OBITUARIES, Jan. 7, 2003

Eugene J. McPartland, Barbara S. Thompson, Marvin C. Soffen, Jacob Fracaroli, Ellen C. Nevitt, Maryagnes Granitzki, Angela A. Vaccaro, Louise C. Vacca.

Eugene J. McPartland
Retired university vice president
   
Eugene Joseph McPartland, a former Navy commander who later headed Princeton University’s facilities operations for 16 years, died Monday at The Medical Center at Princeton. He was 68.
   Mr. McPartland served as vice president for facilities from 1983 to 1999 when he retired and was named vice president emeritus.
   He oversaw the university’s engineering and construction, maintenance, physical planning, real estate and services departments, which included several hundred employees. He also represented the university’s real estate interests before governmental bodies.
   Mr. McPartland, who was named an honorary member of Princeton’s Class of 1954, was well known on campus for maintaining a quiet, pleasant demeanor amid the heavy workload of his office. Major campus projects during his tenure included the establishment of the residential college system in 1982, the refurbishments of Alexander Hall and the Walter Lowrie House, and the construction of the Lewis Thomas Laboratory for molecular biology.
   Mr. McPartland joined the university in 1976 as general manager of plant and two years later was promoted to general manager of planning, plant and properties. Before coming to Princeton, he served for 20 years in the Navy, rising to the rank of commander.
   Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., he earned a bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, a bachelor of science in civil engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master’s degree in business administration from George Washington University.
   After retiring from the university, he served on the boards of the Springdale Golf Club; the Princeton-Blairstown Center, a nonprofit educational organization serving urban youths; and Presbyterian Homes & Services, a nonprofit senior care organization. He also served on the Princeton Township Flood Commission and the Chamber of Commerce.
   He is survived by his wife, Elaine M. McPartland; daughter and son-in-law Lynn and Michael Horan of Cinnaminson; sister Ellen Conklin of Centerport, N.Y.; grandchildren Catherine and Brendan Horan; and many nieces and nephews.
   Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10:30 a.m. Friday at Princeton University Chapel.
   Visiting hours are 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, 40 Vandeventer Ave., Princeton.
   Burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.
   Memorial contributions may be made to the Princeton-Blairstown Center or the American Heart Association.
   Arrangements are by Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.
Barbara S. Thompson
Retired administrative assistant
   
MONROE — Barbara Simond Thompson died Sunday at Centra State Medical Center, Freehold. She was 84.
   Born in Chicago, she was a 36-year Princeton resident before moving to Monroe Village in 1990.
   She was the administrative assistant for Hunt and Augustine, Princeton real estate developers, and served as the administrative assistant for the Historical Society of Princeton.
   She was a 48-year member of Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton, serving as a deacon. She was a volunteer reader for Recording for the Blind.
   She graduated from Greenwich Academy, Greenwich, Conn., attended Bennington College and received a degree in education from the Bank Street School of Education in New York.
   She taught elementary school in Greenwich, Conn. and following her marriage worked at a munitions factory during World War II making Thompson submachine guns while her husband was overseas.
   She is survived by her husband of 60 years, David Thompson of Monroe Village; sons David junior and Peter, both of Cambridge, Mass.; daughter-in-law Wendy Squires Thompson; sister Suzanne Holland of West Newton, Mass.; and grandchildren Ted and Britta Thompson.
   A memorial service will be held at Monroe Village at a later date.
   Burial will be in Princeton Cemetery.
   Memorial contributions may be made to Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, 20 Roszel Road, Princeton, NJ 08540.
   Arrangements are by Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.
Marvin C. Soffen
Retired patent attorney
   
