Benjamin Labaree ’30

He was born in Iran (then Persia) to missionary parents, flew across a World War I fighting zone with his mother and siblings to his father’s teaching post at Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University, then went on to the Loomis School. At Princeton, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, won the Humphrey Ger-

man Prize, served as a manager at Commons, and was a member of Key and Seal, the University Symphony Orchestra, and Triangle Orchestra.

He worked for 38 years at the Budd Co. in Philadelphia, where he was chief engineer of the railway division and, like Lou Klauder ’30, one of the developers of San Francisco’s famous Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system. Ben retired in 1971 to undertake a heavy program of volunteer work, spiced by biennial travel.

Ben married Jean Ridgley in 1940 and they had three sons, Ben Jr., Robert, and David.  

To Jean, their sons, their children, and the extended family, the class sends its deep sympathy for the loss of an outstanding kinsman and friend. Ben’s love for Princeton will live on because of his bequest to the 1746 Society, which already has recognized his generosity.