Gavin Hildick-Smith
Robert W. Ashbock Jr., 54, of Princeton, died January 5 at the University Medical Center at Princeton.
Born in Princeton, he was a lifelong area resident.
He had been employed for 33 years as a traffic manager for Firmenich, Inc. in Plainsboro.
He enjoyed outdoor sports and activities.
Son of the late Robert Ashbock Sr., he is survived by his mother, Norma T. Ashbock of Princeton; two sons, Jeffrey R. and Jason M., both of Hamilton; a sister, Diane A. Darlington of Mechanicsburg, Pa.; and his companion, Theresa Grillo.
The funeral service was January 9 at the Kimble Funeral Home. Interment was in Princeton Memorial Park, Robbinsville.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tenn. 38105.
Roger Charles Breese, 67, of Lake Wales, Fla., formerly of Princeton, died January 3 at the Lake Wales Medical Center. The cause was heart failure.
Born in Princeton, he moved to Lake Wales five years ago from Bridgeville, Delaware.
He was a retired animal control officer for the Princeton Police Department.
He is survived by his fiancée, JoAnn O'Connor of Lake Wales; two daughters, Brenda Springfield of Georgetown, Del., and Trina Yingling of Bridgeville, Del.; and four grandchildren.
Arrangements are by the Johnson Funeral Home, Lake Wales.
Katharine Chamberlain, 70, of Monroe Village, Monroe Township, died December 25 at home.
Born in Plainfield, she had lived in the Princeton area for more than 31 years before moving to Monroe Village.
She had an associate's degree from Endicott College, Beverly, Mass.
She was retired from the Princeton University Store where she had worked for many years in the book department.
Her hobbies and interests included poetry, painting, nature photography, and bird watching. She was active with the Trenton Naturalist Club and the New Jersey Audubon Society.
She was a member of Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton.
Daughter of the late Pierce Annesley Chamberlain Jr. and Katharine Baylis Cochran Chamberlain, she is survived by her brother Pierce Annesley Chamberlain III of Arizona; her aide and companion Lynn Tungol of Avenel; and numerous cousins.
A memorial service will be held on January 18 at 2 p.m. at Monroe Village. The Rev. Lauren J. McFeaters, associate pastor at Nassau Presbyterian Church, and Miss Chamberlain's cousin, the Rev. Robert Beringer, will co-officiate.
Memorial contributions may be made to the New Jersey Audubon Society, 80 Scotts Corner Road, Cranbury 08512.
Arrangements are under the direction of The Kimble Funeral Home.
Gavin Y. (Pete) Hildick-Smith, M.D., 86, of Princeton, died January 8 at the University Medical Center at Princeton.
He was a director in the corporate Office of Science & Technology at Johnson & Johnson, where he worked for 37 years. During his tenure at J&J he focused on searching for new opportunities in medical research for the company.
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Dr. Hildick-Smith was educated in England at the Haileybury School, and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He did his medical studies at Guy's Hospital and Great Ormond St. Children's Hospital in London, specializing in pediatrics, which he practiced in South Africa, the UK, Canada and the U.S. His wide ranging interests led him into other medical fields, where he co-authored the medical text book Fungus Diseases and Their Treatment, and was an editor of the books Skin Bacteria and Their Role in Infection, The Surgical Wound, and The Infection Prone Hospital Patient. He was honored to be named a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in the UK in recognition of his contributions to medicine.
He was also a gifted athlete. In the 1950s he was the national squash champion in South Africa and England. In earlier years he was a keen cricketer and rugby player. He was also an avid, lifelong fly fisherman who fished the world over in pursuit of this passion.
A 50-year resident of Princeton, he was a member of the Pretty Brook Club and the Nassau Club.
He is survived by his wife Kit; two sons, Peter of Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., and Andrew of Winchester, Mass.; and six grandsons.
A memorial service will be held at Trinity Church this Friday, January 13 at 11:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made either to the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, 61 Titus Mill Road, Pennington 08534; or to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 34th & Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, Pa. 19104.
Nancy Maurer Mason, 75, of Newtown, Pa., formerly of Kingston, died January 6 at home.
Born in Milwaukee, Wis., she had lived most of her life in Kingston, having moved to Newtown two years ago.
A graduate of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, she also earned a master's degree at Seton Hall University.
She was employed for many years as a teacher and school administrator with the Franklin Township Board of Education.
She served as a volunteer for the University Medical Center at Princeton and at Pennswood Village in Newtown.
The daughter of the late Vernon and Vivian Maurer and wife of the late James A. Mason, she is survived by her husband Joseph Weisenberg of Newtown; three daughters, Pamela Diaforli of Kingston, Cynthia Mason of Bronx, N.Y., and Wendy McDougall of Hopewell Township; and five grandchildren.
