Helene E. Kulsrud
Helene E. (Laney) Kulsrud, 91, passed away on March 10, 2025, following a fall in her home in Princeton, NJ. A pioneering computer scientist, devoted mentor, and passionate advocate for the arts, she leaves behind a remarkable legacy of innovation, leadership, and perseverance.
Born in 1933, Laney earned her B.A. in Mathematics from Smith College in 1953 and later obtained an M.A. in Astrophysics from the University of Chicago in 1955. It was there that she met and married Russell Kulsrud, an esteemed astrophysicist and plasma physicist, now professor emeritus at Princeton University. She was a proud member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Association for Computing Machinery.
Breaking Barriers in Computer Science
At a time when computer science was an emerging field, Laney entered the workforce as a programmer at IBM, where she discovered her passion for computational problem-solving. She quickly made her mark, despite the rigid corporate culture that expected women to wear white gloves, stockings, and hats. “She not only smashed the glass ceiling, she shattered expectations,” said IBM Fellow Mark Wegman, who worked with Laney for decades. “At the time, few believed a woman could achieve what she did — but Laney did it with brilliance and determination — no one even thought someone like her could achieve what she achieved.”
Laney went on to serve as Head Programmer at the Educational Testing Service (ETS) from 1956 to 1957, where she pioneered the use of digital computing in scoring the SAT (Scholastic Achievement Test). At RCA Laboratories (1958-1965), she played a key role in the development of high-speed digital computing techniques, earning awards for her groundbreaking work in mathematical modeling and electron gun design.
Her career culminated in over 50 years at the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), where she became the first female research staff member at the Center for Communications Research in Princeton. She led the development of programming languages and compilers that advanced parallel computing, paving the way for modern data mining and artificial intelligence. Laney also served as President of the Cray User Group, influencing the design of high-performance supercomputers.
Champion for Women in STEM
As a Smith College graduate, Laney was deeply influenced by trailblazers like Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem. She faced gender discrimination in the early years of her career but never let it deter her. Over time, she became a mentor and advocate for women in STEM, helping to open doors for future generations of female scientists. Her advice to young women was simple yet profound: “Keep your standards high.”
Laney was also a valued member of Investment Partners, a women’s investment club that met monthly at the Princeton Public Library. She brought to the group no only her deep understanding of mathematics and the stock market but also a keen curiosity about emerging industries. Her insightful presentations and warm friendship will be deeply missed.
Laney’s legacy as a mentor and role model continues to inspire generations of women pursuing careers in technology and science. In 1986, the YWCA of Princeton recognized Laney as one of its “300 Women” honorees, celebrating her impact as a leader in science and technology.
Dedication to the Arts and Community
Beyond her career in computing, Laney was a driving force behind the Princeton Festival, serving as its Founding Chairperson and later as Treasurer and Chair of Lectures and Special Events. She helped the festival grow from its early productions including Sweeney Todd to grand operatic performances at Princeton University’s Tony Award-winning McCarter Theatre, such as Madama Butterfly, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Porgy & Bess, and Nixon in China. She remained deeply involved until the festival merged with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra in 2021.
She was also an Executive Committee Member of the Friends of the Institute for Advanced Study, supporting scholars and fostering connections between the IAS and the Princeton community.
A Life of Impact and Inspiration
Laney is survived by her husband, Russell Kulsrud, her daughter, Pamela Corey, and her son-in-law, Troy Corey. She was predeceased by her beloved children, Suzanne Allison Gammon (34) in 2001 and Peter Clifford Kulsrud (51) in 2009.
A trailblazer, mentor, and dedicated advocate for women in science and the arts, Laney lived by the Smith College motto: “Smithies Get Things Done.” And get things done, she certainly did.
A celebration of her life and achievements will be announced at a later date.
Extend condolences and share memories at TheKimbleFuneralHome.com.
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Alice Perry Strong
Alice Perry Strong, 79, of Plainsboro, died March 12 at Princeton Medical Center in Plainsboro.
Born in Princeton in 1945 to Paul Keely Perry and Ruth Grandison Perry, Alice graduated from Princeton High School.
Her memories of high school included cramming teenagers into a Volkswagen Bug so everyone could go to White Castle and sneaking into Princeton University eating clubs to dance to songs like the Contours’ “Do You Love Me.”
After high school, she attended Boston University, where she received a degree in early childhood education.
In addition to shorter stints at several other preschools, she taught for decades at University NOW Day Nursery in Princeton, which caters to the families of Princeton University faculty.
