Harold T. Couch ’58

Hal died Jan. 31, 2021, in West Palm Beach, Fla. He was 84.

He came to Princeton from South Pasadena High School in San Marino, Calif., where he played football, basketball, and tennis and was vice president of the Science Club.

At Princeton Hal was on the freshman tennis and track teams, but polio between freshman and sophomore years ended his tennis career. He was on the Undergraduate Schools Committee, majored in chemical engineering, was a member of Cannon Club, and roomed with Robert Ringland.

After graduation he earned a Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Caltech. Working at Rocketdyne, he was involved in developing the rocket engines that sent the Apollo astronauts to the moon and back. He moved on to United Technologies and spent his career there. 

Hal and his son Matthew patented a new thermal process for water purification.

Hal is survived by his wife, Christine; his children, Matthew and Katherine ’96; and six grandchildren. The class extends its deepest sympathy to them all.