David A. Robertson Jr., Janet M. Nystrom, Darrington A. Zieden, Robert M. Kerney.
David A. Robertson Jr.
Retired Barnard English professor
David A. Robertson Jr. of Princeton died Monday. He was 88.
Born in Chicago, he grew up in Baltimore and was a resident of New York City and Demarest before moving to Princeton around 1989.
He was a longtime professor of English at Barnard College in New York City, teaching courses on Shakespeare and holding the Millicent Carey McIntosh chair. His wide-ranging interests included 19th-century English literature as well as French and Russian prose, Asian history and mountaineering.
He was the author of "Sir Charles Eastlake and the Victorian Art World," published by Princeton University Press in 1978, and "North of India: Some 19th Century Europeans in the Himalayan Regions and Central Asia," published by Orchid Press in 1998.
A Princeton University graduate, he served on a number of university advisory councils beginning in the 1970s including the Advisory Council of the Library and the advisory councils of both the English and the art and archaeology departments, holding chairmanships of both.
After retiring from Barnard and settling in Princeton, he continued his ties to the Princeton University Library and was named chairman of Friends of the Princeton University Library in 1991.
Mr. Robertson received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton in 1936, followed by master’s and doctorate degrees from the university. He played lacrosse and developed an interest in mountaineering while at Princeton. He later received a Henry Fellowship to Trinity College, Cambridge University.
While at Trinity, with his interest in Asian studies and his love of mountains, he met and later married Beridge Mallory, the younger daughter of the great mountaineer George Mallory, who died on Mount Everest in 1924. He later wrote his late father-in-law’s biography. The couple had three children. She died in 1953.
Mr. Robertson was a Navy lieutenant commander during World War II.
After the war, he co-edited American Alpine Journal and began his teaching career at Barnard, living in Manhattan and later Demarest, retiring in the 1980s and later moving to Princeton.
In 1964, he married Victoria Adams Bryer and the couple had three children. The marriage ended in divorce.
He is survived by his wife, Harriet Robertson; children from his first marriage, Anne Spencer of Geneva, Switzerland, and Susan Robertson and Allan Robertson, both of New York City; children from his second marriage, Struan Robertson of Paris, Isabelle Robertson of El Cerrito, Calif., and Sam Robertson of New York City; stepchildren Ellen Stockmayr and Peter Fisher; and six grandchildren.
A memorial service is planned for September.
Arrangements are by Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.
Janet M. Nystrom
Summered in Princeton
Janet M. Nystrom of Richmond, Va., died Tuesday at her home in Princeton, where she and her family have spent their summers since 1965. She was 63.
Mrs. Nystrom worked for several years at Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) in Richmond, and was recently retired as a paralegal from the law firm of McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe, also in Richmond.
A 1963 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, she held a master’s degree in urban planning from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
Born in Trenton, she was the daughter of late Abraham Movshovitz and mother of the late Julia Gray Nystrom. She is survived by her mother, Helen Movshovitz of Richmond, Va.; husband Bruce Nystrom of Richmond; daughter and son-in-law Nika and David Haase of Swarthmore, Pa.; sons and daughters-in-law Marc and Keller Nystrom and Scott and Jennifer Nystrom, all of Richmond; brother Howard Movshovitz of Boulder, Colo.; grandchildren Grace and Sophie Haase of Swarthmore, Pa., Campbell, Hill and Russell Nystrom of Richmond, and Molly Nystrom of Richmond; and numerous other relatives.
The family will receive friends at home, 253 VonNeumann Drive, Princeton, 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday.
A memorial service will be held 11 a.m. Wednesday at the St. Christopher’s School Chapel, 711 St. Christopher’s Road, Richmond, Va.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Christopher’s School Foundation, 711 St. Christopher’s Road, Richmond, VA 23226.
Darrington A. Zieden
Fashion designer
Darrington Allain Zieden of Princeton died Tuesday at home. She was 54.
Born in Memphis, Tenn., she was a resident of Princeton the past 28 years.
She was a fashion designer for Jordache and Gitano before retiring.
Mrs. Zieden was a graduate of The Fashion Institute of Technology and Pratt Institute.
She is survived by her husband, Joel D. Zieden; daughters Gabrielle Anne Zieden and Lara Brittion Zieden, both of Princeton; and sisters Jimmie Jones of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Rosetta Edmondson of Boston.
The funeral will be 10 a.m. Sunday at The Jewish Center, 435 Nassau St., Princeton.
Burial will follow at Beth Israel Cemetery, Woodbridge.
The period of mourning will be observed at the residence.
Memorial contributions may be made to Hale House, 152 West 122nd St., New York, NY 10027 or Womanspace, 1212 Stuyvesant Ave., Trenton, NJ 08618.
Arrangements are by Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, Ewing.
Robert M. Kerney
Writer, newspaper publisher
MONTGOMERY Robert Manning Kerney died Tuesday at University Medical Center at Princeton after a long illness. He was 57.
Born in Lawrence, he was a resident of Pennington for 22 years before moving to Belle Mead four years ago.
For the past 19 years, Mr. Kerney had been incapacitated with multiple sclerosis.
A writer, Mr. Kerney began his career at the Trenton Times, which was founded by his grandfather, the late Judge James Kerney.
Mr. Kerney was the founder, editor and publisher of The Pennington Post, a weekly newspaper, which was later acquired by Media News Group.
He wrote a book about gold trading, "The Complete Book of Gold Investing," and was an expert in the nonferrous metals industry. He wrote extensively for trade publications.
He later worked for the New Jersey Legislature as a resolution writer.
A self-taught guitarist, he was a collector of blues music and a fan of American musical theater.
He was active in St. James Church in Pennington, where he served on the Parish Council, as a lay reader, and was the parish’s representative to a diocesan work group on the role of the laity.
Mr. Kerney attended Georgetown University and graduated summa cum laude from The College of New Jersey.
He served in the Army during the Vietnam War, stationed in New Jersey and Germany.
Son of the late Barbara Manning Kerney and John E. Kerney, he is survived by daughters Whitney Rappaport of San Jose, Calif., Maeve of Mountain View, Calif., and Polly of Los Gatos, Calif.; sons Duggan of Missoula, Mont., and Ryan of Cambridge, Mass.; special friend Kathaleen Farkas of Belle Mead; brothers James of Pittsford, Vt., John of Cape May, Michael of Hopewell and Peter of Pennington; sisters Patricia Odden of Manchester, Vt., and Anne Valencia of Sacramento, Calif.; and many nieces and nephews.
A memorial Mass will be celebrated 11 a.m. Saturday at St. James Catholic Church, 115 E. Delaware Ave., Pennington.
Interment will follow in St. Paul’s Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to multiple sclerosis research, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 246 Monmouth Road, Oakhurst, NJ 07755.
Arrangements are by Blackwell Memorial Home, Pennington.