Archive for the ‘Obituary’ category

Robert Stephen Norman ( April 25, 1947 – May 04, 2008 )

March 19th, 2018

Robert Stephen Norman, 61, of Lawrenceville died on Sunday at his home of metastatic prostate cancer.

Born in New London, CT, he was a Lawrenceville resident since 1994 after living in New York City for 30 years. Bob graduated form Columbia University in 1969 with a degree in English Literature. Bob had been a copy editor for Business Week Magazine for twenty years, but his passion and true vocation was music. He was a well-known singer/songwriter folksinger locally and across the country for over 30 years. From 1970 to 1977, he was editor-in-chief of Sing Out!, and was on its board until 1990. His CD titles include: Romantic Nights on the Upper Westside; To the Core; Love, Lust, and Lilacs; and Time Takin’ Man. His music fused varied influences of blues, country, contemporary folk, and classical guitar writing about topics ranging from the streets of New York to local life in Lawrenceville.

Son of the late Victor and Francis (Sharaf) Norman and brother of the late Jon Norman, he is survived by his wife Clara Haignere, his son Samuel Norman-Haignere, his nephew Daniel Norman, and his nieces: Forest Cattich and Martina Norman Botinelli.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday at 11 AM at Poulson & Van Hise Funeral Directors, 650 Lawrence Road, Lawrenceville. Burial will be in the Lawrenceville Cemetery. The family extends an invitation to friends to come to their home at K18 Shirley Lane, Lawrenceville after the burial.

In lieu of flowers, please tax-deductible donations can be made to Sing Out! Magazine (P.O. Box 5460 Bethlehem PA 18015) or to the Westminster Conservatory Young Artist’s Program. Check should include a note that it is for the Young Artist’s Program in Memory of Bob Norman to Westminster Conservatory, Attn Sandra Franc, 101 Walnut Lane, Princeton NJ 08540.

R. Conway LeCraw, Founding Member of New Jersey Classical Guitar Society

March 19th, 2018

R. Conway (Connie) LeCraw of Hilton Head Island died Tuesday, November 15, 2011 at his residence. He was born in Atlanta on January 10, 1924 to Julia Adams and Roy LeCraw, a former Atlanta mayor. He became an eagle scout at age 11, one of the youngest ever to do so, and was an active member of North Avenue Presbyterian Church. He attended Georgia Institute of Technology and Ohio State University, where he studied electrical engineering and physics. During World War II he served in the Pacific theater as a lieutenant in the Signal Corps. He began his career as a physicist with Diamond Ordnance Fuze Laboratories in Washington, D.C. in 1951. Four years later he received the Department of the Army Gold Medal Award for Exceptional Civilian Service which was awarded for his outstanding work in microwave energy. From 1955 until his retirement in 1986 he was a renowned physicist at Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, N.J. where he authored or co-authored over 100 research papers and was granted 35 U.S. patents. His most significant discovery, that of magnetic bubble devices, revolutionized the storage of information for military technology. He was invited to present his papers at national and international physics conferences, including in Russia, China, and Japan. The year Bell Laboratories established its Distinguished Scientist Awards, he was one of five research scientists to be so honored. As a result of his seminal discoveries, he was offered various teaching posts, including one at UC Berkeley, but he declined in order to continue his research.

After his retirement Mr. LeCraw concentrated on his two avocations, classical music and chess. In New Jersey, he formed a classical guitar society and arranged for free public concerts at a local library. He participated in chess tournaments throughout the East, winning numerous trophies. He moved to Hilton Head Island with his wife, Mildred, in 1990. There he formed a local chess club and sponsored a regional chess tournament. He also helped form a chess club at Hilton Head High School.

He is survived by his wife, Mildred Carolan LeCraw, his sons Timothy of Atlanta and Spencer of Bluffton, S.C., and his brothers Veazey, Julian, and Rupert, all of Atlanta. He was predeceased by his first wife, Mary Luddeke, and his brother, C. Buck LeCraw.

A memorial service will be held at St. Andrew By-The-Sea Methodist Church, 20 Pope Avenue, Hilton Head at 2:00 P.M. Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011, with a reception to follow at the church.

Memorial Service for George Schindler

February 15th, 2018

A memorial service for George E. Schindler, Jr. will be held on Saturday, February 24, at 5:00 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton, 50 Cherry Hill Road, Princeton, New Jersey.