Alice delighted in working with two-year-olds, and was adamant about the importance of play and discovery in the development of young minds. Through the decades, she was a warm and supportive presence in hundreds of children’s lives.
Alice married Steven Brian Johnson in 1977. The two lived in Kingston until his death in 1982.
In 1985, she married Edward “Ned” Strong. They moved to Roseto, Pa., where she grew flowers like tiger lilies and geraniums and focused on raising the couple’s young son, Teddy. She loved to pick fruit and make jam, and to sing to her son as she worked.
After she and her husband divorced, Alice returned to Princeton, where she helped care for her father. In her spare time, she loved scouring antique stands, country auctions, flea markets, and yard sales for pieces to resell or to decorate her home.
After her father’s 2005 death, she moved to Plainsboro, where she lived in the Highlands at Cranbury Brook. There she made a number of close friends, grew still more flowers, watched and read many mysteries, and experimented with recipes, especially for soup. She also delighted in the companionship of a succession of pampered cats.
Though it was March, her geraniums were in bloom when she died.
In addition to her first husband, Alice was predeceased by a sister, Ruthmarie Perry Thomas of West Windsor, and a brother, Paul Grandison Perry of New York.
Alice is survived by her son, Theodore Grandison Strong, who lives in Durham, N.C., with his wife, Alexandria; her brother, Mark Williams Perry, who lives in Charlottesville, Va., with his wife, Mary Lou; and her ex-husband, Edward “Ned” Strong, who lives in Mount Airy, N.C.; as well as many beloved nieces and nephews.
Arrangements are being handled by Kimble Funeral Home, 1 Hamilton Avenue, Princeton. Visitation will take place Saturday, March 22 at 1 p.m., with a service to follow at 2 p.m.
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Allen David Porter
Allen David Porter, of Princeton, NJ, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family, on March 16, 2025, three days after his 84th birthday. Quiet by nature with a wry sense of humor, everyone who knew him found him genuine, thoughtful, modest, and unassuming. He was a skilled listener who made time to be there for others.
His most cherished titles were husband of 57.5 years to Rhona, dad to Shara (Stephanie DeMeo) and Julie (Jason Jimenez), and Pop Pop to Charlie. He loved dancing with his wife, spending time with his family, playing tennis, taking photos, traveling, and cheering on his Princeton University basketball teams. Always needing to be active, he’d challenge his family to Ping-Pong games and rounds of HORSE on the backyard hoop. Not a foodie, but he had his favorites: potato chips, sour cream on anything, and coffee ice cream with pretzels.
Allen was born in Rahway, NJ, to Fred and Tillie Porter, and was brother to Gerald Porter. His parents were a hard-working couple with a small business — the family lived upstairs. They didn’t attend college; his father didn’t even graduate from the 8th grade. Their major aspiration was to be able to provide their sons with a good education.
Allen graduated Magna Cum Laude from Princeton University (1963) and earned his law degree from the University of Virginia Law School (1966). After serving for one year as a judicial clerk in the Federal District Court in Trenton, Allen was hired by attorney William Miller. For the next 53 years, he practiced law with Miller, Porter and Muller as Senior Partner before becoming Of Counsel to the Van Dyck Law Group Firm. He represented the Princeton Planning Board for 40 years.
His community involvement included serving on the Boards of Friends of the Princeton Public Library, the Princeton Library Foundation, the Funeral Consumer Alliance of Princeton, and the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Mercer. Allen was Counsel to the Princeton Area Community Foundation, having served as a Board Member and Treasurer for many years. Last fall, he was honored for his 50 years of legal counsel to The Jewish Center.
In Allen’s memory, donations can be made to The Jewish Center: thejewishcenter.org or the Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad: pfars.org.
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Nannette Louise (Binford) Gibson
Nannette Louise (Binford) Gibson, born 10 November, 1930, of Princeton, New Jersey, passed away peacefully in her sleep on 11 March, 2025.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, lived in Petersburg, VA, as a young girl, and later moved to Berea, Ohio, with her parents and brother, Henry. She graduated from Fisk University with a B.A. in English; trained at The Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, Detroit, Michigan; earned a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Michigan; and earned a Master’s degree in Child Psychology from Rutgers University. She chaired The Princeton Committee of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, NY, NY; and served as a Board Member of Crossroads Nursery School in Princeton. She worked for the State of New Jersey as a consultant in early childhood development, the Project Child program, and in the East Windsor school system as a learning consultant for students with special needs. She also served on the board of the Senior Resource Center in Princeton.
