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Mary
E. Moore
Agnes B. Pilato
Mary E. Moore
Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Moore, 87, of Princeton, died April 12 at the Pavilion Nursing Home.
Born and raised in Princeton, the daughter of Tessie G. and Thomas A. Moore, she attended the Princeton school system and graduated as salutatorian from Princeton High School in 1934.
She retired as a research biologist from Princeton University after a long career in teaching and researching the role of bacteria in the production of cancer cells.
She received a bachelor's degree with high honors and a master's degree with distinction, both in biology, from Virginia State College in Petersburg, Va. She performed post-graduate work at Columbia University, and received her Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Michigan.
A teacher of biology at high school and college levels, she later became head of the Bacteriology Department at Virginia State College, now University. She supervised efforts in diagnostic bacteriology at several hospitals, and her research work led to positions heading industrial and commercial laboratories, including the chemical warfare laboratory at Fort Dix for the U.S. Army, and a pharmaceutical research laboratory for the former Carter Wallace in East Windsor. In her semi-retirement, she became a part-time researcher for Opinion Research and the Gallup Organization.
She was well known as an activist, locally and nationally, in education rights, employment opportunities, and equal compensation. In a speech to the NAACP at the Waldorf Astoria in 1977, she defined herself as an "et al" in the landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education. In the New York Times interview by Charlayne Hunter Gault, she offered the organization practical solutions for addressing social issues through greater utilization of the talents and experience of senior citizens in the development of youth. This activism extended into her own community through her volunteerism and development of employment, cultural, and scholarship opportunities for disadvantaged youth, and in issues of fairness and equity affecting Princeton's African-American community.
Ms. Moore was a member of the Commission on Aging and volunteered with the Princeton Red Cross Blood Mobile, Princeton Medical Center, and Mercer County voter registration. She also served as a volunteer with the Princeton YWCA, where she was honored as a Woman of the Year in 1971. She was a member of the Friends of Princeton Public Library and the John Witherspoon Civic Association.
A student of the violin as a child, she developed a love for playing jazz on a triple keyboard Hammond organ. A jazz aficionado, she presented regular programs at the Princeton Public Library in which African-American history was combined in order to produce racial understanding. As a member of the Princeton University Retirees Club, and on her own, she traveled extensively in pursuit of continued learning. She was also an avid gardener.
She was predeceased by her only brother, Thomas A. Moore II. She is survived by his children ‹ a niece, Yina A. Moore, and a nephew, Thomas A. Moore III, and their children, all of Princeton.
A service in her memory will be held at the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church on Thursday, May 12 at 11 a.m.
Arrangements are by the Hughes Funeral Home.
Agnes B. Pilato
Agnes Baldino Pilato, 95, of Princeton, died May 3 at home.
Born in Princeton, she grew up in lschia, Italy, then returned to Princeton in 1938.
She was a member of St. Paul's Church. She enjoyed cooking and was a loving homemaker for her family.
Wife of the late Giovanni G. Pilato, and sister of the late John Baldino, Vincent Baldino, and Francis Matarese, she is survived by two sons, Joseph A. of Allentown, N.J. and Louis J. of North Port, Fla.; a daughter, Nancy J. Matthews of Robbinsville; nine grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.
The funeral was May 6 at The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at St. Paul's Church. Burial was in Princeton Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to Health Care Ministry of St. Paul's Inc., P.O. Box 1517, Princeton 08542.
