Theodore Sager Meth
Theodore Sager Meth, 90, died on Wednesday, March 26, 2014 at the Princeton Care Center. He was born on October 24, 1923 in Weehawken, New Jersey. He majored in Philosophy at Princeton University, graduating with honors in 1944. He then attended Yale Divinity School, Union Theological Seminary (M. Div., 1947) and Columbia University (matriculating for Ph.D.), before graduating from Harvard Law School in 1951.
From 1943 to 1952, Ted served as pastor of various churches in Vermont, Massachusetts, West Virginia, and New Jersey. He was an ordained member of the Presbytery of Newark and its legal counsel for many years. In 1952, Ted founded a law firm in Newark, which represented Blair Academy and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters; for 20 years he was Standing Trustee for Chapter XIII in the Bankruptcy Court; and a Member of the New Jersey Divorce Law Study Commission, appointed by Governor Hughes. A law professor at Seton Hall University for thirty years, Ted authored books and numerous articles on commercial law. He was a man of wide-ranging talents, deeply involved with music and poetry, and a past president of the Summit Symphony, the Composers Guild of New Jersey and the South Mountain Poets.
After his first wife, Mary, died in 1996, Ted moved to Princeton, and became active in Princeton’s Class of ’44 affairs, serving as Class Secretary and Vice President. He was a member of the Old Guard of Princeton and the Nassau Club. In these later years, his involvement with music and poetry deepened, and he published ten collections of original poetry, including A Full Moon on the Battlefield. His first book, Castleton, portrayed life in the Vermont village where he spent happy childhood times with his beloved maternal grandmother. Castleton was the place that delighted Ted most.
He is survived by his wife of nearly 17 years, B.F. Graham; his son Karl T. Meth of Mendham, New Jersey; and grandsons Tyler and Connor Meth; his stepson Trevor C. Graham (Liz) of Boston, Massachusetts; his stepdaughter Dana C. Vaughn (Dylan) of San Diego, California; in addition to four step grandchildren, Mirabella C. Graham, Lucy A. Graham, Connor G. Vaughn, and Ryan C. Vaughn.
A private service to celebrate his life will be held this summer in Castleton, Vermont.
Donations in his name may be made to the “Princeton University Creative Writing Program in Poetry,” Lewis Center for the Arts, 613 New South Building, Princeton, NJ 08544.
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J. Edwin Obert, Jr.
J. Edwin Obert, Jr., commonly known as Ed Obert, died on Saturday, March 22, 2014.
Born July 25, 1941, Ed was born in Princeton and was a long-time resident prior to moving to Wisconsin in 2012.
Ed worked for many years at Union Camp, which used to be located in Lawrenceville. From Union Camp, Ed went to the former Commodities Corporation in Princeton where he worked until he retired in 2001.
Ed is best known for his many years of service to the Princeton community through the Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad, which he joined in 1972. He held many positions with the Squad: Chief 1977-81, 1983-85, 1988-92, President in 1997, Executive Board Member 2000-01, Trustee in 2003-04. Ed was the Squad’s first paramedic back when local squads were allowed to run an advanced life support unit. Ed was very involved in getting the Squad’s original paid day crew program started in 1980.
To countless members of the Squad, Ed was a mentor in matters regarding emergency medical services and in matters regarding life in general. Ed was one of the unsung heroes of our community, doing so much for so many, without the need to be in the spotlight.
There are no plans for a service at this time. Memorial contributions may be made in Ed’s memory to the Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 529, Princeton, N.J.
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Lorraine Hudson
Lorraine Hudson, 84, beloved wife of Roy W. Hudson of Princeton, passed away peacefully at her home on March 24, 2014 following a long illness. She was born Eleanor Lorraine Bennett in Chester County, Pa. on October 11, 1929 and grew up in Camden, N.J. with her mother and her adoptive father, Erma J. and Russell B. Kelchner, and her brother Donald, all of whom have predeceased her.
