Thomas F. Sullivan III

Thomas F. Sullivan III, 72, of Claymont, Del. died November 19, 2013. Tom was born and educated in Princeton where he graduated from St. Paul’s School, Princeton High School, and Westminster Choir College of Rider University.

Tom had a long and rich career as an accomplished musician, being described as having “a deft mastery of the organ performing magnificently bold tones and weaving patterns of notes as slender and delicate as silver and golden threads.” He worked part-time at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Claymont until the time of his death. Tom led music programs at churches in Ohio, South Carolina, Delaware, and Pennsylvania; and he was a consultant on many church organ projects, notably that of Mepkin Abbey in South Carolina. Tom also performed organ concerts in the United States; Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France; and Monaco. He was selected to study music at the Vatican in Rome, Italy. Tom was a member of the American Guild of Organists, Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter.

Tom was the grandson of the late Thomas F. Sullivan, Sr. and Hannah Cavanaugh Sullivan and son of the late Thomas F. Sullivan, Jr. — all of Princeton; and brother of the late Dennis R. Sullivan, Sr. of Hamilton Square, N.J. He is survived by two nephews Dennis R. Sullivan, Jr. of Pennington, and B. Patrick Sullivan of Lumberton, N.J., their wives, one grandniece, and one grandnephew; a sister-in-law Mary Ann Sullivan of Hamilton Square; and many cousins in the
Princeton area and Ireland.

A memorial service was held at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Wilmington, Del. on February 25, 2014. The burial service will be held on September 29, 2014 at 1 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church Cemetery in Princeton.

In lieu of flowers, a contribution may be made in the name of Thomas F. Sullivan III, Class of 1962 Endowed Scholarship at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, c/o Ms. Kate Wadley, 101 Walnut Lane, Princeton, N.J. 08540.

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Theodore M. Vial, Sr.

Theodore M. Vial, Sr., founding member and past president of Princeton Community Housing, died at home on Wednesday, September 17, 2014. He was 93.

Ted’s family is celebrating his life of service and conviction, his quiet good humor, and generous spirit. Born in Ware, Iowa, Ted went to the University of Maryland-College Park, received a Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal as part of a glider unit in the Army Air Corps in World War II, and earned his PhD in organic chemistry at the University of Illinois. He spent the bulk of his career in the rubber chemicals division of American Cyanamid in Bound Brook, N.J.

While at Illinois, Ted formed a happy and enduring union with Alice Andrews. Alice and Ted celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in June. Of all his accomplishments, Ted was proudest of their five children, Leslie Owsley, Jane Jaffe, Connie Green, Anne Vial, and Ted Vial, Jr.; their spouses, Tom Owsley, Peter Jaffe, Tom Green, Tom Warner, and Nancy Walsh; and their twelve grandchildren, James Jaffe, Adam Jaffe, Paul Jaffe, Peter Green, Sam Green, Margaret Warner, Katherine Warner, Aubrey Vial, Isha Vial, Vaughn Vial, Jonathan Owsley, and Nicholas Owsley; Jonathan’s and Nicholas’ wives, Katie Owsley and Rebecca Sama; and four great-grandchildren, Macy Owsley, Natalie Owsley, Georgi Owsley, and Tessa Owsley, all of whom, with Alice, survive him.

Ted’s concern for his community was founded in his strong faith and developed through his association with Nassau Presbyterian Church where he served as both treasurer and elder, sang in the choir, and taught Sunday School. An advocate for affordable housing in Princeton since the early 1970s, Ted was co-recipient of the Leslie “Bud” Vivian Memorial Award for community service in 2000 for his work with Princeton Community Housing. He was a long-time volunteer for Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic.

As a Boy Scout, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout and the Quartermaster Award, the highest award in Sea Scouting. Ted’s interest in the world around him was boundless. He was a sailor, a pilot, a woodworker, an amateur photographer and mechanic, a bread baker, a gardener, and a fan of any baby who crossed his path. His children cherish his weekly letters that were filled with both his love of language and his devotion to them.

