John F. Pritchard Jr. ’37

Pritch died Aug. 4, 2005, in Liberty, Mo., a victim of lung cancer brought on by exposure to asbestos fibers years ago. He was 89.

He came to Princeton from Pembroke Country Day School in Kansas City and majored in economics. He played freshman football, was news editor of the Daily Princetonian, and was a member of Quadrangle Club.

Following graduation Pritch earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and embarked on a career in steel products, and later in prefabricated vacation homes. During World War II he served as a pilot in the Troop Carrier Command of the Army Air Force. In peacetime he became involved in a wide range of civic causes in the Kansas City area.

Undoubtedly Pritch's outstanding achievement was his founding of Habitat for Humanity/Kansas City, which built more than 200 homes for low-income families. On his retirement from Habitat in 1996, the Kansas City Star wrote, "Few can claim to have made a community contribution equaling that of John Pritchard."

The class will remember him as our Annual Giving agent whose friendly, low-key letters made giving to Princeton a pleasure.

We extend our deepest sympathy to Mary, his wife of 63 years, his six children and their families, and 12 grandchildren. We have lost another of our finest.

The Class of 1937