Christopher S. Donner Jr. ’35

Chris Donner, teacher, educational administrator, patriot, and retired Marine Corps major was honorably discharged from life May 19, 2012, in Hallandale, Fla. He was 99.

Born in Philadelphia, he came to us from the Haverford School. At Princeton he majored in history; was a member of the Glee Club, the Gun Club, and Whig Hall; and took his meals at Terrace, where he lived during senior year.

After earning a master’s degee in history at Stanford in 1941, he joined the Marine Corps and served as an artillery officer in the Pacific theater. His recently published book, Pacific Time on Target, chronicles his experiences with the 1st Marine Division. After the war, he remained active in the Marine Reserve. His civilian life was spent as a teacher and administrator at schools in and around Philadelphia, chiefly at Chestnut Hill Academy, and concluding at Miami Dade Community College after he had retired to Florida. He had a busy extracurricular life that included travel, boating, scuba diving, and underwater photography.

Chris’s wife of 46 years, Madge, predeceased him in 1983. His second wife, Marianne, died in 1996. He is survived by his son, Christopher, and his family; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.