John W. Bonge ’57

Another outstanding professor in our class, John died June 24, 2024, at his home in Kirkland Village, Bethlehem, Pa. He came to Princeton from New Trier High School in Winnetka, Ill., where he was president of the student council. At Princeton, he majored in basic engineering and was president of the Basic Engineering Society, chairman of the Engineering Council, a member of the Undergraduate Council, and chairman of the Student Center Committee. He also served as a Keyceptor and on the 1957 Memorial Fund Drive. A member of Quadrangle Club, he roomed with 10 classmates in the “executive suite” in Blair Hall.

After graduation John married Janice Silcox, a graduate of Westminster Choir College, and then returned to Illinois to earn a master’s degree in business administration and a Ph.D. in organization theory from Northwestern University. John worked at the RTE Corp. in Wisconsin, then became an assistant professor at Michigan State University. He became chairman of the department of management, finance, and marketing at Lehigh University and director of the Small Business Center in Bethlehem, helping local small businesses, both startups and older ones, with their management problems. In retirement John was a director of New Bethany Ministries and an elder in the Presbyterian Church.

He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Jan; and sons Steve and Greg and their families.