Charles Ashford Greathouse III

Charles (Charlie) Greathouse, 78, passed away at his home in Boynton Beach on Sunday, December 16, 2013. Charlie was born and raised in Indianapolis, Ind. and attended the Taft School in Connecticut from 1949-1953. He graduated from Princeton University in 1957 with a Bachelors of Arts and was a member of the Cottage Club. Charlie cherished his days at Taft and Princeton and remained close with many of his friends from that time. After college, Charlie served in the U.S. Navy where he was stationed in Japan. Upon his return, Charlie lived in San Francisco where he worked in banking and married Caramia Musto in 1962. Their daughter Virginia Ribeyre Greathouse was born in 1963. Charlie remarried to Pamela Parsons in 1967 and they relocated to Princeton. Their daughter Landis Stockton Greathouse was born in 1970. Charlie remained in Princeton until 1982 before moving to South Florida where he happily resided for 30 years. He also spent many blissful summers on Northport Point in Northport, Mich., where his family had summered for generations. Charlie was an avid sportsman and spent many of his years devoted to his great love of golf, fly fishing, horse racing, and road biking. Annual summer fly fishing trips to Wise River, Montana became a highlight of his year. Early in his life, Charlie developed a great passion for baseball and fulfilling a dream, became part owner of two minor league teams in N.Y. and Mont. during the early 1980’s. Later, in Fla., he fell in love with the excitement of harness racing and invested in horses and horse training for competitive racing. Charlie was a regular golfer whose endless love for the sport fueled the ever elusive quest for the perfect backswing. Charlie had a wonderful network of friends, from childhood to present, of whom he was extremely passionate about. The family is so grateful for their great friendship and support.

He is survived by his two daughters; Virginia Greathouse Baxter of Hoboken, and Landis S. Greathouse of Pennington; and his two grandchildren, Campbell Shaw Baxter and Diana Bonnell Baxter of Hoboken.

A memorial gathering will be held at a later date to be announced in January.

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Fay Lord Naeole

Fay Lord Naeole, 96, passed away peacefully on December 16, 2013 at the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro.

She was born and raised in Delanco, Burlington County, New Jersey in 1917 to Frank and Rebecca Lord. She graduated from Burlington High School and was admitted to the experimental program at Temple University known as the X-Group, a precursor to the university’s honors program. A pianist and coloratura, she majored in music and education.

While still at Temple, she met her future husband, Alfred Naeole while she was practicing the piano in her family’s summer home at the shore. A singer, he was looking for an accompanist for his radio program on WIP. She said yes, they fell in love, and were married for 60 wonderful, magical, musical years.

She taught elementary school in Delanco and was a substitute teacher after the family moved to West Point Island in Lavallette. For many years she was a member of the Lavallette Yacht Club and an enthusiastic bridge player. She loved knitting, sewing, reading, and travel. They skied all over the world. When her husband retired, they sold their home, put everything else in storage, and traveled for five years, finally settling down by spending six months in Carbondale, Pennsylvania and six months on the in Kailua Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, the ancestral home of her husband’s family.

When Alzheimer’s disease struck her husband, they moved to Princeton Junction to be close to her family. While living at the Gables she organized a choral group that performed at assisted living facilities throughout the area, one of many choral groups she led over the years. Ultimately, she moved to the Pavilions at Forrestal where she made many friends and continued to play and sing, although she was disappointed when her voice turned into an alto.

She is survived by her daughters Lorraine Naeole and Sharon Lord Naeole, both of Princeton; her brother, Thomas Lord of Tampa, Florida and his wife, Cindy: her grandchildren and great-grandchildren; Pamela Hughes, her husband Brian and their son, Sullivan, of Princeton; Michelle Rago of New York City; Heather Chickery, her husband, Anthony, and their daughters Isabella and Alessandra of Belmont, California; and Devin Naeole Van der Wende of Simpsonville, South Carolina. She is also survived by her sister-in-law, Barbara Lord of West Point Island, Lavallette, New Jersey and her children Alex Lord and his wife, Innes; Rebecca Christensen, and Charles Lord and their families.

Granddaughter Michelle Lord Rago held a memorial ceremony with a Hawaiian chanter on the beach at Kailua Kona where the ashes of Fay and her husband were committed to the sea to fulfill their wishes. Their daughters and granddaughter Pamela Hughes attended with FaceTime (an app that enables video phone calls). The extended family and friends will celebrate her life this summer on West Point Island.

Memorial gifts in lieu of flowers may be directed to the Princeton Senior Resource Center or the Alzheimer’s Association.

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Katherine Elizabeth Wolfe

Katherine Elizabeth Wolfe, 45, passed away on December 27, 2013 at the Princeton Plainsboro Medical Center. She was born in Princeton and grew up in Birmingham, Mich. until her family moved back to Princeton in 1980. A 1986 graduate of Princeton High School, Katherine volunteered in the Intergenerational Program and spent a summer with Cross Roads Africa. After social work in London, Katherine entered Oberlin College. She interrupted her studies to work in New York City, first as a community organizer for ACORN and then as a public school teaching aide for special education. Katherine completed her Bachelor’s Degree with honors at the University of Pennsylvania in 1993 and studied at the Harris School of Public Policy at University of Chicago from 1994 to 1996. After moving to Massachusetts in 2001, she worked at the Bay Cove Early Intervention Center in Dorchester before completing certification as a dental assistant. She then worked for Dr. Michael Harrington, DDS, near her home in Lincoln, Mass. Katherine returned to Princeton in 2011.

