OBITUARIES, Oct. 10, 2006

Robert J. Anderson, Peter M. Grosz, Jean C. Bonnici, Hardy K. Pedersen Sr.

Robert J. Anderson
Retired borough police sergeant
   
Robert J. Anderson of Princeton died Sunday at home. He was 81.
   Born in New Brunswick, he was a lifelong Princeton-area resident.
   Mr. Anderson retired after many years of service as a sergeant with Princeton Borough Police Department.
   He was a member of the Police Benevolent Association and a World War II Navy veteran.
   Husband of the late Betty Smith Anderson, father of the late Robert C. Anderson, he is survived by sons and daughter-in-law Mark and Janet Anderson of Gaithersburg, Md., and Timothy S. Anderson of Centerville, Ohio; daughters and son-in-law Pamela Anderson of Solebury, Pa., and Sharon and David D’Atri of South Brunswick; brother Daniel Anderson of Colorado; 10 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
   The funeral will be noon Thursday at Mather-Hodge Funeral Home 40 Vandeventer Ave., Princeton.
   Burial will be in the family plot in Rocky Hill Cemetery, Rocky Hill.
   Calling hours will be 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
   In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, 2550 Route 1, North Brunswick, NJ 08902-4301 or the charity of the donor’s choice.
Peter M. Grosz
Authority on WW I aviation
   
Peter M. Grosz died Sept. 29 at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick of complications of brain cancer. He was 80.
   Born in Germany, he was a longtime Princeton resident.
   He was a renowned World War I aviation expert and devoted much time and interest to maintaining the legacy of his father, the expressionist artist George Grosz, best known for his savagely satirical caricatures of German society under the Weimer Republic.
   He grew up in Germany and after his father left to teach at the Art Students League of New York, he and his brother, Martin, stayed behind for a year, living with an aunt in Berlin whose apartment overlooked the Tempelhof Airport. This led to a lifelong hobby that began with collecting pictures of airplanes that came with cigarette packs and later developed into the largest private collection of original photographs, technical data books and magazines devoted to the development of German aircraft before and during World War I.
   After arriving in the United States in 1933, he attended school in Long Island and Phillips Andover Academy before being drafted into the Navy in 1944. Discharged in 1946, he enrolled at Harvard University and majored in physics, hoping to become an aircraft engineer.
   After graduating in 1950, he worked in a steel mill in Pittsburgh for a year until finding a job with a research and development firm in Cleveland. When the company moved its sales and administrative office to Princeton in 1952, Mr. Grosz and his bride came as well.
   Later, he worked for Applied Science Corp. in Princeton and then joined International Research Consultants, which allowed him to travel and attend to his hobby and also to the estate of his father, who died in 1959 shortly after returning to Berlin to teach. Mr. Grosz and his family lived in West Berlin from 1970 to 1972.
   Mr. Grosz was widely known among aviation historians and constantly consulted for his knowledge of aircraft design and technology. He was the author of several books, including "The German Giants: The German R-Planes, 1914-1918," first published in 1962 and re-issued in several subsequent editions. The book documents the multiple-engine long-range bombers that struck London 10 times during World War I.
   In 1983, Mr. Grosz was named the first Verville Fellow at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington and was given a grant to spend the 1983-1984 year working on a book about the Austro-Hungarian aircraft used in World War I. In 2005, he was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by the president of the Federal Republic. The ceremony was conducted by the mayor of Berlin.
   Mr. Grosz served as guest curator at the Museum of Transportation in Berlin for four weeks in 1989 and more recently was a consultant to the German Technical Museum in Berlin. He wrote hundreds of articles and monographs outlining the monumental strides in aviation development and technology during World War I, reflected in the more than 48,000 aircraft that Germany built at that time.
   In 1962, the estate of his father was transferred from Germany to New York and Mr. Grosz and his brother entrusted the management of their father’s artworks to Serge Sabarsky, a Viennese-born art dealer in Manhattan. Mr. Grosz undertook to build up and organize his father’s archives, which included every book and article about his father, catalogues from every art show, and his massive correspondence.
   Over time, the brothers became dissatisfied with Mr. Sabarsky’s management of the artwork and sought to recover works that Mr. Sabarsky had sold or purchased for himself. Seeking recourse in the courts, they initiated a lawsuit that dragged on for a number of years before finally being settled last year.
   The correspondence by his father from the time of his arrival in the United States was given to the Houghton Library at Harvard. The Grosz archive is at the Academy of Art in Berlin.
   Mr. Grosz was a skilled craftsman and stone mason. He enjoyed sailing his Laser in the Sunday afternoon races on Lake Carnegie sponsored by the Carnegie Sailing Club, which he served as commodore. He and his wife traveled widely and were in Berlin at least once a year.
   Mr. Grosz was a devoted supporter of Princeton Friends School, serving on its development committee for many years.
   He was a member of the core group that worked to establish a study center at Dorothea’s House for youth in 1963 and helped arrange a special film series at the Garden Theatre and also at Montgomery Cinemas, the latter sponsored by the Arts Council of Princeton.
   He was a loyal volunteer at the annual Bryn Mawr Book Sale, pricing books for sale, and was known for turning up rare finds on Germany and military tactics. He was also devoted to his poker group.
   Father of the late Michael, who died in 1976, and Karin, who died in June of lung cancer, he is survived by his wife of 55 years, Lilian, and brother, Martin, a professional jazz guitarist in Philadelphia.
   A memorial meeting will be held 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, at Princeton Friends Meeting, 470 Quaker Road, Princeton.
   Memorial contributions may be made to Princeton Friends School Building Fund, 470 Quaker Road, Princeton, NJ 08540.
Jean C. Bonnici
Retired travel agent
   