Lorraine, a class officer and head cheerleader, was very popular throughout her high school years where she was voted “Most Popular Girl”, played piano in the school band, and was chosen senior prom queen. She met her husband Roy, whom she married on August 13, 1949, when he showed up uninvited at her 16th birthday party and they were married 64 years at the time of her death. They moved to Vineland, N.J., where Roy joined Prudential Life Insurance Company. Lorraine joined the Little Theatre of Vineland where she was cast in numerous roles. It was at the little theater that she met the director of the Bucks County Playhouse leading to roles there and at the Paper Mill Playhouse, now in Millburn, N.J.
After 10 years, Roy was transferred by Prudential to manage their Trenton agency. Lorraine and Roy bought a home in Yardley, Pa. During their 16 years there Lorraine taught swimming and lifesaving classes at the Trenton YWCA and attended Bucks County Community College.
They built their present home in Princeton in 1979 and Lorraine went on to study art at Trenton State College (now the College of New Jersey) graduating with a BA in 1984. She enjoyed painting, drawing, and making pottery in the studio they installed in their home. Lorraine volunteered for, and supported, a wide range of environmental, social, artistic, and philanthropic causes being especially active in securing funds for the Trenton Symphony and the Children’s Home Society (see “in lieu of flowers” below). She enjoyed cooking, entertaining, and the arts and was a long-time subscriber to the Philadelphia Ballet, the McCarter Theatre, and the Walnut Street Theatre. She loved to travel, which she and Roy did to four continents, and attend art museums, concerts, and plays with her many friends. Always an active person she played tennis in the Princeton Ladies League.
In addition to Roy, Lorraine is survived by her daughter Kathleen Fabish and husband John of Cape Elizabeth, Maine; daughter Nanette Joyce and husband Brian of Ewing, N.J.; son-in-law Blair Fridgen of Scarborough, Maine; and daughter Cynthia Whittenberg and husband Hank of Derry, N.H. She was predeceased by her beloved daughter Pamela Hudson-Fridgen. Also surviving Lorraine are 9 grandchildren whom she cherished and with whom she traveled the world: Alexander and Benjamin Fabish; Dylan and Fiona Joyce, Riley and Jack Fridgen, and Kyla, Jenna, and Peter Whittenberg.
Visitation and services were held at the Poulson & Van Hise Funeral Directors, 650 Lawrence Rd., Lawrenceville, N.J on Saturday, followed at the Princeton Cemetery, Greenview Ave., Princeton.
For directions or to leave a condolence for the family please visit www.poulsonvanhise.com.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made in Lorraine’s name to The Children’s Home Society of N.J., 635 South Clinton Ave., Trenton, N.J. 08611.
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Marion Greenebaum Epstein
Marion Greenebaum Epstein, a long-time Princeton resident with a distinguished career of public service, passed away peacefully at her home on March 24, 2014. She was 98 years old.
Raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Barnard College and went on to receive her PhD in mathematics from Bryn Mawr College where she met Jess Epstein, an electrical engineer from Cincinnati. They married in 1939. Jess died in 1998, just short of their 60th wedding anniversary.
They moved to Princeton in 1943 where Jess was a research engineer at RCA Labs and Marion worked part time in test development at the Educational Testing Service (ETS) while raising their three children She later embarked on a full time career with ETS, in 1977 becoming vice president for the College Board until her retirement. Marion also served for a number of years on the Advisory Council to the Princeton University mathematics department, and her biography is included in Pioneering Women in American Mathematics, jointly published by the American and the London Mathematical Societies.
Marion’s distinguished professional career was paralleled by her committed public service. An active member of the Princeton League of Women Voters, she served as its president for several years and spent 10 years as an elected member of the Township School Board, serving as its vice president and president. Governor Hughes later appointed her to the State Board of Education where she served for 11 years, the last four as its representative to the State Board of Higher Education. Indefatigable, Marion then became a trustee of Kean College for 15 years and represented Kean on the Council of State Colleges. After her “retirement” she spent an additional eight years on the Princeton Township Affordable Housing Board, also serving as its president.
