In 1938, George M. Shipley, 16, of Pittsburgh enrolled in the Hun School of Princeton, where he was warmly welcomed by the school’s founder, Dr. John Gale Hun.
Mr. Shipley never forgot the "familial atmosphere" at the school. He always kept in touch with the school. And when he died in January at 79, Mr. Shipley paid back some of Dr. Hun’s kindness.
He left the school a $3 million bequest that will go toward the school’s new $15 million athletic initiative. The first part of the initiative will be the expansion of the boathouse at Mercer Lake in West Windsor.
The expansion will allow Hun rowers to have their own facility while practicing with the U.S. National Rowing Team.
The athletic initiative also calls for athletic fields, a tennis center and an athletic center.
Mr. Shipley, who managed the Hun football team when he was a student, was very involved with athletics at the school, which now has 580 students.
"Mr. Shipley had a great passion for athletics," said Joseph T. Claffey, the school’s director of advancement. "He was a staunch advocate of a sound mind and body."
Mr. Shipley took a leave of absence at Hun to join the merchant marines. He returned to graduate in 1942 and went on to get an undergraduate degree from Columbia University and became an accountant.