While at Fiske she was a member of The Jubilee Singers; she played classical piano, and especially enjoyed playing Chopin; she always made sure to bake the birthday cake of your choice on your birthday, her specialty being vanilla cake with chocolate fudge frosting. She had a fondness for letter writing, and delighted in sharing a joke. She had a lifelong love of music and other performing arts, and for many years she and her husband held season tickets to The Metropolitan Opera and Symphony at Lincoln Center. She enjoyed Broadway shows, as well as performances at McCarter Theatre.
Her husband of 59 years, Edward L. Gibson, Sr., predeceased her on 6 January, 2015. She is survived by her three children: J. Kathleen Gibson, Edward L. Gibson, Jr., Paula N. Lutz (Gibson); her brother, Henry C. Binford; three grandchildren; and one great-grandson.
A funeral is planned for 22 March, 2025 at 2 p.m. at Trinity Church, 33 Mercer Street, Princeton, NJ, 08540. (609) 924.2277.
Burial will take place at Princeton Cemetery following the funeral.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc., 40 Rector Street, 5th floor, New York, New York 10066, (212) 965.2200 or online at naacpldf.org/contact-us; as well as Crossroads Nursery and Infant Center, ECP building, 225 Olden Lane, Princeton, NJ 08540.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.
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Betty Bonham Lies
November 25, 1935–March 10, 2025
Betty Lies, 89, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, friend, poet, and teacher extraordinaire, died on March 10 after a short illness.
She will be remembered for her laughter, warm smile and wry wit, and a love of world travel that included Easter Island, Ireland, Japan, and more. She enjoyed good food, was deadly at Scrabble, had a passion for reading, and possessed an ability to provide an appropriate Shakespearean quotation to fit any daily situation. She once remarked upon a bowl of burnt potatoes: “What are these, so withered and so wild in their attire, that look not like inhabitants o’ th’ earth and yet are on’t?” (Banquo, Hamlet). She had a keen sense of social justice and fairness, working with the League of Women Voters and taking part in several mission trips in Appalachia.
Born and raised in Minnesota, Betty attended Carleton College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning a BA and Master’s in English Literature. She spent one of her undergraduate years at The University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and during vacations, bicycled around Europe. This was fodder for stories like riding down out of the Alps with no brakes, or drinking champagne from the bottle because it was the “cheapest wine available” in the Champagne region. These adventures, the start of a life spent traveling the globe, sparked wanderlust in her children.
On her first day of graduate school, she met the love of her life, Thomas Lies. They married in 1959 and moved to a house they built in Princeton, New Jersey in 1961. Their daughter Elaine was born the day they moved into that home, followed a year and a half later by their son Brian. Betty remained there for 60 years, tending a vegetable and rose garden, and with her husband, a backyard vineyard.
But her great passion was teaching. She taught English at Stuart Country Day School for over two decades, and was Head of the English department for many years. She was known for her love of Shakespeare and the famed “Macbeth Project,” along with guiding student groups to Stratford-Upon-Avon.
After retiring, she became a talented poet, taking part in the Cool Women poetry collective as well as many poetry festivals. Her poems appeared in chapbooks and numerous magazines, with at least one nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She was a Poet in the Schools in New Jersey and taught adults at the Evergreen Forum in Princeton. Many of her students became close friends. In addition, she was named a NJ Distinguished Teaching Artist in 2000 and 2003, received a Governor’s Award in Arts Education, and received several fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
She is survived by her children, Elaine and Keiichi (Ozawa) of Japan; Brian and Laurel (Keith) of Duxbury, MA; her granddaughter Madeline, of Brookline, MA; her sister and brother-in-law Mary Jo and Henry Boots of Redwood Falls, MN; nieces and nephews; and friends. She was predeceased by her husband. A celebration of her life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the charity of your choice in her memory.
Extend condolences and share memories at TheKimbleFuneralHome.com.
A few days ago I listened to Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra’s performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony and have been buoyed by the joyous ambiance of this 13 minutes of music ever since. In the colorful image accompanying the piece on YouTube, Prokofiev is lounging on a cane chair surrounded by greenery, one leg casually balanced on the other, one arm slung over the back of the chair, holding a score he’s been working on, a pencil in his other hand. He’s dressed casually in a dark brown zippered jacket, and he’s looking good, touches of color in his cheeks, no glasses, in his thirties or forties, prime of life, and as in other photos from this period (see his wikipedia page), he looks more like a Russian David Bowie than the generic image of the severe, bespectacled composer.