Francis H. McAdoo Jr. ’38

Francis H. McAdoo Jr. ’38

Francis, the last member of the Class of  ’38, died Jan. 26, 2022. He died peacefully in his sleep four weeks before his 106th birthday. He was born in New York in 1916 to Francis and Ethel McCormack McAdoo. He was the grandson of William G. McAdoo, the secretary of the treasury under President Woodrow Wilson.

Francis came to Princeton as a graduate of St. Paul’s School, majored in art history, and was an enthusiastic member of Ivy Club. He roomed with Arthur Gorman. 

In 1939 Francis married Cynthia Stowe Heffron. In 1940 he left Columbia Business School to enlist in the Navy. After training in Chicago and Newport, he became the skipper of a PT boat in New Guinea, and eventually the commander of a PT squadron of 11 boats. He served with distinction and returned home a lieutenant commander decorated with a Silver Star in 1945.

Upon his return, Francis worked for Emerson Drug Co., and he became president in 1954. Later he successfully merged the company with Warner-Lambert in Morris Plains, N.J. In 1962 he went to work for Warner-Lambert, becoming a vice president and special assistant to the president.

Francis and Cynthia were married for 76 years before she died in 2015. He is survived by his three sons, William, John ’67, and Preston; six grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. 

Francis will be remembered for his longevity, his service during the war, and his contributions thereafter, typical of so many ’38ers!