Barbara Putnam, Joyce H. Digiovanni, Irving Kraut, Augustus B. McKee, Elizabeth L. Slayback, Herbert E. Robbins.
Barbara Putnam
Active Princeton volunteer
Barbara Durinda Dobbins Putnam of Princeton died of respiratory failure from lung cancer Saturday in Litchfield, Conn. She had been living at the Sarah Pierce Community in Litchfield for the last three months. She was 79.
Born in Verona, she lived in Montclair before moving to Litchfield in the early 1930s and, after her marriage, to Princeton.
In Litchfield, she attended Spring Hill School. She later attended Bennet School in Millbrook, N.Y., and Smith College. It was there, in late 1941, she met her future husband, Peter Putnam, a Princeton undergraduate who had recently been blinded in a gun mishap. They were married in 1944. In Princeton, he finished his undergraduate degree and began work on a doctorate.
She was an active volunteer in a large number of Princeton organizations.
She read aloud for Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic. She was a driver and coordinator for Meals on Wheels and also volunteered with the American Red Cross and the Princeton Memorial Association.
She had been very active with the Princeton Unitarian Church, working with her husband and small group of volunteers to build its current home on Cherry Hill Road.
She and her husband jointly served on the board of The Chapin School during the school’s beginnings, culminating in the construction of the school at Princeton Pike and Province Line Road. The couple also served on a number of other Princeton organizations, ranging from the Princeton Association for Human Rights to political action groups opposed to the war in Vietnam.
She was an enthusiastic equestrienne and tennis player in her teen years, and often enjoyed competing against all-comers, male and female alike, in all sports. With a lifelong interest in sports, she was still playing tennis well into her 70s. She taught her two sons how to throw a baseball, swing a bat, shoot baskets and throw a football.
She read to her husband constantly, not only for his academic work but for the other details of his life.
She was an accomplished watercolor painter and experimented occasionally in acrylics and oils. Later in life she took up ceramics.
She was an avid bird watcher and an enthusiastic gardener.
Wife of the late Peter Putnam, she is survived by her children, Brock, Barbara and John Gerry.
A memorial service will be held in Litchfield on Sunday. A second service will be held at the Princeton Unitarian Church in the spring.
Joyce H. Digiovanni
Retired bookkeeper
WEST WINDSOR Joyce H. Digiovanni died Friday at the Medical Center at Princeton. She was 70.
Born in Plainfield, she was a resident of Raritan most of her life before moving to West Windsor five year ago.
She was a retired bookkeeper for Raritan Savings Bank of Raritan.
She was a member of St. Paul Roman Catholic Church and a member of the church’s Golden Agers Club.
Wife of the late Frank N. Merrill, she is survived by daughters and sons-in-law Holly and Michael Zwerko of Bridgewater and Valerie and Robert Leiggi of West Windsor; sisters Lois Dattoli of Pennsylvania, Doris Denning of Hampton, Alice Mondoro of Hillsborough and Pat Snyder of Edison; brothers Bill Snyder and Jack Snyder, both of Maryland and Joe Snyder of Virginia; and grandchildren Zachary and Sarah Zwerko of Bridgewater and Matthew and Eric Leiggi of West Windsor.
Mass of Christian Burial will be 9:30 a.m. today at St. Paul Roman Catholic Church, 214 Nassau St., Princeton.
Burial will be in Princeton Cemetery.
Arrangements are by The Kimble Funeral Home, Princeton.
Irving Kraut
Longtime area dentist
EWING Dr. Irving Kraut died Saturday at his winter home in Aventura, Fla. He was 83.
Born in Jersey City, he was a Trenton area resident most of his life.
Dr. Kraut was in private orthodontic practice with offices on West State Street from 1948 to 1991. He continued to act as consultant for his son, Dr. Jon Kraut, and served on the board of directors of Berger Brothers Industries.
He was a graduate of Trenton Central High School, Rutgers University Agricultural School, Temple University School of Dental Medicine and Tufts University Orthodontics Department.
During World War II, he served as captain in the Army Medical Corps, landing in Normandy and serving in Europe.
He served as president of the Mercer County Dental Society and as a diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics. He was a member of the Angle Society of Orthodontics and Mid-Atlantic Society of Orthodontics. For many years he was associate professor of orthodontics at Boston University and was the recipient of numerous awards and honors.
He was a member of Adath Israel Congregation.
He was an avid tennis player, local champion and teaching professional. In addition he enjoyed fishing at the Jersey Shore and throughout the world.
Son of the late Morris and Lillian Kraut, brother of the late Ruth Kraut Bernstein, he is survived by his wife, Elinor Rosenthal Kraut; sons Dr. Jon Kraut of Ewing Township, Dr. Bruce Kraut of Ocala, Fla., Gary Kraut of Paris, France, Dr. Robert Kraut of Orlando, Fla., and Dr. Eric Kraut of Santa Rosa, Calif.; daughters Robin Kraut Zell of Alon Shvut, Israel, Carin Kraut Cohen of Voorhees, Wendy Kraut of Ewing, Lesley Kraut Schwarzman of Princeton; and 17 grandchildren.
Services were held Monday at Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, Ewing.
Memorial contributions may be made to VNA Home Care of Mercer County, 171 Jersey Street, Suite 201, P.O. Box 441, Trenton, NJ 08603.
Augustus B. McKee
Daughter lives in Plainsboro
EAST WINDSOR Augustus B. McKee died Friday at his son’s home in Yardley, Pa. He was 81.
Born in Princeton, he lived in Spain before moving to East Windsor in 1979. He retired from the Navy in 1963 after 22 years as chief hospital corpsman. He was a Navy veteran of World War II and took part in the invasion of Normandy. He received the Navy Cross and French Croix de Guerre.
Husband of the late Ana A. McKee, he is survived by sons Augustus B. and John F., both of Yardley; daughters Ana Marie Buono of Plainsboro and Patricia McKee of Jersey City; sister Helen Cooper; and grandchildren Ornella, Giovanna and Flavio Buono and John McKee Jr.
Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 9:30 a.m. Thursday at St. Paul Roman Catholic Church, 214 Nassau St., Princeton.
Burial will be in St. Paul’s Cemetery.
Calling hour will be 8:30 a.m. to until service Thursday at Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, 40 Vandeventer Ave., Princeton.
Elizabeth L. Slayback
Lifelong Princeton resident
NORTH CREEK, N.Y. Elizabeth L. Slayback, a lifelong Princeton resident, died Friday at Adirondack Tri-County Nursing Home. She was 88.
Born in Princeton, she graduated from Princeton High School and lived in Princeton nearly her entire life.
She retired from the Admissions Office of Princeton University in 1977 after 21 years.
She was an active member and past matron of Princeton Chapter #91, Order of Eastern Star.
She was an active member of Nassau Presbyterian Church and a member of First Presbyterian Church of Princeton.
Wife of the late Harry Rogers Slayback, she is survived by her son, Roger Jon Slayback of North Creek and granddaughter Caitlin Elizabeth Slayback of North Creek.
A graveside service will be held 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at Princeton Cemetery.
Arrangements are by The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.
Herbert E. Robbins
Memorial service planned
A memorial service for Herbert Ellis Robbins of Princeton, who died Feb. 12, will be held Thursday, March 8.
He was a retired professor of mathematics and statistics at Columbia University and Rutgers University.
The service will be held at 1 p.m. at St. Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University, Amsterdam Avenue at 117th Street, New York City. A reception will follow the ceremony.