Everett Garretson, an electrical engineer and 60-year resident of Princeton who became co-owner of H.P. Clayton Inc., the women’s department store on Palmer Square, died peacefully Aug. 3, 2012, at home. He was 88.
After service in the Army during World War II, Garretson graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1948, and earned an M.S.E. in electrical engineering from Princeton in 1951. That year, he founded Garretson Research and Development Corp., after which he joined a local manufacturer of multi-channel information sampling devices.
Garretson changed careers in 1964, and partnered with his wife, Barbara, as co-owner of Clayton’s (founded by Barbara’s grandfather). Under the Garretsons, the store was modernized and enlarged several times, and became the largest family-operated retail business in Princeton. Clayton’s was sold in 1989, and Garretson then devoted himself to community service.
His local activities included, among others, the Princeton Township Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Historical Society of Princeton, Friends of the Princeton Public Library, and especially Nassau Presbyterian Church. He was a life member of the APGA and once was its treasurer.
Garretson is survived by Barbara, his wife of 60 years; two sons (including John ’82); and a granddaughter.
Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.