A memorial service will be held at Nassau Presbyterian Church on Saturday, November 1 at 11 a.m. The family requests that memorial donations be made to Princeton Community Housing or Nassau Presbyterian Church.

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

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Mary Farrar Bonotto

Mary Farrar Bonotto, of Princeton, died while on holiday in Burlington, Vermont on August 28, 2014 of cardiac arrest. She was 85 years old.

Born on August 12, 1929 in Orange, N.J., she had lived in Princeton since 1963, except for four years in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She was the elder daughter of Elizabeth Righter Farrar and William Matthew Farrar, Jr. of Green Village, N.J.

She leaves her husband, Sergio Bonotto of Princeton; and her two sons, Michael Carter Bonotto of Princeton; and Robert Blair Bonotto of Arlington, Mass. She is also survived by her brother, William Ward Farrar, Esq. of North Caldwell, N.J. Her sister, Katherine Farrar Anderson, predeceased her. She also leaves her niece, Gretchen Farrar Sternberg of Burlington, Vt.’ and her nephews John Ward Anderson of Washington, D.C. and Peter Dean Anderson of Annapolis, Md. She was a direct descendent of William Farrar, Esq. of the London Company at Jamestowne, Virginia and
Nicasius de Sille/Robert Treat, two founders of Newark, New Jersey.

She attended Millburn Township schools in Millburn, N.J. and was a graduate of Abbot Academy in Andover, Mass. (now part of Phillips Academy), which four generations of her mother’s family had attended since 1844. She held a BA degree from George Washington University and a MA degree from Montclair State University. She had N.J. teacher certification in history, political science, English, and TOESL. She also did both undergraduate and graduate work at Rutgers University and Columbia University. She taught English composition and English-as-a-Second-Language in Sao Paulo, Brazil at the Escola Anglo-Brasileira while a resident there, and later at the Princeton YWCA. She also wrote freelance articles for the Brazil Herald while in Sao Paulo.

She was an editorial assistant in the book publishing houses of G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Coward McCann, and E.P. Dutton. After college, she worked briefly in the news department of the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal’s Washington bureau. She then wrote for the Morristown Daily Record and the then-weekly Montgomery News in Skillman, N.J. She was also director of Books and Film Promotion, Girl Scouts of USA, the youngest executive in the National Headquarters at that time.

In 1955, she and her editor, Norman B. Tomlinson, Jr. of the Daily Record, were the first to alert U.S. Congressman Peter H. B. Frelinghuysen, Jr. that The Great Swamp area in Morris County might become a large jetport if it were not designated as a National Park and Wetlands Area. Before Federal legislation, her series of news articles on that subject appeared in the Daily Record.

As a member of the Montclair Ski Club, where she met her husband, she was also a member of the National Ski Patrol System. She was a member of the Jamestowne Society in Richmond, Va., and a former member of the New York Chapters of the Green Mountain Club.

She enjoyed skiing in Vermont, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy; she was a good sailor, cruising New England waters. She travelled extensively in Latin America and searched for her genealogical roots in Virginia and Scotland. She was often a guest of her husband’s Italian side of the family in Turin and Milan. She enjoyed writing poetry and some of her work was published.

In Princeton Township, she had served on the Traffic Safety Committee, and was a member of its first Historic Commission. As a former news writer, she voiced her views on a number of topics of local and national interest in area newspapers. She was also a member of the Middle East Society of Princeton.

A memorial service will be held at Trinity Church, 33 Mercer Street in Princeton on Sunday, October 26, 2014 at 3 p.m.

Memorial contributions may be made to the scholarship funds of: Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. 01810-4161; Rectory School, Pomfret, Conn. 06258 or Princeton First Aid Squad, P.O. Box 529, Princeton, N.J. 08542.