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Vol. LXII, No. 32
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Wednesday, August 6, 2008
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Vol. LXII, No. 32
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Wednesday, August 6, 2008
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Ruth Louise Plum (née Snyder), 98, of Princeton, died July 17 peacefully at home. She had been an organist and music teacher in Princeton for more than 50 years. She was organist at the Princeton Methodist Church for four years and organist and choir director at the Princeton Baptist Church for seven years.
A popular piano and voice teacher to many Princeton children, she was an active member of the Princeton Music Club since 1935 and a former president. She also worked for many years as a volunteer for the American Boychoir School and the Princeton Chamber Symphony. A skilled knitter, she trained volunteers to knit scarves for the boys in the Choir, making many of them herself.
Born in Reading, Pa., she was the daughter of the late Rev. and Mrs. Elam Jacob Snyder. She began piano lessons at the age of seven. At 16 she studied pipe organ with the noted blind organist and composer Adam Geibel.
She graduated with honors from the Music Conservatory of Beaver College (now Arcadia University) in 1931. She accepted a position as director of music at the New Jersey State Home for Girls in Trenton and continued studying organ at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. She also sang with the Mendelssohn Choir in Philadelphia and performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski.
In 1935 she married the late Dr. Lester V. Plum, an economics professor at Princeton University who later became a securities analyst on Wall Street. Her older daughter, Deloris Plum, a cellist with the Oregon Symphony, died in 2004. Her younger daughter, Penelope Plum Kumar, an artist, died in 1991.
A memorial service will be held on her 99th birthday, Saturday, August 30, at 2 p.m. at the Princeton Friends Meeting House at Mercer Street and Quaker Lane. A reception will follow.
Memorial donations may be made to the American Boychoir, 19 Lambert Drive, Princeton 08540.
Marie DiBianco (née Conti), 78, died Thursday at University Medical Center at Princeton with her children by her side. She was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., April 14, 1930. Her family later settled in Hollis, Queens. In 1951, she graduated from Fordham University with a B.S. in pharmaceutical science and was employed as a pharmacist at New York Hospital and later at Doctors’ Hospital in Long Island. She married Dr. John DiBianco, a pioneering gastroenterologist, in 1959. They had been married 47 years when he died in 2007. She is survived by her children, Francesca, Gabrielle, John, and Richard; by nine grandchildren; and by many friends and family. She lived a full life of honor, compassion, and most of all, faith. Funeral Mass will be held at St. Paul’s Church on Thursday, August 7,at 11 am. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to SAVE, 900 Herrontown Road, Princeton, N.J. 08540.
Mary Jane Krug, 92, of Princeton, died August 2 in Acorn Glen.
Born in Philadelphia, she was a resident of Lower Gwynedd before moving to Princeton in March 2004.
She retired in 1979 with over 15 years of service as a retail manager with Lord & Taylor, Jenkintown, Pa. She was also proud of the volunteer work she performed at Abington Hospital and Fox Chase Cancer Institute.
Daughter of the late David Joseph and Margaret (Kane) Tait, wife of the late Edwin Krug, and grandmother of the late Jennifer Krug, she is survived by a son, Edwin R. Krug; a daughter, Kristina Donnelly; two brothers, Thomas and Robert Tait; a sister, Eileen Schwartz; and four grandchildren.
Burial will be private and at the convenience of the family.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Mather-Hodge Funeral Home.
Ronald (“Spider”) Martin Yates, 83, of Ewing Township, formerly of Princeton, died July 31 at home.
Born in Trenton, he resided in Princeton for most of his life. He was educated in the Witherspoon Elementary School and graduated from the New York Industrial School in Bronx, N.Y.
He was employed by J.P. Williams for 35 years as a painter and later with Princeton University for 22 years. He was considered a handyman for many area residents.
He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and belonged to the American Legion Post 218.
An avid sports fan, he loved to watch football, basketball, and golf, but baseball was his favorite, as was the New York Mets. He also loved to play pinochle.
He was a faithful member of First Baptist Church in Princeton, where he served in the transportation ministry. He was known for his great sense of humor, meeting with his Dunkin’ Donuts friends every morning, and always lending a helping hand to the elderly.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Ruth Jenkins Craig and Martin Luther Yates; a son, Michael Yates; and a brother, Daniel Yates. He is survived by his wife Marceline; children Ronald Yates Jr. of Trenton, Lisa Johnson of Washington, D.C., Marc Yates of Princeton, Rhonna Freeman of Upper Marlboro, Md., and India Singleton of Trenton; a godchild, Sabrina Williams of Trenton; five grandchildren; and many great-grandchildren.
The funeral service was August 5 at the Hughes Funeral Home, Trenton. Interment was in Princeton Cemetery.
Tom T.P. Yu, 92, of Princeton, died August 1 in the University Medical Center at Princeton.
Born and raised in China, he had been a resident of Princeton for the last eight years. He earned his honorable Ph.D. at New York University in mathematics and economics.
He is survived by his wife, Ruth L. Yu; a daughter, Xiuju Yu; and three grandchildren.
The funeral will be held at 10 a.m. this Saturday, August 9 at The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, 40 Vandeventer Avenue.
Entombment will be in Greenwood Cemetery, Hamilton.