James Gordon Gay Yocum ’40

Gordie, formerly of Bryn Mawr, Pa., died of heart failure Sept. 30, 2004, at Riddle Village in Media, Pa.

He graduated from Episcopal Academy in Merion and followed his father, Howard H. Yocum 1898, and uncles J.G. Gordon Jr. 1907 and John Douglas Gordon 1905 to Princeton. He majored in politics, was on the soccer squad, and was a member of Campus Club.

Gordie was a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve, having served actively during World War II in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. He studied law at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving his degree in 1948. He practiced law in Philadelphia as a partner with Phillips, Curtin, DiGiacomo and Yocum before joining the Philadelphia Stock Exchange in 1970. He retired as general counsel and vice president of the exchange in 1985.

The Philadelphia Presbytery received Gordie's active support as elder and clerk of sessions in the First Presbyterian Church, and director of the Presbyterian Home for Widows and Single Women. Golf, travel, and reading were his off-duty pleasures.

His wife of 62 years, Phyllis Marie Burnett, died in July. His classmates wish to extend their sincere sympathies to his son, Gordon, his daughter, Margaret Bromley, and his four grandchildren.

The Class of 1940