverend Charles R. Erdman, Sr. presiding. In 1955, he went to work for NJ Aluminum Extrusion Company, which had been co-founded by his brother Harold.  As VP of the company, he oversaw all technical operations of their extrusion business which grew to have operations in many parts of the country under various names. He and Patsy moved to Princeton in 1955, four children began to arrive, and they built their home on Russell Road where they lived for 48 years prior to moving to Stonebridge at Montgomery in 2004.

Peter presided over life on Russell Road with reason and understanding. He ensured the family always ate and played together. The house and yard were always full of neighbors’ children, dogs, and other pets. Peter relaxed through yard work, growing huge tomatoes, building playhouses, and co-hosting backyard touch football and July 4 celebrations. 

Peter supported the community and alma maters throughout his life. He was a devoted alumnus of Princeton University. He chaired many class reunions, served as a Dial Lodge Trustee, and became (like his father) a regular fan at home varsity ice hockey and lacrosse games. Saturday nights at Baker Rink were often a family affair, and his children remember many raucous evenings spent there. 

Retirement enabled Peter to put his self-taught carpentry skills to use. He volunteered weekly for Habitat for Humanity from 1988 through 2003 putting plastic siding on houses under construction in Trenton. After a knee injury put an end to his adult recreational hockey career, Peter discovered a passion for ice dancing. For many years, he skated with the Princeton Skating Club, passing his first ice dance test in 1970 and his final one in 1996, at the masters gold level.  Peter continued to visit his beloved Edgartown home, named “Chapeda,” until the house was sold in 2015. Memories of summer visits to Martha’s Vineyard with “Grandpa” are forever etched in the minds and hearts of his children and grandchildren as a great and precious gift.

Peter found comfort and inspiration from the Presbyterian faith, in which his family was deeply rooted. He was active as a Deacon in Nassau Presbyterian Church and served as a Trustee for Princeton Theological Seminary, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of his brother Harold.

Peter’s final years were physically challenging, but he remained forever an optimist. Prior to passing, he was able to express to family (in his customarily reflective fashion) that he was so privileged to have had a long and happy life surrounded by friends and loved ones. His children and grandchildren are sad, and we will miss our devoted father, friend, and advisor. 

Peter is predeceased by his wife of 53 years, Hope English Erdman, and his brothers Charles R. Erdman, III and Harold Bulkley Erdman.  He is survived by his four children, Margy (and Jim) Becker, Caroline E. Hare, William P. Erdman, Andrew E. Erdman, seven grandchildren, and his brothers David and Michael Erdman and their families. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Habitat for Humanity of South Central New Jersey, 530 Route 38 East, Maple Shade, NJ  08052 (habitatscnj.org) or Arm In Arm, 1 N. Johnston Avenue, Suite A230, Hamilton, NJ  08609 (arminarm.org).

Graveside and memorial services are planned for spring 2024. Arrangements are under the direction of The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton, NJ.

———

Helen Frances Hillman

Helen Frances Hillman died on December 28, 2023 in Princeton, NJ, at age 99 after a short illness. She is survived by three children, Brent Hillman, Brenda Hillman, and Bradley Hillman, and their spouses Susan McNabb, Robert Hass, and Valerie Werstler. She is also survived by three grandchildren, Louisa Michaels, Elizabeth Camber (née Hillman), and Thomas Hillman, and by six great-grandchildren.

Helen was born in São Paulo into a large Baptist missionary family, some of whom had founded secondary schools in Brazil. Helen, her two siblings Thelma and Paul, and the multiple young women adopted into their busy household were educated in multiple languages. During WWII, Helen traveled to Texas where she graduated from Mary Hardin Baylor College, majoring in botany. In 1947 she married Jimmye Hillman who hailed from Mississippi. The young couple moved to Berkeley where their first son Brent was born, and where Jimmye finished his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics. In 1950, they moved to Tucson where Brenda and Brad were born, and where Jimmye served on the faculty for nearly five decades at the University of Arizona.

