Henry F. Merritt ’48

Buzz had strong connection with and loyalty to Princeton and to our class. His father, Henry, was in the Class of 1915, and an uncle, Schuyler, was in the Class of 1922. For almost 70 years, Buzz attended almost every ’48 class reunion. 

Born July 21, 1927, he grew up in New York City, graduated from St. Bernard’s School and Phillips Exeter, started Princeton in the summer of 1944, left for two years of Navy service, and then returned to major in economics, play varsity baseball, and join Triangle and Cottage Club. 

Buzz earned an MBA at New York University, and began his business career at Central Hanover Bank & Trust in New York and with its correspondent banks in the South and Southwest. He soon focused on design, negotiation, and management of investments in oil and gas exploration in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. He continued as a consultant in this specialty well into his semi-retirement in 1995. 

Buzz and Jane met and married in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1970. Back in the U.S. they settled in Redding, Conn., where their son Schuyler was born in 1986. International travel for business and with the family was frequent and extensive. In Connecticut Buzz was a leader in the Redding Land Trust, as well as in park and other conservation efforts. He was an aviator with multiple instrument ratings, an avid skier, fisherman, bird hunter, ocean yacht racer, and glee club and barbershop-quartet singer. 

Buzz died May 12, 2020. He is survived by wife Jane, son Schuyler, and three nephews.