George was a leader in our Society, organizing and hosting meetings in his homes in New Providence and, later, Montgomery. He was active over several decades. In addition to the usual repertoire, George was fond of playing arrangements of music from composers not traditionally associated with classical guitar, such as Jerome Kern, Victor Herbert, Henry Mancini, and George Gershwin.

Gad Berger will be representing the New Jersey Classical Guitar Society at the service, playing some of the music that George enjoyed and performed. Members are invited to attend.

————————–

George E. Schindler Jr., a passionate hiker, backpacker, and environmentalist, died on February 9 in Princeton, N.J., at Acorn Glen Assisted Living. He was 94. The probable cause of death was pneumonia.

Mr. Schindler was born in 1923 in Carnegie, Pa., son of George E. Schindler Sr. and Stella Victoria Cox. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps at the tail end of World War II; his military specialty was meteorology. Before enlisting, he had patched together the resources to study chemical engineering at Carnegie Tech for two years; afterwards, thanks to his army training and the GI Bill, he pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina and then at the University of Chicago, from which institution he was awarded a B.S. in Meteorology. His interests having shifted to English literature, he earned his M.A. from the University of Pittsburgh. During those early years, he taught himself to play the classical guitar. A lifelong lover of literature, Mr. Schindler was extremely well read, favoring the works of George Bernard Shaw and Charles Dickens. He himself wrote two unpublished novels.

He married Faith Sayre in 1946, and the couple had three daughters. The family lived for many years in New Providence, N.J. In his thirty-one years with AT&T Bell Laboratories, Mr. Schindler edited a technical journal at the Bell Labs facility in Murray Hill, N.J., during the glory years of that company. In the four years preceding his retirement, he was department head in charge of a multivolume history project as well as of the Bell Laboratory archives.

George Schindler was never happier than when outdoors, whether camping, backpacking, or canoeing. He mapped trails and led hikes all over the country. His love of hiking grew into a deep commitment to preserving the natural landscape. He was instrumental in blocking a proposed dam at Tocks Island on the Delaware River, a dam that would have destroyed the nearby lake known as Sunfish Pond as well as spoiling the beauty of the Delaware’s free flow. As forestry coordinator for the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club and member of the board of directors of the NJ Audubon Society, his efforts contributed to the passage of the New Jersey Natural Areas Systems Act in 1975. Among the many other environmental causes for which he fought tirelessly were the preservation of the Pine Barrens and the protection of the Great Swamp from the incursion of a proposed jetport.

Well into his retirement, he made three trips to Alaska. He volunteered at the Lyons VA Hospital where his father spent the last few years of his life. Mr. Schindler’s wife died in 1999. He had been her loving caregiver during her long illness. He leaves his sister, Judy Reams of Walnut Creek, Calif.; his sister-in-law, Jeri Schindler of Klamath Falls, Ore.; his three daughters, Karen Baart of Brookline, Mass., Heather Lovett of Hopewell, N.J., and Sarah Schindler of New York, N.Y.; his two grandsons, Frank Lovett and Nathaniel Lovett; and two great-grandchildren. His younger brother, John Robert Schindler, died in 2009.

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club (www.sierraclub.org/new-jersey) or the Environmental Defense Fund (www.edf.org).

Fred Dilzell

March 16th, 2013

Fred G. Dilzell III, 68, of Madison, NJ, died on March 14, 2013, after a long battle with kidney cancer.
He was born in East Orange, NJ, on March 14, 1945. He was the son of the late Fred G. Dilzell, Jr., and Katherine N. Dilzell.
In his early life Fred lived in Germany and Brazil before moving to Madison, where he lived for 47 years.
Fred was an accomplished flamenco and classical guitarist. He was a member of the New Jersey Classical Guitar Society, often hosting meetings at his home. He was also an avid skier, tennis and paddle tennis player, and was a member of The Noe Pond Club in Chatham, NJ.
He graduated from Drew University in 1968.
Fred taught classical guitar at County College of Morris, and Rutgers and Princeton Universities. He retired from Novartis Pharmaceutical Company, where he worked as a computer programmer.
He is survived by his wife, Cecilia M. Dilzell; two daughters, Lauren Dilzell Bevill of Vermont, and Michelle Dilzell Muirhead of Connecticut; one grandson, Carter L. Bevill; and two brothers, John P. Dilzell and David A. Dilzell.
A celebration of his life was held at 2 p.m. on Sunday the 24th at the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, 21 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown, NJ. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society.