Memorials - November 17, 1999


Gilmore Semmes Hamill III '31

"Red" Hamill was born May 18, 1908, in Oakland, Md., and died July 16, 1998, in Moraga, Calif. He prepared at the Hill School.

At Princeton, Red was on the freshman basketball and baseball teams, JV basketball and baseball teams, and a member of Tiger Inn.

After Princeton, he worked for Reynolds Aluminum Co. as director of personnel in Sheffield, Ala. For a time he was connected with Olin Industries in East Alton, Ill., and then joined the Carborundum Co. and became Pittsburgh district manager. His last job was with the Shenango Furnace Co. in Pittsburgh where he remained until he retired in 1971.

He belonged to the St. Clair Country Club, the Pittsburgh Athletic Assn., the Harvard-Yale-Princeton Club, all of Pittsburgh, and the Niagara Club in Niagara Falls.

Red lost his wife, Fran, in 1974, but he is survived by two sons, Gilmore S. IV and David G., and five grandchildren.

The Class of 1931


Henry P. Royster '31

Henry P. Royster died after a long illness on June 13, 1999, at his home in Raleigh, N.C. He was 89. Hank was deeply admired, and his many friends will miss him greatly.

Hank prepared at the Hill School, and at Princeton his undergraduate activities included the freshman and varsity wrestling teams, Triangle Club, and Tiger Inn. After graduation Hank entered the U. of Pennsylvania medical school and in 1935 received his MD degree.

Hank joined the Army Medical Corps in 1942 and was assigned to the 20th General Hospital in Burma as a plastic surgeon. Hank earned a Bronze Star and two battle stars and was discharged a major.

In 1975, Hank retired as professor of surgery, emeritus, from the U. of Pennsylvania. A fitting comment recently made by Dr. W. P. Graham '55, a friend and a colleague, pretty well sums up his character: "Uncle Henry was my mentor for many years, and a person whom I have adopted as a role model in surgery. To be accorded the comment that 'he is like Henry Royster' is the highest accolade and compliment that anyone can receive."

Surviving are his wife of 53 years, Ethel Fisher, and two children, Louisa Jane and Jonathan Page. The class extends its deepest sympathy to the entire family.

The Class of 1931


Walter Charles Wurster '31

Walt was born Apr. 21, 1906, and died Apr. 24, 1999, in Tustin, Calif. He was 93.

After graduation, he was for a time self-employed until he joined Wheeler & Phillips Co. of Garden Grove, Calif., where he became manager. During WWII, he performed liaison work for the Army and served in the Pacific theater from 1943-45. He was discharged a corporal.

At this time there is no further information available. Walt is survived by his wife, Marjorie. The class extends its sympathy to her and the entire family.

The Class of 1931


William C. Frank '37

Bill Frank died May 24, 1999, of congestive heart failure and emphysema, leaving a wife, Caroline; children of his first wife, Virginia Glendon, William Jr., and Leslie; and six grandchildren.

Bill played football and baseball at Germantown Academy but left Princeton in sophomore year after a bad automobile accident in which his younger brother and a girl were killed.

After writing advertising copy and editing house organs at Barron Collier in NYC and three years in the purchasing department of Bendix Aviation in Philadelphia, Bill entered the Army Medical Corps in 1944 as a surgical technician, going overseas in the European theater. He spent a year working on ambulances, going in and out of the critical Battle of the Bulge; he also acted as company interpreter.

After the war he was a salesman with Precision Tool & Engineering Corp. in Philadelphia, then sold valves, piping, and fittings for Cooney Bros. Plumbing Supplies and later was with R. S. McCracken & Sons selling engineering equipment to clients such as RCA and Campbell Corp. He had been retired for 25 years, 16 of which he had spent in Delray Beach, Fla.

The Class of 1937


Paul Winston Fitzpatrick '47

Paul ("Pablo" to many of us) died on Sept. 16, 1999, in Lancaster, Pa., of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Paul was born in Spain, where his father, an American businessman, was then stationed. During the Spanish Civil War the family moved to England. After the outbreak of WWII, they moved to Lancaster. Paul entered Princeton in the summer of 1943, but left for service in the Army Air Corps after three terms. Back at Princeton in 1946, he majored in politics.

Paul's senior thesis, on certain incidents of derring-do in Latin America, led to a suggestion from his adviser that he become a writer of historical fiction. Instead, he made the more practical choice of a career in banking, with a post at Guaranty Trust (later, Morgan Guaranty). In 1954 the bank sent him to Paris, where he supervised its dealings in Africa. In 1971, still with the bank, Paul returned to NYC. He retired not long after this and spent his time agreeably in reading and taking ocean cruises.

Although Paul's marriage in 1954 to Mariana Amram ended in divorce, the two remained close. To Mariana and to their daughters, Susan Fitzpatrick and Jessica Lisi, the class extends its profound sympathy.

The Class of 1947


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