The funeral will be today, January 11 at 10 a.m. at The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, 40 Vandeventer Avenue. The Rev. John Heinsohn, Pastor of Kingston Presbyterian Church, will officiate.
Burial will be in Kingston Presbyterian Cemetery, Kingston.
Memorial Contributions may be made to Small Animal Rescue League, 900 Herrontown Road, Princeton 08540.
Daniel J. Miller, 89, of Princeton, died January 8 at Princeton Care Center.
Born in New York City, he had lived in Princeton for the past 30 years.
He received both his B.A. and Law degrees at St. John's University.
A U.S. Army veteran of World War II, he retired with the rank of Captain.
The founder and CEO of Keystone Pencil Company, he also served as chairman of the board of a subsidiary of The Equitable.
He is survived by three daughters, Carol Maxwell Miller of Ithaca, N.Y., Barbara Miller Curtis of Ringoes, and Jody Miller Olcott of Hopewell; a brother, Jerome Allen Miller; and three grandchildren.
The funeral service and burial will be private and under the direction of The Kimble Funeral Home.
Memorial contributions may be made to the University Medical Center at Princeton Foundation, 253 Witherspoon Street, Princeton 08542.
Maria Ruiz, 86, of Princeton, died January 2 in the Princeton Care Center.
Born in Chaperal, Colombia, she was the daughter of the late Juan and Filomena Rodriguez Bonila.
Predeceased by a daughter, Ramiro Ruiz, she is survived by a daughter, Rosa A. Martinez of Princeton Junction; four grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated January 12 at 9:30 a.m. at St. Paul's Church, 214 Nassau Street.
Burial will be private and at the convenience of the family.
Arrangements are under the direction of The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home.
Ching Yuan Volpp of Princeton, a Princeton resident for 42 years, died December 29 in Philadelphia.
Born in Beijing, China, she was the eldest daughter of the late Hui Hsi and Dr. Tung Li Yuan, the director of the National Library of Peiping, now renamed the National Library of China. She arrived in the U.S. in 1949 with her parents and attended Bryn Mawr College, graduating summa cum laude in chemistry. She received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Radcliffe College, Harvard University. After a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University, she spent two years as an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellow at Oxford University.
She taught at Douglass College, Rutgers University, then left an academic career to spend more than ten years as a full-time mother. In the late 1970s, she began working for U.S.-China cultural business exchange before beginning her 25-year association with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection as a research scientist.
She is survived by her husband, Gert P. Volpp of Princeton; a brother, Tsing Yuan of Dayton, Ohio; three daughters, Sophie and Letitia of Berkeley, Calif., and Serena of New York City; a son, Kevin of Wynnewood, Pa.; and four grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Tung Li and Hui Hsi Yuan Memorial Award Fund, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, 501 East Daniel Street, Room 121, Champaign, Ill. 61820.
Henry Zenzie, 76, a resident of Princeton for 43 years, died January 4 at the University Medical Center of Princeton.
Born in Bloomfield, Conn., the youngest of 12 children, he attended Kansas State University, received a B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
In Toronto, Canada, he worked as an analyst for Burns Brothers & Co. He then moved to Anchorage, Alaska, where he established two investment development companies. In 1963, he joined Templeton, Dobrow & Vance in New York City as a money manager and then worked in corporate finance at Lehman Brothers, Inc. Subsequently he joined Kidder Peabody & Company, Inc. as assistant to chairman Albert H. Gordon. In 1978, he joined the New York office of Prescott, Ball & Turben as senior vice president. He was profiled in a 1979 Forbes magazine article titled "Poverty as an Education."
In the late 1970s, he acquired control of Viskon-Aire Corp., an air filtration company in Salisbury, Md., and Isomet Corp., an optical component company in Springfield, Va., and served as president of both companies until his death.
He was active in national politics during the Reagan years and was appointed to the President's Export Council.
An enthusiastic squash player, he was nationally ranked in the senior division. He was also an avid Atlantic salmon fisherman in New Brunswick, Canada, where he developed an interest in local native cultures.
He is survived by his wife, Beatrice Zenzie; two sons, Henry of Dover, Mass., and Charles of Arlington, Va.; two daughters, Beatrice Z. Gregory of The Woodlands, Texas, and Elizabeth C. Meyer of Richmond, Va.; and eight grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at Pretty Brook Tennis Club, Pretty Brook Road, on Saturday, February 4 at 3 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Princeton Day School, Development Office, P.O. Box 75, Princeton 08540; or to The Atlantic Salmon Federation, P.O. Box 807, Calais, Maine 04619.