Marvin C. Soffen of Princeton died suddenly Saturday at home. He was 76.
   Raised in Washington, D.C., he was a Princeton resident 48 years.
   Mr. Soffen was a name partner and former managing partner of the intellectual property law firm of Ostrolenk, Faber, Gerb & Soffen LLP of New York City and Washington, D.C.
   He was known for his high profile patent work on several important products including Pearlescence, a product created by the Mearl Corp., now Englehard Corp., that is derived from herring scales and is the shiny substance used in metallic automobile paints and in frosted lipsticks and nail polishes that were fashionable in the early 1970s.
   Mr. Soffen served in the Navy and graduated with distinction from Cornell University in 1949 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.
   After working briefly as a chemical engineer in Baltimore, he served as a patent examiner in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office while pursing a law degree at George Washington University in Washington.
   In 1953, he joined his father-in-law, Samuel Ostrolenk, who together with Sidney G. Faber had established a small patent law firm in New York City. Under Mr. Soffen’s leadership, the firm grew to 100 employees and is now ranked in the top 20 firms in the nation in terms of the number of U.S. patents obtained for clients.
   Following his retirement, he audited courses at Princeton University and traveled widely with his wife, most recently to Vietnam, Cambodia and Cuba.
   He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Rachel P. Soffen, daughters Dr. Cynthia Soffen Cooper of Durham, N.H., Shari Soffen Donnermeyer of Portsmouth, N.H., and Sybil Soffen Miller of Winter Park, Colo.; sons Stephen A. Soffen of Potomac, Md. and Scott L. Soffen of Ellicott City, Md.; and 12 grandchildren.
   A memorial service will be held at a later date.
   Memorial donations may be made to the Weizmann Institute of Science of Rehovot, Israel, care of the Weizmann Institute of Science, 130 East 59th St., New York, N.Y. 10022.
Jacob Fracaroli
Plasma lab technician
   
Jacob Fracaroli of Princeton died Sunday at Tandem Health Care in Lawrence. He was 87.
   Born in Raritan, he was a Princeton resident for the past 50 years.
   He retired in 1979 from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in Plainsboro after 25 years as a senior technician.
   Mr. Fracaroli was an Army veteran of World War II, and also worked as a civilian employee at the Belle Mead Army Depot in Hillsborough.
   Husband of the late Mary Sullivan Fracaroli, son of the late Dominick and Rose Fracaroli, he is survived by daughter Mary Lynn Fracaroli of Princeton; brother and sister-in-law Alfonso and Marie Fracaroli of Bridgewater; sisters and brother-in-law Louise Lomastro of Snyder, N.Y., and Linda and Philip Farah of Bridgewater; six nieces and nephews; nine grandnieces and grandnephews; and six great-grandnieces and great-grandnephews.
   Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Paul Roman Catholic Church, 214 Nassau St., Princeton.
   Burial will follow in St. Paul’s Cemetery.
   Visiting hours are 9 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, 40 Vandeventer Ave., Princeton.
   In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Paul’s Church Health Care Ministry, 214 Nassau St., Princeton, NJ 08540 or Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 529, Princeton, NJ 08542.
Ellen C. Nevitt
Worked at travel agency
   
HILLSBOROUGH — Ellen C. Nevitt died Friday at The Medical Center at Princeton. She was 75.
   Born in Benzheim, Germany, she was a Princeton-area resident for nearly 30 years.
   Mrs. Nevitt was employed for many years at Omni Travel at the Princeton Shopping Center. She was a substitute teacher in Cranford earlier in her career.
   She attended Douglass College in New Brunswick.
   She was a member of the Friends of the Hillsborough Library, the Jewish Center of Princeton and its Silver Circle group.
   Daughter of the late Ludwig and Else Freundlich, mother of the late Karen Jo Nevitt, she is survived by her son, Stuart Nevitt of San Clemente, Calif., and many nieces and nephews.
   The funeral will be 11:30 a.m. today at Kimble Funeral Home, 1 Hamilton Ave., Princeton.
   Burial will be private.
   In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Friends of the Hillsborough Library, 379 South Branch Road, Hillsborough, NJ 08844 or The American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 102454, Atlanta, GA 30368-2454.
Maryagnes Granitzki
Former area resident
   
