Samuel Atkins, John R. Cooley, Paul Pollak, Pearl Burns.
Samuel Atkins
Retired university professor
PAMONA, Calif. Samuel Atkins, a retired Princeton University classics professor, died March 20. He was 91.
The emeritus professor of classics on the Andrew Fleming West Foundation, he was an expert on Vedic philology and Indo-European linguistics. He served as chair of the classics department from 1961 to 1972, when he transferred to emeritus status and subsequently moved to California.
His areas of interest included Hellenistic literature and Greek and literary criticism of Greek and Latin texts. He also taught Sanskrit in the East Asian studies department.
Born in Madison, he attended Princeton as an undergraduate and received the George Wood Legacy Prize for academic excellence. He graduated in 1931 and earned a doctorate from Princeton in Oriental studies in 1935.
After spending two years as an assistant professor at Baylor University, he returned to Princeton as an instructor in 1937.
From 1942 to 1946, he was a communications specialist with the Navy, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander. He served another 17 months with the Navy following the outbreak of the Korean War.
Dr. Atkins published "Pusan in the Rig-Veda” in 1941. In 1959, he spent a year in Thailand as a Fulbright research scholar studying the application of modern linguistics to the teaching of English as a second language.
He is survived by his wife, Jeannette; children Samuel Atkins Jr., Bowman Atkins and Pamela Ibrahim; six grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
John R. Cooley
Former area resident
BEAUFORT, S.C. John Robert Cooley died April 8 at Bay View Nursing Center. He was 48.
Born and raised in Rochester, N.Y., he was a Princeton area resident, including Princeton Township, for about 20 years, moving to River Oaks Residential Facility, Port Royal, S.C., four years ago.
Mr. Cooley was in the retail business.
An avid golfer, he was a member of Bedens Brook Club in Montgomery and Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va.
Son of the late Kenneth and June Cooley, he is survived by his wife, Annie Bardwell Cooley of Hilton Head, S.C.; sons Carson Cooley of Hilton Head and Peter Cooley of New Canaan, Conn.; daughter Jennifer Cooley of New Canaan; sisters Claudia Cooley of Washington and Trina Mercado of Rochester, N.Y.; three nephews; one niece; one great-nephew; and one great-niece.
Memorial services in Princeton, planned for early June, will be announced at a later date.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Medical University of South Carolina, Neurology Department, 171 Ashley Ave., Charleston, SC 29425 or The Reynolds Center on Aging, c/o Dr. John Hart, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham, Slot 748, Little Rock, AR 72205.
Arrangements are by Copeland Funeral Home, Beaufort, S.C.
Paul Pollak
Retired from ABC Sports
PLAINSBORO Paul Pollak died Monday at The Medical Center at Princeton. He was 87.
Born in New York City, he lived for a time on a farm near Hightstown and then moved back to Manhattan. In 1949, he moved with his family to a farm near Cranbury.
He retired 17 years ago as traffic manager for ABC Sports. During World War II, he was a welder in a Navy shipyard.
He was a 1932 graduate of Hightstown High School.
Active in the American Czechoslovak Farmers’ Club near Hightstown, he had recently been elected vice president. He was an Elk and attended Slovak services at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in Edison.
Son of the late Jan and Zuzanna Pollak, husband of the late Anna Pollak, he is survived by daughter Janet of Riverdale; daughter-in-law Judy Baker of Riverdale; sister Christine Federowich of Florida; sisters-in-law Mary Pollak of Cranbury and Nina Pollak of Florida; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.
The funeral will be 10 a.m. Friday at A.S. Cole Funeral Home, 22 North Main St., Cranbury.
Burial will follow at Old Tennent Cemetery, Tennent.
Calling hours are 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home.
Memorial contributions may be made to Hernando-Pasco Hospice Inc., 12107 Majestic Blvd., Hudson, FL 34667.
Pearl Burns
Career in real estate
Pearl Virginia Wheaton Hampton Burns died March 28 at Alterra Clare Bridge assisted living facility. She was 87.
Born in Manassas, Va., she lived in Washington and Dallas, and was a Princeton area resident since 1997.
She owned a real estate company in Washington and owned Prep Tutoring Real Estate School in Dallas.
She was a member of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas and its professional businesswomen’s Sunday school class.
Daughter of the late Isaac and Annie Newton Wheaton, she is survived by daughter Margie Tucker of Princeton; granddaughters Melanie Borchert of Princeton, Tandy Collier and husband Jerry of Six Mile, S.C., Stacey Hampton of Dallas, and Cathy Tucker Walker; great-grandchildren John, Steven, Daniel and Christy Collier of Six Mile, S.C., and William, Robert, Douglas and Thomas Borchert of Princeton.
Arrangements are by Hamilton Brenna-Cellini Funeral Home, Hamilton.