David Erdman ’53

David died July 5, 2024.

His father, Charles Erdman, was a prominent professor of political science at Princeton University, two-term mayor of Princeton Borough, and commissioner of economic development for the state of New Jersey. David came to Princeton after graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy. He majored in philosophy and was a member of Cottage Club and the 1953 Princeton championship hockey team. After graduation, David spent two years as a lieutenant in the Army artillery in North Carolina and Germany. He spent his career in the aluminum industry, culminating as sales manager for New Jersey Aluminum.

In 1960, he married Eldred Eve Pearce (deceased) in England. They had three children and seven grandchildren. In 1980, he married Eleanor Crosby Sinclair of New York City, who remained his wife for 44 years.

A passionate and accomplished sailor, David spent many summers on Martha’s Vineyard, followed by decades living harborside in Rockland, Maine, with his wife. He is survived by Eleanor, his younger brother, and a broad and loving family of children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.