Anson Perina ’40

Ans died June 10, 2006. He had been in the private practice of ophthalmology in Morristown, N.J., from 1950 until retirement in 1996.

He attended Princeton Preparatory School and Irvington High School before entering Princeton. His brother, Robert '43, followed him to Princeton.

Ans majored in biology, graduating with second-group honors. He was manager of Cannon Club and played three varsity sports. Remarkably, he was only the third freshman ever to win a varsity letter, setting a University long-jump record and participating in the Penn Relays. On May 17, 1939, he pitched during the first televised baseball game (Princeton vs. Columbia). Scouted by the Yankees, he turned down a professional contract to study medicine.

In 1943, he graduated from the University of Rochester Medical School with postgraduate training at Yale and Harvard. Ans was a World War II Navy veteran, serving as beach battalion medical officer at the battles for Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

For some years, he was a member of Princeton's track advisory board. He and his late wife, Adele, were active in many civic activities in and around Morristown.

To his survivors, son Anson; daughters Barbara LaVecchia, Catherine Samuelon, and Emily Katz; and 16 grandchildren, his classmates offer deep sympathies.