NORFOLK, Va. — Maryagnes Kline Granitzki died Wednesday while visiting her family in Jacksonville, Fla. She was 45.
   Born in Trenton, she spent her childhood in the Princeton area and graduated from Montgomery High School in 1975. She attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and nursing school in Princeton.
   A former resident of Manteo, N.C., she moved to Norfolk in 2000.
   In Manteo, she was a representative for the Guardian ad Litem, a North Carolina program that represents children whose cases are petitioned to the courts because they are abused, neglected or dependent. She also was a volunteer for Hotline, a women’s crisis center.
   An avid fisherman and artist, she was a strong advocate for environmental and wildlife conservation.
   She is survived by her parents, Annemarie V. Kline and Edward F. Kline of Allentown, Pa.; husband Donald Granitzki; sisters Nancy Kline of Norfolk, Va., Jane Kline of Durham, N.C., and Johanna Harris of Jacksonville, Fla.; sister-in-law Alice Broome; brother-in-law Dan Harris; and aunts, uncles and many cousins.
   A memorial service will be held on Ocracoke Island, N.C.
   In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the National Adrenal Diseases Foundation, 505 Northern Boulevard, Great Neck, N.Y. 11021.
   Arrangements are by Hardage Giddens Funeral Home, Jacksonville, Fla.
Angela A. Vaccaro
Sister lives in Princeton
   
LAWRENCE — Angela Ann Vaccaro died Sunday at St. Joseph’s Skilled Nursing Center, Lawrence. She was 92.
   Born in Altoona, Pa., she was a Lawrence Township resident since 1929.
   She retired in 1970 from General Electric Co. after 15 years as an assembly line producer.
   Daughter of the late Samuel and Josephine Vaccaro, sister of the late James, Carmella and Tille Vaccaro, she is survived by brothers Guy Vaccaro of Burlington, Anthony Vaccaro of Columbus, Joseph Vaccaro of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and John Vaccaro of Lawrence; and sisters Mary V. Swinnerton of Princeton and Frances Grochala of Columbus.
   The funeral will be 10 a.m. Thursday at the Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, 40 Vandeventer Ave., Princeton.
   A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Paul Roman Catholic Church, 214 Nassau St., Princeton.
   Burial will be in St. Paul’s Cemetery.
   Visiting hours are 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. A Christian wake service will be held at 7:30 p.m.
   In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul Roman Catholic Church, 214 Nassau St., Princeton, NJ 08540 or St. Joseph’s Skilled Nursing Center, 1 Bishop Lane, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648.
Louise C. Vacca
Daughter lives in West Windsor
   
MONROE — Louise Cuomo Vacca of Rossmoor died Thursday at home. She was 84.
   Born in Long Island, N.Y., she was a lifelong Hightstown resident before moving to Rossmoor in 1984.
   She retired from McGraw Hill Inc. of East Windsor in 1983 after 17 years.
   She was a member of St. Anthony of Padua Alter-Rosary Society, the Anthonians and the Italian-American Club of Rossmoor.
   She is survived by her husband of 59 years, Michael Vacca; daughters and sons-in-law Marie Vacca and James Brennan of Coral Gables, Fla., Elaine Vacca of Fairfield, Conn., Janice M. and Ted Grover of West Windsor and Michelle V. and Joseph Conrad of Warren; brothers Joseph Krain of Denver and Thomas Cuomo of Bedford Hills, N.Y.; sister Elena Coppa of Elizabeth; and grandchildren Michael, Katherine, Emily, Amanda, Matthew, Nicholas and Jenny Rose.
   The funeral was Monday.
   Memorial contributions may be made to National Parkinson Foundation, c/o Graduate Parkinson Disease Center, 1800 Lombard St., Suite 900, Philadelphia, PA 19146.
   Arrangements were by Glackin/Saul Funeral Home, Hightstown.