By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Princeton resident William H. Scheide has spent a lifetime in music and philanthropy. Those interests again will be blended Jan.18 at a benefit music concert to support the Community Park Pool.
The classical music performance, celebrating Mr. Scheide’s 99th birthday, will be the sixth annual birthday concert that doubles as a fundraiser for a local institution. Past recipients have included the Princeton Public Library and the Arts Council of Princeton, as each year’s recipient is chosen by Mr. Scheide and his wife.
This year, the English Chamber Orchestra will be performing under the direction of conductor Mark Laycock inside Richardson Auditorium at Princeton University, from which Mr. Scheide graduated in 1936. It’s no accident that Mr. Laycock will be leading the orchestra; Mr. Scheide is a fan of the conductor, who previously was at the Princeton Symphony Orchestra and now lives in Europe.
Judy Scheide, Mr. Scheide’s wife, said Monday that her husband could not bear the thought of not seeing Mr. Laycock in performance again when he decided to move to Germany a few years ago. That is why he returns to Princeton to conduct the concert.
Mr. Scheide, whose family fortune came through his grandfather and later father working at Standard Oil, is a noted philanthropist; he helped support the legal work of the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case Brown vs. Board of Education that ended legal segregation of public schools. He turned 99 on Jan.6.
Mrs. Scheide has been throwing the birthday concerts starting with her husband’s 94th birthday. Each year, the couple chooses a different recipient, a selection that Mrs. Scheide said helps to “illuminate” the charity’s work to the broader community. The fundraising goal this year is $99,000, a figure that corresponds with his 99th birthday.
Princeton Recreation Director Ben Stentz said Friday that he has known the Scheides for the past 10 years and felt it a special chance to partner with them. “It’s an amazing opportunity,” he said.
The pool underwent roughly $7 million in new construction starting in September 2011, with the facility reopening last May. Proceeds from the concert will go to the Princeton Parks and Recreation Fund, which had pledged to contribute $1 million to offset the construction costs of the project.
Tickets for the concert cost $35. Information can be found by either calling the university ticketing office at 258-9220 or going online at www.scheideconcerts.com.

