Eleanor Caithness Kuser

Eleanor Caithness Kuser died on Sunday, June 16, in Santa Barbara, CA, with her son, Emilio Madrid, by her side. She was 66.

The daughter of John Erdmann Kuser and Eleanor Caithness Will Kuser, she was born in Princeton Hospital, living first on Cedar Lane and later in the Columbus Boy Choir neighborhood on Galbreath Drive. Part of a scrum of five friends all through Johnson Park School, she moved on to Community Park and graduated from Princeton Day School in 1976 in a graduation dress she sewed herself. It was at Princeton Day where her natural artistry was discovered in life drawing, architecture, and especially in photography. Taught by Mr. Denby, her darkroom work was diligent; throughout the rest of her life, she continued to have a natural eye for composition.

Fluent in Spanish since attending a summer abroad program while in high school, Eleanor graduated from Occidental College in 1980, majoring in Hispanic Studies. After college she freelanced as a Spanish-English translator for attorneys at the Criminal Court Building in downtown Los Angeles. She continued to work after the birth of her only child, Emilio. They moved to Montecito and later Santa Barbara.

Adventurous, high-spirited and vivacious (nicknamed The Cruise Director by one of her mother’s friends), sometimes a ham in family photographs, and very athletic, she became a competitive figure skater through the Princeton Skating Club at Baker Rink. At age 10, she began training with a pro during summers in Aspen. She and others in the Skating Club continually won competitions in the Eastern Regionals; often the youngest, she frequently held the trophy in newspaper photos. She dropped figure skating in her mid-teens and with her high school best friend, Rhoda Jaffin, began the country’s first high school girls’ ice hockey team.  The two friends and the team were highlighted in a segment on Public Television. Soon other high school girls’ ice hockey teams were formed, including one at nearby Stuart Country Day School, and competitive games between girls’ teams began at the secondary school level.

Her enthusiasm, her inimitable laugh, and her beautiful photographs will be greatly missed.

She is survived by her son, Emilio; two sisters, Olivia Kuser of San Francisco, CA, and Caryl Kuser of Princeton, NJ; and a brother-in-law, Alfred Bay of Palo Alto, CA. Linda Ryan, her first year roommate from Occidental College, took time away from her own family to drive up regularly from Manhattan Beach to help Eleanor.

Emilio is planning a memorial for his mother on the West Coast, possibly on Butterfly Beach in Montecito, her favorite place to watch the ocean and sunsets.

A lifelong moon-watcher, she always found a view of the full moon from a beach taking advantage of the coastal geography of Santa Barbara. She always began watching a few days in advance in case of inclement weather on the day of.

All love to you, sweet sister.

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Kathleen Macdonald Bingeman

Kathleen Macdonald Bingeman, age 100, passed away on June 14, 2024 at her home in Skillman, NJ. Kathleen was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada on October 19, 1923. She was raised in Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia, and Ottawa, Ontario. After graduating from high school, Kathleen earned a BA from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and later earned a Master of Library Science at UCLA.

Kathleen was the older of two children born to John and Katherine Macdonald and was the beloved wife of the late Jonas Byron Bingeman for nearly 70 years. After meeting at Queen’s and marrying in 1948, Jonas and Kathleen enjoyed living in Minnesota, Louisiana, California, Virginia, and New Jersey while Jonas pursued his successful engineering career. During their years in Los Angeles, Kathleen worked for RCA Aerospace as a librarian and thoroughly enjoyed her professional career.

Kathleen was always very sociable and engaged in her communities. She particularly enjoyed volunteer activities that focused on her children, local libraries, and philanthropy. While living in Richmond, VA, she was a member of the Chesterfield County Library Board and a substitute teacher in the county schools. She also managed the Meadowbrook Country Club swim team for two years and traveled throughout the state for meets. While living in Convent Station, NJ, she volunteered at the Morristown Library and the Morris Museum. When the couple retired in Princeton, NJ, Kathleen was an active member and officer in several community organizations, including The Present Day Club, The Women’s College Club of Princeton, Nassau Presbyterian Church, and Springdale Golf Club.

In addition to her community activities, Kathleen enjoyed visiting family and friends, playing bridge and hearts, gardening, reading, and pursuing her passion for golf at 104 courses throughout the world.

