Ethel Ham “Peggy” Palmer died peacefully at home on September 21, 2016 at the age of 100. Born to Charles and Ethel Ham in Flatbush, Brooklyn, she had two brothers, Charles and Ralph, who both predeceased her. Her husband, Dwight O. Palmer, Jr., predeceased her in 1987. She is survived by her nieces, Susan and Carolyn. Peggy graduated from Jamaica High School in 1933. A 1937 graduate of Smith College with a degree in Sociology, Peggy then attended the Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School. As a legal secretary at Western Union, she met her late husband, a public relations executive, and married in 1951. They first resided in Ridgewood, NJ, and then moved to Wyckoff, NJ, in 1954. Peggy was a member of the West Side Presbyterian Church, the Wyckoff Women’s Club, the Valley Hospital Auxiliary and volunteered for The Seeing Eye, training eight puppies. Peggy loved playing bridge with her friends and UpWords with her nieces.
Tag Archives: Class of 1933
Jean Harmon Baker ’33
Jean Harmon Baker, age 100, passed away in Catonsville, MD on April 15, 2015.
Born in Yonkers, NY, she attended The Northampton School for Girls and worked for Exxon where she met her late husband, Harold Jay Baker.
In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her son James, daughter Mary Ellen, 4 brothers, 2 sisters and her parents.
Jean is survived by her daughter, Amy Baker Lohr (James) and grandchildren Kristin Jean Lohr and Susannah Baker Lohr.
Donald Cook ’33
Donald Bowker Cook, 97, of Spring Run, PA, formerly of Hockessin, DE, passed away July 16, 2014 at home, surrounded by his loving family.
Born January 14, 1917 in Easthampton, MA, he was the son of Melvin Jesse and May Bowker Cook. He was predeceased by his beloved wife of 52 years, Elizabeth Conant Cook on March 18, 1996 and by a son, Peter Bennett Cook, on August 19, 1986.
He was a member of the Menallen Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Biglerville, PA, and the Wilmington (DE) Monthly Meeting. He attended Baltimore Friends School, graduating from the Williston Academy, now the Williston Northampton School in Easthampton, MA. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Physics from Princeton University (1938), going on to earn an M.A. from Columbia University (1939). From 1939 to 1942 he held a three year fellowship in Langmuir Film Research from the Texas Company. From 1942 – 1946 he a was a research physicist employed by the Columbia University Division of Government Aided Research in development work for the Manhattan Project. During that time he headed a research group in charge of a pilot plant for the isotope separation plant at Oak Ridge, TN. From 1946 – 1950 he researched Niobium superconductivity for a PhD in Physics at Columbia University in 1950. That year he accepted a position as a research physicist for the DuPont Company in Wilmington, DE, specializing in nylon product development (hosiery and carpet fibers). In 1986, he retired to Spring Run, PA.
Conrad Philipson ’33
Conrad A. (“Connie”) Philipson passed away on Oct. 8, 2011. Husband of Elizabeth (Johnson) Philipson. Son of the late Ida and Sven Philipson. Brother of the late Ethel Miller of Troy, New York. Also survived by many nephews, and nieces and dear friends. Conrad grew up in Pittsfield, Mass. He was a graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont, and Boston University. Conrad served with the Twelfth Air Force in Africa and Italy during World War II, and served in the Air Force Reserve for over 30 years.
John Reed ’33, Former Trustee
John Reed enjoyed a successful career that has spanned 75 years, many of these years as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Mestek, Inc. in Westfield, Mass., which consists of more than 30 operating companies involved in the HVAC, Metal Forming & Fabricating and Coiled Metal Processing Industries.
John began his career with the H. B. Smith Company after graduating from Williston Academy in 1933 and Yale University in 1937. At Williston, John was a member of the Cum Laude Society and was involved with The Willistonian and glee club. He played basketball, squash, and tennis.
While working for H.B Smith Co., John earned his law degree in 1942 from the School of Law at Northeastern University, attending class at night. By 1946, he had advanced to the position of national sales manager for Smith, at which time his entrepreneurial spirit was manifested when he started the Sterling Radiator Company. Sterling Radiator continued to grow during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, both internally and through the careful acquisition of other companies, such as those dealing with climate control, the Peterson Roll Feed Co., and the Cooper-Weymouth press feed company.