Herbert W. Hobler ’44

Herb died Aug. 10, 2019, at Stonebridge, in Skillman, N.J. He was 96.

A Hill School graduate, at Princeton Herb was on the basketball and track teams, winning varsity letters, as well as being a member of the Crusaders Club, Triangle Club, and Tiger Inn. He roomed with Bill Brooks, Yeates Conwell, Norman Conze, Walter Hughson, Tim Knipe, and Ferdie Baruch. He was majoring in Spanish before entering the Army Air Corps in 1943. He was a navigator on a B-29, flying missions over Japan. Later he was president of the 9th Bomb Group Association for 14 years.

In 1944, while still in the Air Force, he married Mary “Randy” Randolph in California. They moved to Princeton after the war and Herb commuted to New York, working in programming at Mutual Broadcasting and NBC-TV the day it started. He also worked at CBS Network, Teleprompter Corp., and was the head of Videotape Productions of New York City.

After all this experience, he came to Princeton and founded the Nassau Broadcasting System (WHWH), including WPST (Trenton), and six cable companies. He was named National Broadcaster of the Year in 1975.

Herb served on many boards in Princeton: the American Boychoir School, serving as chair for 22 years; the YMCA; the Hun School; Tiger Inn; the Nassau Presbyterian Church; and United Way. As chair of the speakers program at the Nassau Club, he brought more than 1,000 speakers to the weekly luncheons.

Herb’s service to Princeton and the Class of ’44 is legendary. He was secretary and president, and chaired many Reunions. Herb’s allegiance to ’44 created a special reincarnation of the class after the war. Known as the Ruptured Generation, the class became very close, as seen at their many reunions.

Herb was predeceased by Randy in 2017. He is survived by son Randolph ’68; daughters Debbie, Nancy, and Mary Hyson; six grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren. He will be missed by all.