Daniel P. Haerther ’47

Danny’s loyalty to Princeton and ’47 was unbounded. His death Sept. 13, 2007, constitutes an irreplaceable loss.

He served in the Navy in the Pacific theater during World War II, and overseas for two years in the Korean War.

Graduating in 1948, he began an extraordinarily successful career in various business ventures: leasing railroad freight cars, investment banking, and part ownership of the erstwhile Milwaukee Braves — though Danny was a lifelong Cubs fan.

In 1968 he founded the Semblex Co., which manufactured fasteners. His unique entrepreneurial skills were combined with a relaxed management style, producing unusual employee affection — and $60 million yearly in sales.

Love of wildfowl hunting led him to many exotic foreign places, but regularly to Illinois haunts with his beloved Labradors, Dewar’s I and then II.

He was a regular, generous AG donor; a faithful member of our class executive committee; a frequent attendee at ’47’s minis, and a regular at Reunions. While we paraded wearing the handsome class ties he gave us, Danny always carried a sign proclaiming that he was the “class dummy.” After a severe stroke in May, he struggled, unsuccessfully, to attend our 60th.

Danny never married; his brother, Bill, is his sole, immediate family survivor — but, surely, too, our class was Danny’s special family. We share with Bill a deep sense of loss.