It is with special sadness that the Class of 1951 notes the passing of Bill Jahos on May 24, 2022, in East Alstead, N.H., after serving as our president since 2016. 

Bill graduated from the Peddie School, where he later returned to teach and coach, and to marry Cathy Roman, the daughter of the assistant headmaster. At Princeton he played freshman football, was on the track team, majored in biology, served as VP of the Pre-Med Society, and was a mainstay of Tiger Inn’s intramural teams.

Bill went to Coast Guard officer candidate school after graduation, serving in active duty for two years and rising to lieutenant commander after 18 more years in the Reserve. He graduated from Rutgers Law School in 1959 to begin a career in private practice based in the Red Bank, N.J., area interspersed with extensive periods of public service that exemplified Princeton in the nation’s service. Beginning in 1960 as deputy attorney general, he held several positions including county prosecutor; criminal investigative counsel to the State Police; director of the Criminal Division (the state’s chief law enforcement officer); member of the state Racing Commission, Narcotics Advisory Council; several Supreme Court committees; and Superior Court judge. 

Notwithstanding the time demands of his state positions and law practice, Bill’s devotion to his family, his local communities, and to Princeton was unbounded. Before becoming class president, he was reunion chairman and class vice president and chaired the Princeton Club of Monmouth County. He headed his local YMCA, the Navesink Country Club, and the Fair Haven Planning Board; served as a local magistrate; was counsel to the New Jersey PGA; and sat on a number of local boards. 

Bill is survived by his wife, two children, and a large army of admirers.

Undergraduate Class of 1951