Joseph Anthony “Joe” McLaughlin, 83, of Columbus died November 27 at the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro. Born in Philadelphia, he lived in West Windsor from 1968 to 2001.
A graduate of Villanova University, he worked for RCA in Cherry Hill, and then the Hertz Corporation in New York City. He retired in 1987.
Survivors include his brother, Jack McLaughlin of Media, Pennsylvania; his children, Joseph McLaughlin of Princeton, Michael and Terri McLaughlin of Greenville, North Carolina, Susan McLaughlin and Michael Furman of Brooklyn, New York, Patricia McLaughlin of West Windsor, Richard and Jackie McLaughlin of Essex Fells, and Jacqueline McLaughlin and Roel Funke of Brisbane, California; and his 12 grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, December 19, at 11 a.m. at St. David’s Church in West Windsor. Donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.
Robert Luther Thompson Sr., 88, of Skillman died November 27. Born in Delaware, Ohio, he was a former resident of Plainsboro.
A Navy corpsman from 1945 to 1947; he reenlisted as an aviation cadet in 1949. He studied air and sea navigation where he learned to compute data essential for the first flight over the North Pole. In 1951, he joined the Marine Corps as an instructor in the aerial navigational school. Thompson received a bachelor of arts degree from Florence State Teachers College in Alabama, a master’s degree in European history and a doctorate in education from Duke University.
He served at Duke as assistant director, director of financial aid, executive secretary of the Committee of Admissions, and director of the Office of Analytical Studies. He was later the director of the Division of Academic Information at the Association of American Medical Colleges in Washington, DC. He joined the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine and became the first dean of student services, serving from 1977 until 1991. He also served as adjunct associate professor of osteopathic sciences, teaching a required course in the history of medicine.
Survivors include his wife of 64 years, Betty S. Thompson; their five children, Robert Thompson Jr. and his wife, Mary Beth, Sandra Pollock, Susan Kurtain and her husband, Bill, Steven Thompson, and Laurie Randow; adopted daughter, Kathy Cook and her husband, Tom; his sister, Ellen Sheehan; 16 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, December 19, at 2 p.m., at Nassau Presbyterian Church, 61 Nassau Street, Princeton. Donations may be made to Dr. Robert L. Thompson Endowed Scholarship Fund at Rowan University of Osteopathic Medicine, Rowan University Foundation, 201 Mullica Hill Road, Glassboro 08028.
Herbert Viggo Stensgaard, 86, of Jackson died November 27. Survivors include a daughter, Kristi Baur of West Windsor. Donations may be made to Children’s Institute, 15 Bloomfield Avenue, Suite 3, Verona 07044 (www.tcischool.org).
Mary F. Murray, 92, a former resident of West Windsor, died December 3 at the Masonic Home of NJ in Burlington. She was born in Edison.
Survivors include her two daughters and sons-in-law, Barbara and Terry Napravnik and Sandra and Lone Lee; her two sons and a daughter-in-law, Robert and Sandi Murray and Gary Murray; eight grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and several nephews. Donations may be made to the Masonic Home, 902 Jacksonville Road, Burlington 08016.
