Deaths
Mildred (Everett) Taylor Eski, 84, died at the home of her son and daughter-in-law, Lee and Kay Taylor in Florida on May 4.
Born in Princeton Junction, Millie was the second youngest of five brothers and four sisters and reminisced frequently of the joys of growing up on a potato farm in rural New Jersey. She raised her family in Langhorne, PA, living there for 31 years. In 1976, she moved to Pinellas Park, FL. She moved to Merritt Island in 2002.
She survived three husbands, Leroy B. Taylor, Mac McDonald and John Eski.
She is survived by her two sons, John William Taylor of Florence and Lee Bradford Taylor of Merritt Island, FL; grandchildren Sherry Toro of Cherry Hill, John W. Taylor Jr. of Florence, Matthew Taylor of Naples, FL, and Erin Schuman, Joel Taylor and Sean Taylor, all of Fort Wayne, IN. She had five great-grandchildren all living in Indiana. Her siblings surviving her are brother and sister-in-law Harold and Marion Everett of Hightstown; sister Beulah Zowe of Nazareth, PA; sister-in-law Esther Everett of West Windsor; and brother-in-law Douglas Doolittle of Trenton; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Jaquon Gullette, 27, of Ravens Crest Drive, Plainsboro, died in a car crash on Dey Road on May 8, while driving a car owned by his employer, Texas Road Pharmacy, in Plainsboro.
Survivors include his mother in Rahway and his girlfriend, Michelle, in Plainsboro. According to Sgt. Frank Dilley of the Cranbury Police, there was a large vigil held the following week at the scene of the accident.
Thomas R. O’Kane III of West Windsor died May 10 at St. Mary’s Hospital, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He had multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow.
Born and raised in Princeton, he graduated from Villanova University in 1960 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. After two years of graduate study in industrial psychology at Rutgers University, he began working in the Personnel Department with the then Port of New York Authority (now Port Authority of New York and New Jersey).
In close to 34 years with the Port Authority, he held a wide variety of increasingly diverse professional and managerial positions in human resources prior to his appointment as deputy director of Human Resources for the 9,”000-member government agency. He was cited during his career for his performance in the establishment of human resources policies and programs. He was known for the work he performed in carrying out a nationwide recruitment program for hundreds of engineers and technical staff to plan, develop, and operate the Port Authority’s numerous transportation and international trade facilities, including the New York/New Jersey interstate tunnels and bridges, the major metropolitan airports, seaports, and the World Trade Center. He was instrumental in the executive development program in creating and managing as a way of ensuring a viable succession plan for key leadership roles in future years.
He was a member of the Princeton Jaycees and served as its secretary, in which capacity he also worked with the State Jaycee organization on the Jaycee Football Classic held at Palmer Stadium each year with funds raised from the game allocated to local charities.
He served as a member of the International Personnel Management Association (IPMA) for many years at the local, regional, and national levels and served on the executive committee of the Eastern Region for six years. He was elected president of the Eastern Region of the IPMA for the 1987-’88 term representing about 5,”000 public human resource professionals and was responsible for communicating with them on a wide range of issues, policies, and programs. In 1988 he was recipient of the Presidents’ Award for his leadership contributions to IPMA and to the human resources profession.
Passionate about tennis, he excelled as a club player in local leagues and tournaments in West Windsor and in Mercer County both as a singles and doubles player until health issues interfered with his mobility.
Survivors include his high school sweetheart and wife of more than 50 years, Joan Pietrinferno O’Kane; his daughter Elizabeth A. O’Kane; his son and daughter-in-law, Tom and Karen O’Kane of Robbinsville; and his two grandchildren, Mollie Loren and Kyle Thomas O’Kane. Family survivors also include his sisters and brothers-in-law, Joan and J. Brewer Moore of Portsmouth, Virginia, and Kathleen and Brad of Burlington; and a brother and sister-in-law, Dennis O’Kane and Wilma Lingle of Rochester, Minnesota.
Contributions may be made to Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, 11 Forest Street, New Canaan, Connecticut 06840.
George Henry Bruestle, 43, of Liberty Hill, South Carolina, died in an automobile accident on May 16 near his home. Raised in West Windsor, he graduated from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School in 1978. He attended West Virginia University and received a bachelor of science degree in management science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Virginia in 1987. He received a master’s in business administration from Kent State University, Ohio in 1993. He was materials manager for Cooper Tools in Lexington, South Carolina.
