Alfred N. Meiss

   Alfred N. Meiss, 90, died Thursday, Sept. 30, at Haven Hospice in Edison, of congestive heart failure.
   He was born in Philadelphia, grew up in Laurel Springs, and spent the past 57 years in Cranbury.
   In the early 1960s Dr. Meiss was active in local environmental planning and was instrumental in establishing Cranbury’s first Planning Board, which he chaired for about eight years. At the same time he was active in the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association. His interest in conservation and land use dates to his undergraduate days. He received bachelor’s of science and master’s of science degrees in soil chemistry and agriculture from Rutgers. While a student he met and married his wife, Edith, a Douglas graduate. After serving in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946, he completed a doctorate in plant science at Yale University in 1950. He earned his way working as a biochemist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven from 1948 to 1952. Dr. Meiss and family returned to New Jersey where he was an associate professor at Rutgers University College of Agriculture from 1952 to 1957.
   From 1957 to 1967, he was science advisor at Ted Bates & Company in New York City where he specialized in food products and nutrition. He moved from advertising to food and agricultural research projects in international development for Sidney M. Cantor Associates, Haverford, Pa., from 1968 to1975. Field research took him to Chile, Peru, India and Pakistan. His last consulting work was for a small defense consulting firm for which he conducted research and development of military and security products.
   His wife of 60 years, Edith, died in 2002. His son, Stephen A. Meiss, died in 1996 and daughter, Elizabeth Jean Meiss, in 2007. He is survived by daughter, Alison Edith Meiss of Washington, D.C.; granddaughters, Angela M. Henderson of Grover Beach, Calif., and Stephanie M. Webb of Pottsville, Pa.; nephews, Richard A. Meiss of Speedway, Ind., Martin M. Meiss of Syracuse, N.Y.; nieces Harriette Regan of Vancouver, BC; and four great-grandchildren, California twins, Sage and Darcy Henderson and Pennsylvania siblings Gavin and Molly Webb.
   A memorial service is planned for Sunday, Nov. 2, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, One-Mile Road Extension, East Windsor, at 1:30 p.m. Burial of cremains in the church memorial garden will immediately follow the service. Services of Central New Jersey handled the remains. For those who desire, memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Haven Hospice of Edison, or the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, 31 Titus Mill Road, Pennington, N.J. 08534.