Marion and Jess, were founding members of the Jewish Center of Princeton, with Jess serving as the Center’s president when it built its first facility on Nassau Street and Marion forming its women’s division. In addition to their three children — Peter Epstein, Barbara Vilkomerson, and Judith Ansara, Marion is survived by seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Marion was a remarkable woman, loved and respected by all who knew her. She will be deeply missed.
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John W. Bauman, Jr.
John William Bauman Jr., retired professor of physiology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, died peacefully on March 25, 2014, 95 years of age.
Born December 17, 1918 to John W. and Irene Bauman in Stockton, California, he grew up in Stockton and later in the Sierra foothills town of Sonora, Calif. where his family had run the Bauman Brewery for decades after the gold rush of 1849. He often spoke fondly of those depression years working an apple orchard with his brother George, riding his horse “Trixie” to school in neighboring Twain Harte, and assisting in the operating room at the local hospital in Sonora run by his aunt.
John served in the U.S. Navy 1941-46 as a medical corpsman in the Pacific theater. He was a graduate of the University of Southern California; after the war he received his doctorate from UC Berkeley and married Sally Jane Fenton of Isleton, Calif. He lived briefly in New York City and then in 1960 settled in Princeton with his wife and family.
Dr. Bauman was an associate professor, NYU School of Medicine; research scientist, State of NJ; Fellow, Princeton University; and professor, UMDNJ, Newark. He was a prolific author of research papers and a textbook on endocrinology and the physiology of the kidney. He was a lifelong tennis enthusiast, organizer of tournaments, and avid player blessed with admirable form, still playing tennis several times a week at age 90.
Later in life he moved to Kingston. He was a volunteer reader for Recording for the Blind, and worked in a stylized hand on his cartoons, illustrations, and inventions. Always quick to proffer opinions, he made an avocation of authoring them in his grandiloquent style.
John is survived by his beloved partner Janet Guerin; his children and their spouses: Lise, Kurt, and Margaret (O’Donnell), Kris and Penny (Ettinger), Hanna and Bruce (Lane); grandchildren John “Will”, Natalie, Elizabeth and Susanna Bauman and Jessica Lane; and Mrs. Guerin’s children Cathy and Alexander Ehhalt, Elizabeth, and Skip Guerin. He was preceded in death by his former wife Sally Bauman, brother George, and sister Barbara Cavanaugh.
A memorial service and reception will be held at Main Street Restaurant, 301 North Harrison Street Princeton on Thursday, April 3 at 11:30 a.m. following a private interment.
Arrangements were made through Kimble Funeral Home, Princeton. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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Claire Zeitlin
Claire Zeitlin, 66, a Princeton resident since 2012, died suddenly of a heart attack, at home, on March 26, 2014. She grew up in Cape Town, South Africa and attended the University of Cape Town, earning a BA majoring in history and English, along with a teacher certification. In her mid-twenties she moved to England where she lived for twenty years. There she attended Homerton College at Cambridge University and got a secondary math certification, married Jonathan Zeitlin, and had her children. In 1991, she moved to Madison, Wisconsin where then husband Jonathan took a professorship at the University of Wisconsin.
She taught for four decades in England and America, both in math and science enrichment, high school through elementary school levels, for children with learning disabilities, and gifted and talented students. She loved teaching children, and was marvelous at it.
She is survived by her sons Joshua and Samuel of New York City, her partner Nick Katz of Princeton, and her brother Ian Weinburg and her sister Shirley Stein, both of Cape Town, South Africa.
Her funeral was held on Sunday, March 30 at Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, 1534 Pennington Road, Ewing Township.
Memorial donations may be made to either Doctors Without Borders or to the Princeton Public Library.