Growing up, he was active in the Little League and Boy Scouts. A member of several bands in school, he played the piano and trumpet. He was a member of Benevolent Protective Order of Elks (B.P.O.E.) He was an active member of and was baptized into the Liberty Street Church of Christ, Hamilton. He found his last church home at Beaver Creek Baptist Church in Heath Springs, South Carolina.
Survivors include his parents, Glenn and Mercy Bruestle of West Windsor; his fiancee, Ann Williams of South Carolina; his brothers and sisters-in-law, John and Cary Bruestle, Pennington, and Frank and Betty Bruestle, West Lawn, Pennsylvania; and five nieces and nephews, Stephen, Thomas, and Anna Bruestle of Pennington, and Corio and Gabrielle Bruestle of West Lawn, Pennsylvania.
Services were held at Beaver Creek Church, Point Pleasant Church of Christ, and Liberty Street Church. He was buried in the Lone Oak Cemetery, Point Pleasant, West Virginia.
A trust fund is being established for care of his three cats.
Edna Mae Updike, 94, of Lawrenceville died May 16 at the University Medical Center of Princeton. Born in Penns Neck on her family farm, she lived in the area all of her life.
She attended Rider College and worked as a teller for Princeton Bank and Trust. Later she married Ralph B. Hunt and after his death Sewell D. Updike, assisting them in the business of running the farm. After the death of her husbands, she worked for 14 years for the catalog department of the Firestone Library at Princeton University, retiring in 1975.
She was a member of the Lawrenceville Grange 170, Pomona Grange, New Jersey State, and National Grange. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck, where she taught Sunday school.
Survivors include one daughter and son-in-law, Dora U. and Steve Bowers of Lawrenceville; and two sons and daughters-in-law, George B. and Judith Hunt of Poughkeepsie, New York, and Norman R. and Kathleen Hunt of Front Royal, Virginia; six grandchildren, Ralph, Errol, and Cherie Hunt, Tara Johnson and her husband Troy, Douglas Hunt and his wife Jennifer, and Scott Bowers; and one great-granddaughter, Teagan Grace Johnson.
Contributions may be made to the Memorial Fund at the First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck, 154 South Mill Road, West Windsor 08550, or the American Heart Association, 2550 Route 1, North Brunswick 08902.
Anne M. Butler, 73, of Colonia, died on May 13. Survivors include her daughter Joanne Pagan of Plainsboro.
Joshua R. McCain of Plainsboro died May 13. Survivors include his parents, Sandra L. and Curtis. Donations may be made to Child Life Institute at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital, New Brunswick.
Dominic M. Ridolfino, 78, of Trenton died May 17 at Capital Health Systems Fuld. Survivors include his brother and sister in law, Bernard and Frances Ridolfino of West Windsor. Donations may be made to the American Cancer Society, 3076 Princeton Pike, Lawrenceville 08648.
Elizabeth R. Burger, 81, of Princeton died May 19 at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton. Survivors include a nephew William, his wife Eileen Shields and their children, Adrienne, Patrick, and Vanessa, all of West Windsor.
Louise Jeffers Hagenbuch, 97, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, died May 22 at Forest Park Health Center, Carlisle. She was the daughter of Henry W. Jeffers, of Plainsboro’s celebrated Walker Gordon Dairy Farm, and Anna Adams Jeffers.
She was a graduate of the George School in Newtown, PA, and then attended the Scudder School, New York City. She worked at the Walker Gordon Laboratory Company in Plainsboro, where she met and married Dr. John B. Hagenbuch, veterinarian for the Gordon Laboratory.
Survivors include her son and daughter-in-law, Paul and Kimberly Hagenbuch; daughter and son-in-law, Jean and Harold Kretzing, M.D. of Carlisle; and two daughters-in-law, Dr. Elaine Gallaspy Hagenbuch of Enterprise, Alabama, and Dorothy Batz Hagenbuch of Kingsley, Pennsylvania. She is also survived by 15 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, May 29 in the First Presbyterian Church, on the Square of Carlisle, with the Rev. Jon A. Black officiating. Family will receive friends after the service in the church social hall.
Memorial contributions may be made to First Presbyterian Church, 2A North Hanover Street, Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013, or to Forest Park Health Center, 700 Walnut Bottom Road, Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013.
William Kowalski of Bayonne died on May 22. Survivors include a son and daughter-in-law, Daniel J. and Pat Kowalski of Plainsboro.