Helen was a gifted, brilliant, and complex person, a fiercely loving mother and wife, a devoted family member, and a kind friend to many; she integrated her deeply private spiritual life into her many active and demanding social commitments. Though primarily the manager of a busy household on the east side of Tucson, at times she also taught Portuguese for the Peace Corps, was active in the neighborhood associations, and traveled extensively internationally with Jimmye for his professional meetings. They were active in University arts programs, offering special support for the U of A Poetry Center. Helen was a gracious and lovely host to countless international students and visitors in their bright home. Late in life, she co-translated a poetry book by Ana Cristina Cesar, At Your Feet, with her daughter Brenda that was published when Helen was 94.

Like many women of her generation, Helen led an admirably organized life of extraordinary service that included using a variety of impressive skills in textile arts — sewing, knitting, crocheting, and embroidery. She could play many songs on the piano by ear, a skill maintained from her childhood of playing hymns in church. She loved and studied the beauty of the natural world every day, dedicating herself to non-human and human creatures in the environment of her beloved Sonoran Desert for over 60 years. She was friends with every bird in Arizona.

After her husband’s death in 2015, Helen moved to Princeton to live with Brad and Valerie. She maintained her language from childhood with her Brazilian friend Eliã Barreto. Family was always Helen’s main joy. Though in her last years she had some dementia, she knew and interacted with her children until the end.

A memorial will be held in Tucson in the spring, where she will be laid to rest beside her beloved husband in the desert ground.

———

Shushma Kallan Frazier

Shushma Kallan Frazier, 67, of Princeton, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, December 26, 2023 surrounded by family and loved ones.

Born in New Delhi, India, she was a resident of Princeton for 50 years. Shushma was a Quality Control Coordinator with Cenlar in Ewing for 10 plus years. She was a member of Trinity Church in Princeton. Some of her hobbies and passions included being an Assistant Troop Leader for Girl Scouts Troop 1817. She loved animals, especially her cats, and was known to feed the local wildlife along with maintaining a koi pond. She once saved a 2-week-old kitten from the bio lab at Mercer County College. She carried her home in her knit hat, fed her baby formula and cereal from a honey bear bottle, and brought her to school in her pocket until she was big enough to stay home alone. Tashika lived over 20 years. If there was an animal she could save, she would.

This did not end with animals. You could say she was a collector of “strays,” if you will. When a child felt as if their life was beyond repair and that all they did was disappoint their family, she welcomed them into her home. She housed, fed, and clothed them with no questions asked, all along treating them like a member of the family. When asked how they could thank her, she simply told them to “pay it forward someday to someone who needs the same.” She made an everlasting impact on those who felt marginalized by society in a truly loving and unique way. When the house was quiet or she needed “me” time, she explored the historical background of the various places she visited, reading the latest historical romance or learning a new language; her latest venture being Korean.

Daughter of the late Samson and Mariam Kallan and preceded in death by brother Paul Kallan and grandfather James B. Orrick, she is survived by her husband Brian C. Frazier; her daughters Radhika Frazier, Annie Ferry (spouse James M. Ferry), and son Juvenal Ortiz; siblings Shusila K. Singh (spouse Sean Singh), Sabrina K. Crooks (late spouse Geoffrey Crooks), Peter Kallan (spouse Michelle Overcast-Kallan); and nephews Kiran Crooks and Joshua P. Kallan. Also her dear friends Terry Barry, Angela McMillon, Andrea Billups, and Patrice Turner.

She was the best friend: genteel, loyal, funny, and always an available shoulder when needed. Her soft counsel was always welcome along with her ability to listen. Shushma touched so many lives for the better. She was one of a kind.

Visitation will take place on Sunday, January 7, 2024 from 1-4  p.m. at Poulson & Van Hise Funeral Directors, 650 Lawrence Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, January 8, 2024 at 11 a.m. at the funeral home.

A Celebration of Life will be announced at the visitation and funeral service.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Girl Scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey at https://gscsnj.wufoo.com/forms/zrl7ifj1cw63w7/ —  choose Option 3 “This gift is in tribute/memory/honor of” and indicate in memory/tribute of Shushma Frazier (Assistant Leader and Cookie Manager).

To leave a condolence or for directions, please visit www.poulsonvanhise.com.

Arrangements are under the direction of Poulson & Van Hise Funeral Directors, Lawrenceville.