John D. Wallace ’55

Jack died May 1, 2025. 

He attended Princeton Day School and Hotchkiss. At Princeton, he joined Cap and Gown and majored in the Special Program in International Affairs. He played freshman soccer and was IAA sports manager. He also coached soccer at a local boy’s school. Senior year he roomed with Don Thomas and Duncan Sutphen.

He was a member of the Naval ROTC, and after graduation became admiral’s aide to the vice admiral in command of the Atlantic amphibious fleet. After the Navy, Jack began a financial career with Hanover Bank and then Morgan Stanley in New York. In 1959, he married Happy Goebel and moved to banking positions in New Jersey, where he became a CEO. In 1993, he retired.

Jack served on the Princeton Township Committee, serving as mayor in 1969-70 and again in 1972. Local organizations that benefited from his leadership included McCarter Theatre, the Princeton Area Community Foundation, Princeton Day School, Princeton Senior Resource Center, Trinity Counseling, the University Medical Center, and the Watershed Institute. At Princeton Day School he was the school’s longest-serving trustee, with 23 years on the board, and in his honor the service award was renamed the John D. Wallace ’48 Alumni Service Award. 

After the loss of their son John, who died of complications from AIDS in 1990, Jack and Happy memorialized him at Princeton Day School with the John D. Wallace Jr. ’78 Memorial Guest Artist Series. This fund established Imagine the Possibilities, a program that brings renowned authors, poets, and illustrators to the school. 

Jack is survived by his wife, Happy; son Chris ’84; daughter Margie; and six grandchildren.