Mary Fitz Randolph (Randy) Hobler

Mary Fitz Randolph (Randy) Hobler, a resident of Princeton from 1945 until she moved in 2004 to Stonebridge in Skillman, died May 26, 2017 at the age of 94. She was co-author with Jeanne Silvester of Princeton Trivia, On the Streets Where We Live, and The Present Day Club 100th Anniversary History. She also wrote On the Streets Where We Live Revisited in 2003, a history of the Professional Roster, and many other historical articles.
Mrs. Hobler, born in 1922 and raised in Bronxville, N.Y., was the daughter of Howard and Mollie Fitz Randolph. She also lived in La Jolla, Calif., for 10 years, where her father, a well-known genealogist, researched and wrote a book on early La Jolla history, La Jolla: Year by Year. Graduating from the Bishop’s School in 1940, and Occidental College in 1944, she married Herbert W. Hobler in 1944, (also raised in Bronxville) when he was serving in the Army Air Corps. After the war, they settled in Princeton and raised four children.
While her children were in elementary school, Randy volunteered at the YMCA, and when her husband founded the Princeton radio station, Nassau Broadcasting Company (WHWH), she joined him there for 10 years as assistant treasurer of the board. In the 1970s, she pursued a master’s degree in counseling at Rider University, graduating in 1975.
For 18 years Randy was a career counselor with the Professional Roster and was also one of the founders of Youth Employment Services in Princeton. Over the years, she served on the boards of the Present Day Club, the YMCA of Princeton, Youth Employment Service, the Professional Roster, and was a trustee and secretary of the Board of the Princeton-Blairstown Center. Upon moving to Stonebridge in Skillman in 2004, she created and produced a monthly Stonebridge newsletter called Views from the Bridge. Inspired by her love of history and genealogy, she also wrote histories of her maternal grandmother’s life, and of her youth in Bronxville and La Jolla.
Always interested in the arts, Randy took up painting in mid-life, and was well known for her landscape works and paintings of many Princeton historic homes. Her interest in architecture and art blended when she designed and built beautiful doll houses, building numerous models of famous Princeton homes complete with all the tiny household pieces.
Over the years, Randy and Herb traveled all over the world — 70 countries in all — on planes, barges, buses, boats, ships, railroads, and zodiacs. One of their favorite trips was a month-long, round-the-world trip with 65 others on a private jet.
With her razor-sharp intelligence, Randy was always able to complete the New York Times’ crossword puzzles; she was a lifetime lover of reading and books, chocolate, and all things British. Those who know and love her will remember her for her dry wit, common sense, creativity, interest in others, and for being a loyal and devoted friend.
Married for 73 years, besides her husband, Mrs. Hobler is survived by a son, Randolph of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.; three daughters, Deborah Hobler of Santa Barbara, Calif., Mary Hyson of Cheshire, Conn., and Nancy Hobler of Germantown, Md.; six grandchildren; and ten great-grandsons.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Princeton-Blairstown Center or the Princeton Historical Society. Private burial in the Princeton Cemetery.

Victor Anthony Rizzi, Jr.

