OBITUARIES, May 2, 2003

Richard M. Ludwig, Antoinette Buzzerio, Sophia Litt, Claire Beskind, Charlotte M. Gilligan.

Richard M. Ludwig
English professor, university librarian
   
Richard M. Ludwig of Princeton died Monday night at home. He was 82.
   He was an emeritus professor of English and the former associate university librarian for rare books and special collections at Princeton University.
   Born in Reading, Pa., he received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1942. After serving in the Army during World War II, he enrolled at Harvard and was awarded a doctorate in 1950.
   He moved to Princeton in 1950 when he was offered a faculty position in the Princeton University Department of English and he was a Princeton resident the remainder of his life.
   An authority on American literature, Professor Ludwig received many university awards, including a Bicentennial Preceptorship and a McCosh Faculty Fellowship.
   He was asked to take on many administrative assignments, including chairing Princeton’s Special Program in the Humanities, the Committee on Humanistic Studies and the Program in American Studies.
   Professor Ludwig was the editor of a long list of reviews and monographs, including "Aspects of American Poetry" and "Letters of Ford Madox Ford." He was co-editor of "Guide to American Literature Since 1890," "Literary History of the United States," "Major American Writers" and "Nine Short Novels," among other titles. He was a member of the English Literature Board at McGraw-Hill and general editor of the Pegasus American Authors Series.
   Professor Ludwig was regarded as an outstanding teacher and academic advisor whose students stayed in touch with him throughout their adult lives.
   In 2001, one of his former students, Michael Spence, winner of the Nobel economics prize that year, surprised him by establishing the Richard M. Ludwig Endowment Fund for the purchase of rare books and manuscripts for the university library. The New York collector Leonard Milberg, a 1953 Princeton graduate, twice gave major collections, one in American poetry and one in Irish poetry, to the library in Professor Ludwig’s honor.
   In 1974, Professor Ludwig was asked to become the head of the university library’s Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. Under his guidance, the collections grew dramatically, with large and important accessions relating to Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Allan Tate, the publishing companies Henry Holt and Scribner and Sons, John Keats, Sir Thomas More, Aldus Huxley, Woodrow Wilson, Adlai Stevenson and Allen Dulles, among others. He oversaw the expansion of the staff and the department’s quarters, including the construction of the Milberg exhibition gallery and the Seeley Mudd Manuscript Library. When he retired in 1986, the Viscountess Eccles presented the Raymond Mortimer Papers to the library to mark Professor Ludwig’s achievements.
   Son of the late Ralph O. Ludwig and Millie M. Ludwig, he is the last surviving member of his family.
   At Professor Ludwig’s request, there will be no memorial service.
Antoinette Buzzerio
Princeton resident
   
Antoinette Buzzerio of Princeton died Monday at her daughter’s home in Pennington. She was 78.
   Born in Jersey City, she was a Princeton-area resident for many years.
   Wife of the late Leonard G. Buzzerio, she is survived by sons and daughters-in-law Joseph G. and Lynn Buzzerio of Fairview and Leonard and Elaine Buzzerio of Cliffside Park; daughter and son-in-law Jannean L. and Edwin Albarran of Pennington; brother John Ognisanti of Point Pleasant; sister and brother-in-law Victoria and Vincent Sirico of Silverton; grandchildren Jonas, Evan and Tyla Buzzerio and Lea Albarran; great-grandchildren Sage and Skye Buzzerio; and many nieces and nephews.
   Services were held Wednesday.
   Memorial contributions may be made to the Hospice Memorial Fund, The Medical Center at Princeton, 253 Witherspoon St., Princeton, NJ 08540.
   Arrangements were by Wilson-Apple Funeral Home, Pennington.
Sophia Litt
Retired bookkeeper
   
Sophia Mind Litt of Princeton died Monday at Princeton Nursing Home. She was 94.
   She was a former resident of northeast Philadelphia.
   She was a retired bookkeeper for Crown Products of Philadelphia. Earlier, she and her husband owned and operated Litt’s Candy Store in Philadelphia.
   Wife of the late Aaron Litt, she is survived by sons and daughters-in-law Eli and Carole Litt of North Port, Fla., and Dr. Irwin and Barbara Litt of Princeton; six grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
   The funeral will be 11:30 a.m. today at Goldsteins’ Rosenberg’s Raphael-Sacks, 310 Second Street Pike, Southampton, Pa.
   Burial will follow at Mt. Lebanon Cemetery, Collingdale, Pa.
   Shiva will be observed at the home of Irwin and Barbara Litt through Sunday.
   Memorial contributions may be made to the Princeton Jewish Center, 435 Nassau St., Princeton, NJ 08540.
Claire Beskind
Worked at Caliper
   
TUCSON, Ariz. — Claire Beskind, a 35-year resident of Princeton and South Brunswick, died April 17.
   She was a 20-year employee of Caliper, a human resources consulting firm in Princeton Township.
   She was president of the Princeton chapter of the League of Women Voters in the late 1960s, secretary of the Princeton Stroke Club and a member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton.
   She was devoted to music and writing poetry. Several of her poems have been published.
   She is survived by sons Mark and Dan; brother Larry Burrows; and grandchildren Hannah, Sam and Jessica.
Charlotte M. Gilligan
Former Brooklyn resident
   
PLAINSBORO — Charlotte M. Gilligan died Thursday at home.
   Born in Scotland, she was a resident of Brooklyn, N.Y., for most of her life before moving to Plainsboro 20 years ago.
   Wife of the late Hugh Gilligan, she was also predeceased by three sisters and two brothers. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Maureen and Robert Oberholtzer, with whom she lived; grandson Hugh; and granddaughter Cathleen.
   A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. Monday at St. Paul Roman Catholic Church, 214 Nassau St., Princeton.
   Burial will be in St. John’s Cemetery, Middle Village, N.Y.
   Visiting hours are 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday and 8:15 to 9:15 a.m. Monday at Kimble Funeral Home, 1 Hamilton Ave., Princeton.