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Oreste Boccitto

James R. Brooks Jr.

Mary Capalbo

Joan B. Conrad

Eloise K. Goreau

Laura S. Watson

Benjamin E. Willis

Oreste Boccitto

Oreste Boccitto, 90, of Princeton, died January 30 at Buckingham Place in South Brunswick.

Born in Anagni, Italy, he moved to Princeton two years ago from Mount Vernon, N.Y., where he lived for many years.

He served in the Italian Army during World War II, stationed near Rome, and spent much of his service in Corsica.

Predeceased by his wife, Claudia (Petitti) Boccitto, and a son, Antonio, he is survived by a son, Elio of Princeton, and a grandson.

Friends may call on Wednesday, February 2 from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Kimble Funeral Home, 1 Hamilton Avenue. Entombment at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, N.Y., will be private.

Memorial contributions may be made to Princeton Hospice, 208 Bunn Drive, Princeton 08540.

James R. Brooks Jr.

James R. Brooks Jr., 48, of Princeton, died January 24 at the University Medical Center at Princeton.

A lifelong resident of Princeton, he was a 1974 graduate of Princeton High School. He received a degree in electronics from Trenton Technical School and a real estate license from Mercer County Community College. He was employed for more than 20 years as an installation manager for Wells Fargo Alarm Services. More recently, he had been employed by Toll Brothers, and he owned and operated the Brooks Home Improvements business.

An active community volunteer, he had been a coach and director for Princeton Girls Softball Association for ten years. He was also a youth baseball coach for eight years and a youth travel basketball coach for five years.

An avid outdoorsman, he also enjoyed fishing and hunting.

Son of the late James R. Brooks Sr., he is survived by his wife of 27 years, Barbara Embley Brooks; his mother, Delores Brooks of Princeton; two daughters and a son, Jennifer, Jacquelyn, and Christopher, all of Princeton; and two sisters, Deborah Brooks and Cynthia Gabauer, both of Princeton.

The funeral was January 28 at The Kimble Funeral Home. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at St. Paul's Church.

Interment was in Princeton Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the James Brooks Family Trust, c/o Fred Cooper, 251 Edgerstoune Road, Princeton 08540.

Mary Capalbo

Mary Capalbo, 89, of Lawrenceville, died January 28 in St. Joseph's Skilled Nursing Center at Morris Hall, Lawrenceville.

Born in New York City, she resided in Woodside, Queens, before becoming a resident of Morris Hall in April, 2003.

She retired in 1978 after approximately 20 years of service as a clerk with the Department of Social Services for the City of New York.

She was a former member of Corpus Christi Church in Queens.

Daughter of the late Carmine and Carmela Lombardo, and wife of the late William S. Capalbo, she is survived by a son, Joseph of Princeton.

The funeral service was February 1 at the Chapel of St. Joseph's Nursing Center in Lawrenceville. Burial was in Pinelawn Cemetery, Pinelawn, Long Island.

Funeral Arrangements were under the direction of The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home.

Joan B. Conrad

Joan Barbara Conrad, 64, of West Creek, formerly of Kingston, died January 29 at Southern Ocean County Hospital in Manahawkin.

Born in Jersey City, she lived in the Kingston-Skillman area most of her life.

A 1958 graduate of Princeton High School, she worked for the First National Bank of Princeton for more than 20 years, and for the State of New Jersey North Princeton Development Center at Skillman.

She was a member of St. Paul's Church for 62 years.

Daughter of the late Francis Joseph and Catherine Barbara Murdock, she is survived by her husband, Karl M. Conrad; five daughters, Catherine Nolan of West Creek, Lisa Smith of Ringoes, Mary Carpenter of Florence, Theresa Conrad of Bordentown, and Susan Angelo of Manahawkin; five sons, Karl of Hillsborough, Michael of Pinebrook, Robert of Bordentown, Steven of Montgomery, and Christopher of Montgomery; a brother, Francis J. Murdock of Princeton; and eight grandchildren.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday, February 2 at 10 a.m. at St. Paul's Church, 214 Nassau Street. Interment will follow in St. Paul's Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul's Church.

Arrangements are by The Kimble Funeral Home.

Eloise K. Goreau

Eloise Keaton Goreau, 82, of Princeton, died January 28 following a long illness. She was a professor of English literature at Douglass College and then Rider University.

Born in Memphis, Tenn., to Mack and Bertha Hemby Keaton, she received a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Tennessee. She taught literature at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge, with Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren as her colleagues, in the years that saw the birth of New Criticism. She later taught at Tulane University.

After completing her doctorate at Rutgers University, she taught at Douglass College and then, for many years, at Rider University. Her interests ranged widely, from Ben Jonson and Shakespeare to Dickens, Yeats, Faulkner, and Ernest Gaines. For many years, she taught courses in Elizabethan literature, the Bible as literature, the Celtic Revival, and Southern literature. She was an adept in the nearly lost art of grammar, but above all an accomplished teacher of writing.

The granddaughter of a Presbyterian minister, she converted to Catholicism two decades ago. She was a parishioner of St. Paul's Church and a devoted member of the Catholic Campus Ministry at Rider.

Predeceased by a son, Theodore Keaton Goreau, she is survived by a daughter, Angeline Goreau, and three grandchildren.

The funeral was February 1 at The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home. A Mass of a Christian Burial was celebrated at St. Paul's Church.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Eloise Keaton Goreau Prize for Writing, for students in the Educational Opportunity Program, c/o Prof. John Hulsman, Department of English, Rider University, 2083 Lawrenceville Road, Lawrenceville 08648.

Laura S. Watson

Laura (Lila) S. Watson, 93, of Kingston, died January 25 at The University Medical Center of Princeton.

Born in Trenton, she had lived in Kingston for the past 70 years.

She was recognized by The New Jersey Bell Telephone System for her 39 years of service before retiring in 1973.

She was a lifetime member of the Princeton Chapter of the Deborah Hospital Foundation, and the Trenton/Burlington Chapter of Telephone Pioneers of America.

Wife of the late John R. "Bud" Watson and mother of the late Robert Dean Watson, she is survived by two sons, Russell of Salisbury, Md., and Bruce of Kingston; seven grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

The funeral service was January 25 at The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, with the Rev. Frank Strasburger of Trinity Episcopal Church officiating. Burial was in Princeton Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to a charity of the donor's choice.

Benjamin E. Willis

Benjamin Edward Willis, 42, of Topeka, Kans., died January 22 at his home.

A resident of Topeka for the past two decades, he had previously been a long-term resident of Princeton, graduating from Princeton High School with the class of 1979. In Princeton, he was a member of the Trinity Episcopal Church Choir, an accomplished violinist, and athlete.

Predeceased in 1988 by his mother, Irene Siebens Willis, he is survived by his father, Edward David Willis, professor emeritus of Princeton Theological Seminary; a brother, Dr. Matthew Willis of Cambridge, Mass.; two sisters, Elizabeth Freemantle and Catherine Willis, both of Seattle, Wash.; and a half sister, Rebecca Willis-Watkins, and half brother, Spencer Willis-Watkins, both of Flemington.

A memorial service was held on January 25 at the Fellowship Bible Church in Topeka. A Princeton memorial service will be held this Sunday, February 6, for family and friends, at 2 p.m. at All Saints' Episcopal Church.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, P.O. Box 675, Topeka, Kans. 66601-0675.