Eugene C. Worden III ’64

Rusty, who died July 20, 2022, of cardiovascular disease, was born in New York City and raised in Connecticut, where he attended the Gunnery School. He majored in English and wrote his thesis on “The Comic View of Henry Fielding.” Rusty dined at Colonial Club and was a member of the fencing team for two years.

His working life was split: His opening years were in retailing, for J.C. Penny and then as vice president for merchandizing at Lafayette Radio Electronics Corp. At about the time of our 25th reunion, he switched to real estate and soon joined a startup that grew from one employee — Rusty — to 75 as it specialized in converting New York City rental properties into co-ops and condos at a rate of about 20 a year. A decade later the conversion boom died off, and he took to operating building portfolios for a variety of real estate management firms.

Shortly before our 50th reunion, he followed his dream of moving to Phoenix and retired soon thereafter. In the ensuing years he avidly amassed an extensive collection of American and Japanese art as well as a large collection of knives, most of them Japanese.

The class extends its condolences to Rusty’s daughter Sarah and son James.