Victor Anthony Rizzi, Jr., 88, passed away peacefully at home on May 14. For many years a Spring Lake resident, Mr. Rizzi resided in Spring Lake Heights the last five years. Born and raised in North Tarrytown (now Sleepy Hollow), N.Y., Mr. Rizzi graduated from North Tarrytown High School in 1947. A star athlete, he captained the 1946 “Headless Horseman” football squad and was selected to the All-Westchester County and All-Metropolitan All-Star teams. In 1946, he was the winner of the Jack Small Trophy awarded to the outstanding player in the annual clash between North Tarrytown and arch rival Washington Irving High Schools. In 2012, the North Tarrytown High School Alumni Association honored him with a special trophy in tribute to “His School Spirit and Generous Support.”
When a teenager, Mr. Rizzi worked as a reporter for the Tarrytown Daily News. In recent years he contributed numerous pieces to a series of books edited by Mario Toglia containing stories of immigrants from his family’s ancestral home in Calitri, Italy. Among the titles were: They Came By The Sea, Preserving Our History, and Celebrating the Heritage. He also enjoyed authoring features for the North Tarrytown, Washington Irving, and Sleepy Hollow Alumni Newsletter.
Mr. Rizzi graduated with an AB degree in economics from Princeton University in 1951. A scholar-athlete, he played on Tiger football teams led by the legendary coach Charlie Caldwell. Among his teammates was the 1951 Heisman Trophy winner Dick Kazmaier. Mr. Rizzi was also a member of the Tiger Inn, becoming great friends with fellow housemate John Bogle, who would one day found the Vanguard Group, today the world’s largest mutual fund company. As an alumnus, he would serve as an officer of the Class of 1951.
The year following graduation found Mr. Rizzi teaching and coaching at Governor Dummer Academy in Massachusetts. The subsequent two years he performed similar duties at the Hun School of Princeton where he also served as athletic director. Mr. Rizzi would ultimately change direction, earning an MBA degree from the NYU Graduate School of Business Administration and embarking on a long and successful commercial banking career, beginning at Chemical Bank in New York before retiring as a senior executive vice president of the National State Bank in New Jersey. He even found time to teach financial courses for 15 years in the evening division of Fairleigh Dickinson University (Madison).
Mr. Rizzi was a member of the Nassau Club, the aforementioned Tiger Inn, The Princeton Club, the Senior Corps of Retired Executives, and several historical, environmental, and church groups. He previously lived in Convent Station and Princeton before permanently settling in Spring Lake in 1985, having summered there since 1969.
He was pre-deceased by his beloved wife of 53 years, Rosemary Deasey Rizzi of Morristown, who founded the Garden Club of Spring Lake, presiding as its first president as well as the president of several historical and school organizations in Princeton and Spring Lake. A charitable man, Mr. Rizzi donated to many causes and sponsored two scholarships in his wife’s name. He is survived by a son, Robert, of Spring Lake Heights and a daughter, Laura Rizzi McGahan, of Chapel Hill, N.C. He was also pre-deceased by his parents, Victor and Fanny DeCarlo Rizzi, and his brother, Donald.
Those wishing to do so may make a donation in Mr. Rizzi’s name to the Garden Club of Spring Lake or the Spring Lake Historical Society.
Funeral arrangements were under the direction of O’Brien Funeral Home, Wall. For more info, visit www.OBrienFuneralHome.com.
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Mary C. Osborne
Mary C. Osborne, 92, of Skillman died on Tuesday, May 23, 2017 at the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro surrounded by her loving family. Born in Moultrie, Ga., she resided most of her life in Wayne, then in Bayonet Point, Fla., before moving to Skillman in 2012. She retired in 1984 with over 20 years of service as a school nurse with the Wayne New Jersey Board of Education. Mary was a member of the All Saints Church, Princeton.
Daughter of the late Oscar F. and Elsie (Norman) Creech; wife of the late Peter V. Sirch, Robert L. Osborne, Sr.; sister of the late Norman and Martha Creech; she is survived by three sons and three daughters-in-law, Stephen Sirch and Colleen Wilford, Robert L. and Jeanne Osborne, Jr., James N. and Willow Sirch; two daughters and one daughter-in-law and a son-in-law Barbara A. Sirch and Barbara Pfotzer, Nancy J. and Gerard Unterreiner; 12 grandchildren, Jessica, Joshua, Austin, Alia, Matthias, Abigail, Katelyn, Erin, Robert III, Linnea, Jennifer, and Kelly; and six great-grandchildren Jenna, Lea, Rowan, Mickey, Cecelia, and Landon.
A Funeral Service was held on Sunday, May 28, 2017 at All Saints Church, 16 All Saints Road, Princeton. Burial in the Brig. General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery will be held on Thursday, June 1, 2017 at 11:30 a.m.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Mather-Hodge funeral home, Princeton.

Mathilde Stettler

Mathilde “Tildy” Stettler, 92, formerly of Princeton Junction, died peacefully at the home of her daughter Myriam Stettler, in Hope, R.I., on April 10.
She was the daughter of the late Otto and Mathilde (Hugentobler) Stettler, and sister of the late Otto and Josef Stettler. She is survived by her brother Leo, along with many nieces and nephews living in Switzerland.
Born and raised in Switzerland, as a child she actually did walk to school (in the next town), 45 minutes each way, twice a day, up (and down) several hills. From November to March, she skied to school through the snow. She became a nurse, working in labor and delivery, neonatal, and pediatrics.
She came to the United States by way of Ellis Island in January 1953, initially working as a baby nurse and nanny, then as a live-in caregiver.
She learned English at the YMCA in an ESL class. She became a naturalized citizen in 1963, and received her GED in 1974. At that time she began working at Princeton Hospital, first in the coffee shop, then in the anesthesia department until her retirement, all the while working with the elderly on weekends.
She was a parishioner of St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Princeton for 58 years. She volunteered as a Eucharistic minister, delivering communion every Sunday to persons unable to attend mass. She also volunteered with the St. Paul’s Healthcare Ministry.
After retiring from Princeton Hospital, she attended mass every day, weather permitting. She was committed to her religion, always helping and caring for others. She was selfless, always putting others first, often making personal sacrifices for the benefit of others and never expecting anything in return. She made the world a better place for those she met throughout her life.
She was a wonderful role model for her daughter, baking for school events, chaperoning school field trips, and volunteering as a Girl Scout leader. She taught her daughter about community service by taking her along to help out at the annual Princeton Hospital rummage sale, and delivering meals to an elderly woman who lived close by. She sponsored both a child and an elderly woman in Latin America for many years. She worked tirelessly gathering donated clothing, personal hygiene items, and medical equipment for Croatian Relief Services, her favorite charity, is in Fairview, N.J., that helps “the poorest of the poor” all over the world. She enlisted her daughter to drive her there to deliver the many carloads she collected.
She loved attending the weekly Spanish class at the West Windsor Senior Center, going to the West Windsor Library to find new books each week, eating Swiss chocolate and cherries, and talking with relatives via FaceTime.
She will be remembered fondly by many and missed by all who knew her.
A Memorial Mass will be held on June 10, 2017, 10 a.m., at St. Paul’s Catholic Church, 214 Nassau Street in Princeton.
In lieu of flowers, donations to Croatian Relief Services, 225 Anderson Avenue, Fairview, NJ 07022, in her name would be appreciated.