David Brittain Willmer ’45

Dave died Sept. 29, 2001. He entered Princeton from Kent School, roomed with Barney Barnhart, and was a member of Cloister Inn. He was a member of the 150-lb. crew and a premier wrestler. Service with the Army Engineers on the Manhattan Project interrupted his Princeton career, but he graduated in 1947 with a degree in chemical engineering, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa. He married Anne Russell in 1947 and then received a degree in engineering R&D from Cal Tech. This led to a career at Standard Oil of California in economic analysis.

With Anne and daughters Daphne and Kerry, Dave was an avid sailor, becoming fleet captain of the Cal-20's, the largest one-design class in the San Francisco Bay. After an amicable divorce in 1972, Dave married Sherry and retired from Chevron, where he was general manager of its economics department. They moved north to Orcas Island, from whence he and Sherry sailed to Alaska, hiked the world, and did volunteer counseling. In addition to Sherry, Dave is survived by Daphne and Kerry, to all of whom the class extends its sympathy.

The Class of 1945