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Rachel C. Baker
Grace W. Boyd
David R. Scott
Janina Stahl
Rachel C. Baker
Rachel Cooper Baker, 85, a 60-year resident of Princeton, died of natural causes on March 26 at Helene Fuld Hospital in Trenton.
Born in Jacksonville, Fla., she spent her childhood in the family home on the St. John's River outside Jacksonville until her parents, the late John and Martha Cooper, moved to Princeton when she was 15.
She attended St. Catherine's School, Richmond, Va., and graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Vassar College in 1940. In December of that year she married Richard W. Baker, Jr., also of Princeton, and after World War II they made their home in Princeton until his last illness in 1999, when she became a resident of Meadow Lakes in Hightstown.
Known as Ricki to her friends, she was a member of the Present Day Club and past chair of the Altar Guild of Trinity Episcopal Church. She also served as a volunteer for the Community Players, the Outgrown Shop, now known as the Nearly New Shop, the Blue Hill Troupe, The Hospital Volunteers (the Pink Ladies) and the Hospital Fete, the Battlefield Society at Clarke House, the Rockingham Association, and the Princeton Historical Society at Bainbridge House.
She is survived by a daughter, Eileen Lady Strathnaver of London, England; two sons, Richard W. III of Honolulu and John of Lawrenceville; a brother, John C. Cooper III of Santa Fe, N.M.; a sister, Jane M. Cooper of Pennswood Village, Newtown, Pa.; and two granddaughters.
A memorial service will be held at Trinity Church, 33 Mercer Street, at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, April 4.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Historical Society of Princeton at Bainbridge House, 158 Nassau Street, Princeton 08542.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Mather-Hodge Funeral Home.
Grace W. Boyd
Grace Welch Boyd, 100, a longtime resident of Princeton, died March 24 of pneumonia at the Meadow Lakes retirement community in Hightstown, where she had lived since 1987. She was active for many years in Princeton's civic and University affairs.
Born in Chowan County, N.C., she graduated from Edenton High School in 1921 and North Carolina College for Women at Greensboro in 1925. She was a schoolteacher at Colfax Elementary School in Colfax, N.C., Alliance High School in Alliance, N.C., and the Methodist Orphanage in Raleigh.
Before coming to Princeton with her husband in 1940, she was assistant director of the New York Historical Association in Ticonderoga. She had also lived in Wilkes Barre, Pa. and Philadelphia.
During her more than 25 years as a Princeton resident and another 20 years in Titusville, she was active in the PTA, Red Cross, hospital fetes, and fund drives for various charitable causes. She was a board member and later president of both Princeton University League and the Present Day Club. She was also a founding member and president of the University Garden Club; editor of the "Guide to the Campus" in 1946; chairman of the University League Memorial Funds; and a member of the Washington Crossing State Park Association, Friends of Winterthur, Friends of Music at Princeton, Friends of the Princeton University Library, Friends of the American Philosophical Society, and the Princeton Historical Society.
Her other interest included the study of mushrooms, ferns, birds and wildflowers, as well as gardening, needlepoint, knitting, and reading.
She was predeceased by her husband, Julian Parks Boyd, a professor of history at Princeton, in 1980; by a daughter, Mary Rolfe Boyd, who died in infancy; and by a son, Julian Jr., who drowned in an ice-skating accident on the Millstone River at the age of 13. She is survived by a son, Kenneth of Washington, D.C.
Arrangements are under the direction of The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home.
David R. Scott
David Rodman Scott, 30, of Brooklyn, New York, formerly of Princeton, died March 21 at home. The cause was complications from Type 1 diabetes.
He was an award-winning writer and director at MTV who created comic promotional spots for movies and TV programs such as The Osbournes, Napoleon Dynamite, and 50 First Dates. Known as Roddy, Mr. Scott was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Bethesda, Md. and Princeton. He graduated from the John Witherspoon School in 1988, Kent School in 1993, and the University of Vermont in 1998.
Known for his mischievous humor and ability to charm celebrities, he directed such stars as Jack Black, Johnny Knoxville, Drew Barrymore, Adam Sandler, Gwen Stefani, Ed McMahon, and Erik Estrada. He was a recipient – two days after his death – of a gold New York ADDY for a promotional spot for The Osbournes featuring children playing Ozzy and his family. The spot will now be considered for regional and national ADDY awards.
He is survived by his parents, Ruth and David Scott of Princeton; and a sister, Cintra Scott of New York City.
A memorial service will be held at Trinity Church at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, April 8. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Roddy Scott Fund, c/o Princeton Area Community Foundation, 15 Princess Road, Lawrenceville 08648.
Janina Stahl
Janina (Jana) Stahl, 82, of Pennswood Village, Newtown, Pa., formerly of Princeton, died March 21 at St. Mary's Hospital in Newtown.
Born in Vienna, Austria, she grew up in Lwow, Poland (now Lviv in Ukraine). While Poland was under siege in World War II, she married Charles Stahl. Together they fled their homeland, crossing over the mountains to Budapest. Their support of the Polish resistance caused them to be incarcerated and separated during the war. They were able to find each other after the war through a pre-arranged contact point. With Poland then under communist rule, they did not return to their homeland. They lived briefly in Vienna and then in Geneva. They emigrated to the United States in 1953, bringing with them a cook, a governess, and a secretary. They lived in Westchester County, New York, followed by a year abroad in Rio de Janeiro, then settled in Princeton in 1957, where they raised their family and remained for more than 30 years.
After volunteering with the Red Cross and the Neuro-Psychiatric Institute, Mrs. Stahl worked for Educational Testing Service for over 20 years until her retirement. She then continued her volunteer service for the hospital fete. In the early 1990s she moved to Lawrenceville, and most recently to Pennswood Village.
An avid bridge player and voracious reader, she also enjoyed a good joke, convertible cars, fine restaurants, and the theater. She never lost her Austrian/Polish accent and was, at one point, fluent in seven languages.
Predeceased by her husband in 1985, she is survived by two daughters, Sandra Oliver and Jeanie Stahl; and a sister, Halina Eskenazi of Annemasse, France.
There will be no memorial service. Memorial donations may be made to Unicef, P.O. Box 3662, New York, N.Y. 10164-2629; or to the American Red Cross of Central New Jersey, 707 Alexander Road, Princeton 08540.
Arrangements are by The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home.
