David A. Iams ’59

David, one of the last full-time society columnists for a major newspaper, died in his sleep Nov. 12, 2017, at his Port Elizabeth, N.J., home a year after undergoing open-heart surgery. He was a third-generation Princetonian and served as class secretary from 1984 to 1989. He was 79.

David was born in Pittsburgh, grew up in Bay Head, N.J., and prepped at St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H. He followed his father, Samuel H. Iams ’32, and grandfather, Samuel Iams 1901, to Princeton, where he ate at Charter, became a classics major, and edited The Tiger in his senior year. After graduation, David spent three years in Army intelligence before reporting for the Baltimore Sun. He then rejoined Army intelligence as a civilian, reported for Stars and Stripes Europe, then joined the Philadelphia Inquirer staff.

A classic tuxedo and scuffed shoes formed his trademark outfit, and a bicycle often his transport, as he circulated through the party set of Philadelphia’s Main Line for the Inquirer from 1986 until retiring in 2001. He was a popular fill-in on the piano after the band had left, all the while collecting social notes for his column.

He is survived by his wife, Dorothy McLaughlin Iams; his son, Tony; his daughter, Sarah; his sister, Alice Kittredge; and his brother, John. We will miss David’s puckish humor. We have sent condolences.