John R. Vandegrift ’49

John came to us from Friends School in Wilmington, Del. He roomed with Seymour Flinn at Hamilton and Pyne halls. He majored in chemistry, earning Sigma Xi honors, and was a member of the Chapel Choir and the Outing and chemistry clubs. 

John then went to work for Merck & Co. while planning to go to graduate school in organic chemistry. But changes in his philosophy and spiritual outlook led hm eventually to the Roman Catholic Church. In 1953, he was ordained as a member of the Dominican Order and spent his entire career in that service.

In his comments for our 50-year directory, John summarized his long life in the church from Presbyterian to Episcopal to Catholic, then to ordination as a Dominican priest, and ending up in Rome at the Vatican Library. As John phrased it to us ’49ers, “My life has been an anomaly; I have never been to Reunions, yet I read every issue of PAW … . I thank Princeton and my Class for this continuous gift of 50 years, which has served as a window to the world for me.”

John died Sept. 4, 2021. We respect and appreciate his long life as a ’49er, a Catholic priest, and a Dominican.