James Merritt Keels ’42

JIM DIED Mar, 23, 1992, in Point Pleasant, NJ,, his home for the past ten years. At the time of his death, Jim retired from teaching math at the Peddie School in Hightstown. He had also served as assistant to the superintendent of grounds and buildings at Princeton as well as chief of Building & Technical Services at Firestone Library and assistant librarian.

Jim grew up in the South and came to Princeton before the war, after attending V.P.I. and Furman. As a member of the D.E.M.L.R.O.T.C. staff, he was accepted as a student just before Pearl Harbor. He returned to Princeton after the war, having served in the Signal Corps in Africa, Corsica, and Italy, receiving his discharge as a major. He was awarded a degree from the Woodrow Wilson School in 1947. During his prior association with Princeton, Jim had met many members of he Class of 1942 and was officially transferred to he Class at his own request.

Jim was never too busy to help the Class and was always very much in evidence at Reunions, serving on every major reunion committee. Although he did not enter with the Class, he was known as a loyal and dedicated supporter of '42. His cheerful manner and warm smile will be missed by all those who came to know him.

To his widow, Sally; his sons, James and Tom; and to his daughter, Patricia; the Class extends its deepest sympathies.

The Class of 1942