WEST WINDSOR — Jean C. Bonnici died Thursday at Saint Peter’s University Hospital, New Brunswick. She was 71.
   Born in the Bronx, N.Y., and a longtime area resident, Mrs. Bonnici retired in 2000 with over 15 years of service as a travel agent with Sowa Travel, East Brunswick.
   She was a parishioner of St. David the King Church, a member of the Italian-American Club of Village Grande and a member of the Bronx Club.
   Daughter of the late Thomas and Emily Wightman McInerney, she is survived by her husband of 51 years, John P. Bonnici of Asbury Park; daughters and sons-in-law Kathy and Andre Ouellet of East Brunswick, Suzanne and Joseph Celentano of Mahwah and Janet and Christopher Baile of Helmetta; brothers James McInerney of South Amboy and Thomas McInerney of Hershey, Pa.; and grandchildren Jennifer, Emily, Lilah, Cate, Emma and A.J.
   In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. David the King Church, 1 New Village Road West, West Windsor, NJ 08550.
   Arrangements were by Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.
Hardy K. Pedersen Sr.
Owned Hardy Nurseries
   
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP — Hardy Kurt Pedersen Sr. died Wednesday at home. He was 78.
   Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, he came to the United States in 1930 with his family. They settled in Plainsboro on a farm that serviced the Walker Gordon dairy farm for many years.
   He founded Hardy Nurseries Inc., a landscape design and nursery business, after moving to Hopewell Township in 1956. He continued to operate the business with his son, H. Kurt Pedersen Jr.
   He attended schools in Plainsboro and Princeton, graduating from Princeton High School, and then served with the Marine Corps.
   He was an active member of the Calvary Baptist Church of Hopewell, singing in the choir for 35 years and serving as a trustee and a Sunday school teacher.
   He taught adult education classes in Hunterdon, Princeton and the Hopewell Valley. He enjoyed speaking to the local garden clubs. As a naturalist, he enjoyed sharing with others his extensive knowledge of ornamental horticulture and nature.
   He was a former member of the Hopewell Township Shade Tree Committee and Planning Board, the Ruralites, and he helped to found the Hopewell Valley Jaycees. For many years, he was active in Boy Scout Troop 41 and the Indian Guides with his sons. He enjoyed spending his winters in Port Salerno, Fla.
   Son of the late J. Viggo and Edel Pedersen, brother of the late Bent Pedersen and Solveig Chamberlin, he is survived by his wife of 53 years, Sophia Benson Pedersen; daughter Elizabeth Parry of Pennington; sons and daughters-in-law H. Kurt and Colleen of Pennington and Mark and Cheryl of Ewing; grandchildren David and Capt. Benjamin Parry and Kelsey, Ryan, Morgan, Shannon and Shelby Pedersen; brothers and a sister-in-law Arne and Lil Pedersen of Vermont and John Pedersen; and many nieces and nephews.
   A service celebrating his life will be held at 4 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Calvary Baptist Church, 3 E. Broad St., Hopewell.
   Memorial contributions may be made to the Memorial Fund of the Calvary Baptist Church, 3 East Broad St., Hopewell, NJ 08525.
   Arrangements are by the Blackwell Memorial Home, Pennington.