Multilingual, Katherine made and kept many friends as she traveled in France, Mexico, and Germany. She was a talented artist, animal lover, nature enthusiast, fearless cook, and child caregiver extraordinaire. Throughout her life, Katherine was acutely aware of the needs of others and spent many hours helping friends and family in times of illness or stress.

Katherine is survived by her parents Elizabeth (West) and William Wolfe of Princeton; her brother Andrew Wolfe and his wife Marie Leverrier of Courbevoie, France; her nephew Evan Wolfe and his mother Karen Wolfe of Nashua, N.H. Family members near and dear to Katherine include her aunts and uncles, Robert and Barbara Wolfe of Ringoes, Susan (Wolfe) and Don Lauffer of Bartlesville, Okla., Nancy (West) and Charles Husbands of Lexington, Mass., Carolyn West of Hudson, N.Y., and William and Melissa West of Norfolk, Va. Five cousins survive her as well.

The Wolfes will receive visitors at their home on Sunday, January 12 from 1 to 5 p.m. A family service will be held at a later date this year. Memorial gifts may be made to the Global Fund for Women.

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Tone Thompson

Tone Thompson, age 53, passed away peacefully on December 31, 2013 in her Pennington home with her family by her side after a more than 6 year battle with brain cancer.

Born in Oslo, Norway and educated in the Norwegian public school system, Tone came to the United States at age 19 with five friends looking for adventure in New Jersey. Here she met her future husband, Winn and they married in 1981 in Kolbotn, Norway. In 1983 they moved to Pennington where they have lived ever since.

A born organizer and do-er, Tone quickly became involved in the Pennington area community including St. Mathews Episcopal Church, the Garden Club of Trenton, Pennington Day, Girl Scouts, and Boy Scouts while raising three children. Among her many volunteer positions were co-chair of Pennington Day, co-chair of the St. Mathews Christmas Bazaar, treasurer of the Garden Club of Trenton, treasurer of Boy Scout Troop 44, and leader of Girl Scout Troops 103 and 919 where her quiet intelligence and common sense provided a strong role model for young women.

In her spare time she received an AA degree in Computer Science from Mercer County Community College and worked with her husband in their property management company. In 2011 she received her real estate salesperson license and joined her husband at the Gloria Nilson Hopewell Crossing office until earlier in 2013.

Tone loved gardening, crafts, and books and was a member of the Knitwits of Pennington, two book groups and an active member of the Garden Club of Trenton, where much to her surprise, she received several horticultural awards.

She is survived by her parents, Kjell and Else Dybdahl, and her brother Tor in Norway, her loving husband Winn in Pennington, daughter Elise and her partner Paul Garcia-Torres of Atlanta Ga., son Christian of Lambertville, and daughter Charlotte of Boulder, Colo., and her beloved grandson Emerson Garcia-Torres as well as numerous friends, relatives, and in-laws in Norway, Denmark, Canada and the U.S.A. and her childhood friend Marianne Thorsen Collins.

A celebration of Tone’s life will be held at St. Mathews Episcopal Church in Pennington, at 11 a.m. on Friday January 10, 2014 followed by interment in the Church’s Memorial Garden.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that gifts given in honor of Tone Thompson be sent to St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church-El Hogar, 300 South Main Street, Pennington, N.J. 08534. El Hogar is a home and school for orphans in Honduras, a ministry sponsored by the church and the Thompson family.

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 Dana Powsner

Dana Powsner, age 85, died peacefully in her sleep at home on the morning of December 23, 2013.

Dana was born to Ival Arthur McPeak and Alice Hatcher on June 11, 1928, and grew up in Braintree, Massachusetts. She attended the Girls’ Latin School and Boston University’s College of Liberal Arts and School of Social Work. In 1951, she married Henry Powsner. They moved to Princeton with their three daughters in 1966.

A gifted artist, Dana sculpted in clay, stone, and wood. Her passion for social justice led her to become a social worker and to volunteer in a variety of domains, including the arts, education, voting rights, the prison system, and AIDS and suicide counseling. She loved to travel, and over the 62 years of their marriage, she and Henry visited six of the seven continents, including Antarctica.

She was universally admired and respected for her integrity, generosity, and compassion. Known to friends, family, and even casual acquaintances as the world’s greatest listener, her open face, warm eyes, and distinctive laugh drew people to her. To be in her presence was to be touched by a level of acceptance, empathy, and genuine curiosity that few who knew her will forget.

Her family will be forever grateful that Dana could spend the last six weeks of her life at home being cared for by Henry, her daughters (Kim Corfman, Shelley Powsner, and Laurie Powsner), her sons-in-law (Stanley Corfman, Steve Skrovan, and Jonathan Krejci) and her grandchildren (Abigail and Daniel Corfman, Samuel and Julia Skrovan, and Benjamin and Sarah Krejci).

A memorial service will be held on January 11, 2014 at 1 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton, 50 Cherry Hill Road, Princeton, N.J. 08540. Donations can be made in Dana’s name to: Hyacinth AIDS Foundation (317 George St., Suite 203, New Brunswick, N.J. 08901), Star Island (30 Middle St., Portsmouth, N.H. 03801), Princeton Hospice Memorial Fund (3626 US Route One, Princeton, N.J. 08540).