Harry T. Gilbert Jr. ’35

We lost Harry June 9, 2012, in Little Rock, Ark., from complications after a stroke. He was 100.

Born in Chicago, Harry grew up in several cities and came to Princeton from The Hill School. He majored in psychology, took his meals at Cottage,
and was in Triangle. Senior year he roomed with Alex McWilliams, Billy Fisher, Peter Williams, and Ralph Osborne.

Harry followed his father into the steel business until joining the Army Field Artillery in 1941. He landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day+18 and was proud to serve under Gen. Patton in the Battle of the Bulge, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel.

After the war he returned to metallurgy at Los Alamos Lab before beginning his 20-year career with the CIA, which took him overseas during the Suez Crisis and Cold War. He kept his covert professional life just that, acknowledging only minimal information once retired in Potomac, Md. He was an active tennis and paddle player well into his 80s, and volunteered for Common Cause and Recording for the Blind before moving to Arkansas in 2002.

Harry was predeceased by his third wife, Thea, in 2005. He is survived by their daughter, Dr. Amy Pollard, and her husband.