Kathleen was a beloved mother and devoted to her children, the late Grant Bingeman (Ruthann), Leslie Sillinger (Glenn, late), John Bingeman, and Claire Hatten (Jimmie). She will forever be remembered by her treasured family, including grandchildren, Jeanette Ellefson (Eddie), Keith Bingeman, Jared Bingeman, Michael Sillinger, Chris Sillinger (Nancy), Angela Taylor, Michael Bingeman (Joyce), Courtney Weld (Thomas), James Hatten, and Ainsley Hatten, along with 25 great-grandchildren and countless other family and friends. Kathleen was predeceased by her husband, Jonas Byron Bingeman, and her brother, Ian Macdonald.

Kathleen donated her body to the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University. A memorial service will be held at a later date.

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Barbara Johnson

Barbara Lamb Johnson, former Princeton resident and Town Topics Associate Editor, died peacefully on June 18, 2024 in Concord, Massachusetts, She was 92.

For Barbara, the features of a good life included a career as a newspaper reporter, a great love for the outdoors, rowing crew, leadership roles in community organizations, and importantly, raising her four boys.

Born March 8, 1932 in New York City to Horace Lamb and Beatrice Pitney Lamb, Barbara grew up in New Canaan, CT. At age 10, with asthma, she was sent to school in the dry climate of Arizona. Later she credited the years in Arizona, and time at Westover School, back East, with building self-reliance and discipline so important to her life.

In 1949 she enrolled in Vassar College. She married her first husband, Franklin Reeve, a year later, and soon they had two sons, Christopher in 1952 and Benjamin in 1953. The marriage ended in divorce. She moved to Princeton, NJ, to begin a new life and married Tristam Johnson in 1959, gaining four beloved stepchildren from Tristam’s first marriage. Two more boys, Jeffrey and Kevin, arrived in the early 1960s.

Barbara soon became actively engaged in the Princeton community. During her six decades there, she played important roles in many organizations, including Carnegie Lake Rowing Association, the Chapin School Parents Association, the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament, Community without Walls, Friends of the Princeton Public Library, the Nassau Street School PTA, the Princeton Hospital Fete, Trinity Church of Princeton, and the Vassar Club of Central New Jersey.

In 1975, Barbara joined the reporting staff of Town Topics, a weekly paper in Princeton. She wrote and edited the music, theater, religion, and obituary sections, while also covering Township Committee, planning and zoning boards, and events at Princeton University. She particularly enjoyed the chance to write longer profiles of notable Princeton residents, including Svetlana Alliluyeva (Joseph Stalin’s daughter) and John McPhee.

She took pride in her accuracy in reporting. When she retired in 1997, the Township Committee and Planning Board both issued proclamations of appreciation for her work, and the Township Mayor held a retirement party in her honor.

At age 57, Barbara took up rowing on Princeton’s Carnegie Lake. She started in eights and progressed to single scull, winning the event for her age group at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge, MA, in 1999, as well as a fine collection of medals from other events. She was selected by Princeton residents to carry the Olympic torch on part of its journey past Princeton to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

In younger years, Barbara yearned “to hike every trail and read every book.” She embraced an active retirement in the same spirit, traveling on Elderhostel trips, sometimes including grandchildren. She visited her children in Vermont, Martha’s Vineyard, and more far-flung locales including West Africa, Jerusalem, and Bali. She also continued to write in retirement, taking on several book-length projects. In 2016, she moved to Newbury Court retirement community, in Concord, MA. She spent her last years there, close by her sons and many of her grandchildren.

Barbara was predeceased by her son Christopher Reeve and by daughter-in-law Dana Reeve. She is survived by three sons and their partners: Benjamin Reeve and Katharine Sterling, Jeffrey and Lynsie Johnson, and Kevin Johnson and Linda Lynch; by four stepchildren: Kate Johnson, Tristam Johnson Jr., Thomas Laabs-Johnson, and Elizabeth Johnson; by 10 grandchildren: Matthew, Alexandra, Will, Sebastian, Julia, Trista, Conner, Theo, Lucy, and Annie; and by six great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister Dorothy Lamb Crawford, niece Susan Crawford, and nephew Peter Crawford.

A celebration of her life will be held in Duvall Chapel at Newbury Court, Concord, Massachusetts, on Saturday, August 17, 2024, with a reception to follow at Newbury Court.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to either of two organizations important to her: Friends of the Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ 08542 or Carnegie Lake Rowing Association, PO Box 330, Princeton, NJ 08542-0330.