Douglas M. Ely ’79 *81

A traffic accident on the Washington, D.C., beltway claimed Doug’s life March 2, 2006. He was 47.

Doug was one of the most traveled members of the class, from his birth in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to his high school years at St. Stephen’s School in Rome, to business travels in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. At his death, Doug was vice president and assistant general counsel for Marriott International in Washington.

At Princeton, Doug majored in architecture and urban planning, remaining at the University after graduation to earn a master’s in architecture in 1981. In our 25th-reunion yearbook, Doug wrote that after finding architecture to be a less personally rewarding career than he had imagined, he entered law school at Columbia. In 1985 he earned his law degree and married Sarah Burneson Selby, his high school sweetheart.

Doug and Sarah lived in Paris for several years, returning to the States to start their family. Their son, Alexander, was born in 1993 and their daughter, Julia, in 1995. Many of us last saw Doug at our 25th, which his father said he thoroughly enjoyed.

To Sarah, Alexander, and Julia; Doug’s parents, Michael ’52 and Cynthia Ely; his sisters, Caroline and Lydia; and the rest of his family, the class sends deepest sympathy.