Alan Cruikshank ’48

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Al had a remarkably varied life, with several business and professional interests and careers, and some tragedy. He died peacefully Feb. 19, 2015, in Rochester, N.Y. at age 87.

At college, Al lettered in lacrosse, played in the band and orchestra, and belonged to Elm Club. He graduated in 1948 with a degree in mechanical engineering. Other Cruikshank Princetonians include a cousin, William ’34; brother Warren ’38; daughter Janet ’80; and son Andrew ’84.

Al joined the Navy in 1945, stayed in the Reserve, and retired in 1984 as a captain. His business career started with Eastman Kodak, but he left after four years to join the family real estate business in New York, meanwhile earning an MBA at New York University. Al returned to Kodak in 1961, became an executive in the manufacturing division, and took early retirement in 1983.

Next he earned a law degree at SUNY-Buffalo, taught management and accounting at SUNY-Geneseo, and then was an appellate attorney for 10 years in the Monroe County, N.Y., district attorney’s office in Rochester.

Al often piloted his 36-foot sailboat on Lake Ontario and ran a Christmas-tree business. He wrote in our 50th reunion book that “life has been good [except for] the death of our daughters Jill and Janet, who in 1978 were killed by a drunk driver in an auto crash on their way home for Thanksgiving.”

Al is survived by his wife, Frances Pixley; their son, Andrew; and his sister, Carol. The class sends sympathy to them all.

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