Henry B. Mitchell II ’37

Hank Mitchell, a world traveler with a wry sense of humor, died Dec. 21, 1997, from a combination of cancer, multiple heart attacks, and Alzheimer's. He left children Henry III, Paul, Edward B. '76, and Francesca by his first wife, Ruth, and James by Diana, his wife of 37 years, one grandchild, and a brother, John '35.

At Princeton Hank was a member of the freshman fencing team, news editor of the Princetonian, v.p of the Intl. Relations Club, and a member of Colonial. He majored in modern languages (French) and graduated with honors.

In the 1938 hurricane in Westhampton, Hank, in waist-high water, heroically pulled over a dozen people to the roof of a house, which sailed to the mainland.

After Harvard Law School and a brief legal career in NYC the Army grabbed him in May 1941. He became executive of a battery of 105-mm howitzers and finally saw active duty in Italy. "Combat in North Africa and Italy made up for boredom in Georgia and Oklahoma." Next came lawyering for the Army in Washington. After almost five years he emerged as a major.

He rejoined his NYC firm but by 1951 was with Cleary Gottlieb Friendly & Ball in Washington. He then spent 27 years with Standard-Vacuum Oil in White Plains and Houston and was counsel for subsidiary Esso Eastern. He retired in 1981 as senior counsel.

The Class of 1937