Herbert Margerum West ’40 *41

After Mercersburg Academy, Herb entered Princeton, where he majored in chemical engineering, rowed crew, and was a member of the Student-Faculty Association, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Engineering Society, and Tower Club. In 1941 he earned a master’s degree in engineering with honors from Princeton.

In addition to being president of the William H. Morris Co., Herb worked 41 years with Union Carbide doing pioneering work in the field of plastics. He later was general manager of the textile-fibers department and director of the real-estate department.

Those of us close to Herb — a modest man — were unaware of his aristocratic ancestry as a descendant of Lord de la Warr (Thomas West), the first governor of Virginia and the Englishman for whom the state of Delaware was named.  

Thanks also to Tish Frothingham w’40 and John Hompe ’83 for furnishing New Canaan (Conn.) Advertiser obituaries for Herb.

Herb was predeceased by his wife, the former Annette Todd Thayer. He is survived by his sons, Herbert and Christopher; daughters Eleanor Pratt West and Annette Thayer West; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. To them, the class sends its sympathy.