John N. Gatch ’44

JOHN JOINED us at Princeton from Exeter, following in the footsteps of his father, John '14, and uncle Loren '13. His interesting life ended Dec. 21, 1992, in Washington, after a plague of illnesses that culminated in cancer.

WWII service in Europe delayed John's graduation until 1947, when he joined the State Dept., which he served primarily as a Middle East expert. Fluent in Arabic, John's assignments took him to Iraq, Libya, and Kuwait, and he served as chief of mission in Bahrain. At retirement in 1975, he was deputy director of the antiterrorism office in the department. John then went on to found the SITRA Corp., a Middle Eastern consulting firm which he headed until 1989.

Throughout his life, John was an enthusiastic partisan of Arab causes, good literature, and the Cincinnati Reds, in equal measure. With characteristic competence and good humor, he participated wholeheartedly in alumni activities at both Exeter and Princeton, organizing his 50th at Exeter and one of '44's most successful mini-reunions in Washington a few years ago. He will be missed as a delightful companion to all who were fortunate to have known him.

John's first wife, Anne, died in 1988. He is survived by his second wife, Hilda; his three daughters; his son; a stepdaughter; his three sisters; his brother Lewis '56; and two grandchildren. With each of them, the Class shares a deep sense of loss at the passing of this talented, gentlemanly classmate.

The Class of 1944