Alexander Armstrong Jr. ’37

Alex died of an aneurysm Dec. 7, 2003, in Baltimore; he was 89. He was remembered as a beloved, innovative faculty member of the Gilman School for nearly 30 years.

Alex came to Princeton from Gilman; his father was a member of the Princeton Class of 1899. His maternal and paternal grand-fathers were also Princeton graduates. Alex was an English major, a member of Tower Club, and an officer and active participant in Theatre Intime and Triangle Club.

He enlisted in the Navy after Pearl Harbor and served aboard the USS Chicago as a battery officer and senior radar-control officer. He participated in several historic engagements including the Battle of Rennell Island, where his cruiser was sunk in 1943. He spent several hours in the Pacific before being rescued, and finished his naval service as a lieutenant commander.

Alex earned a master's in English at Johns Hopkins U. He served as executive director of the UN Assn. of Maryland until he joined the Gilman faculty in 1951. He taught English, directed student plays, and served as editor of the Gilman Bulletin for alumni until retiring in 1979.

The class sends sincere sympathy to his widow, the former Louise Allen, whom he married in 1951; son Alexander; daughters Louise A. Machen, Mary A. Schoemaker, Bess Armstrong Fiedler, and Caroline A. Montague; and 13 grandchildren.

The Class of 1937