Frank E. Pelton III ’62

“Pete” Pelton died Sept. 13, 2012, at his home in Pasadena, Calif., after a battle with cancer.

Pete came to us from St. Louis via Culver Military Academy. An NROTC scholarship student, he majored in French in the Special Program in European Civilization. Pete dined at Quadrangle, where he hired the best party bands on the East Coast. He roomed with Ned Gaunt, Bert Laurence, Ken Smith, Warren Crane, Pete Campbell, John Nuzum, Barry Goss, Peter Tisne, and Strangler, a 6-foot boa constrictor (whom Pete immortalized with a brick in Palmer Square). Pete started with The Daily Princetonian delivering papers, became business manager, and chaired the Prince-Tiger dance.

Pete flew C-130 transports for the Navy during the Vietnam War, ending as a senior flight instructor. He joined Merrill Lynch as a stockbroker and later became an office manager for Shearson Lehman. Eventually he headed wealth management and mentored many office co-workers at Smith Barney (Shearson) in California.

Pete loved trains and traveled to our 50th on a transcontinental train.

The class sends condolences to his widow, Sara; his children, Christopher, Alexander, and Penelope ’08; and four grandchildren.