Gilbert Lea ’36

Gil served Princeton well all his life, as one-time chairman of Annual Giving, chairman of the athletic committee, and a member of the Alumni Council. He was a past president of our class and of alumni associations in Maine and Florida.

Gil received an air medal for commanding an assault from a cub airplane during World War II.

In 1938 he married Nancy Nalle. They lived in Princeton while Gil worked in publishing and advertising in New York City. They divorced, and Gil married Phyllis Thaxter in 1962. They built a home in Cumberland Foreside, Maine. In 1982, Gil purchased Tower Publishing Co., which he operated until retiring. The couple later moved to Vero Beach.

Gil’s interests included bicycling, music, sailing, skiing, tennis, golf, and cancer research. He had an abiding love of Princeton and our class.

We will miss this personable man of many talents. His classmates send their sympathies to Phyllis; daughter Ann Lea Fries; son Thomas Lea; and first wife Nancy Genung.