Charles Marboe ’71

Chuck died Aug. 4, 2025.

He came to Princeton from State College, Pa., majored in the biology department’s Science in Human Affairs program, spent time with Tourtellot, Culbertson, Hunter, Johanson, Dakan, and Claxton in Edwards and Terrace, where he was a standout IAA basketball player. Classmates remembered him for his wit and genuineness.

Chuck found his life partner in petite Bonnie Hewson ’73, towering over her at 6 feet 5 inches. They married in 1973 and had two children, Kari and Elinor. Chuck graduated from Penn State Medical School in 1976 and began his lifelong association with Columbia University’s medical school, first as a resident and then as an outstanding faculty member in pathology. He directed Columbia’s pathology residency program for 25 years before retiring in 2021. He was an internationally recognized authority in heart transplant pathology, which helped shape transplant care worldwide. Columbia established the endowed Dr. Charles Marboe Lecture in his honor in 2021. He was known for his scholarly excellence, humility, warmth, and generosity. Bonnie, a trained attorney, was with him every step of an adventuresome life “entertaining and fun with a lot of medical practice in pathology and much more exposure to the wide world.” They sailed in Europe and the Caribbean, visited the Pacific, and had a special affinity for Africa, traveling and living for many years in Ethiopia and Kenya, Chuck also shaping a pathology curriculum in Rwanda.

The class extends its condolences to Bonnie, Elinor, grandson Noah, and his large, devoted extended family.