John Windsor Persse Jr. ’28 *30

JOHN PERSSE (tied in Hamden, Conn., on Feb. 1, 1992. For three years he had been in the Medical Unit of Whitney Center with a combination of disabling diseases, but he was conscious and alert until almost the last.

John received his secondary education at Choate School. At Princeton he majored in architecture and stayed on at the Graduate School, receiving an M.F.A. degree in 1930 fie also studied for a time in Fontainebleau, France. After serving as a captain in the U.S. Marines, during WWII, and spending considerable time in the Pacific area, he founded his own architectural firm of Smith and Persse, in 1946. Beginning in 1962, he worked for more than 15 years for William Peterson and Associates. He was involved in the design of such New Haven landmarks as the County Courthouse, the Federal Building, and the New Haven Savings Bank. He was a vestryman in St. Thomas Episcopal Church, a member of the Society of Colonial Wars and the board of the American Institute of Architects, and was an officer in the Connecticut Society of Architects.

John married MaryLouise "Peggy" Flockhart on June 1, 1957. She survives him, as does a son John III, who now lives in the family home at 115 Deepwood Dr., Hamden, which John had built for his parents in 1927. It is only four blocks from Whitney Center, to which John and Peggy moved in 1982.

John maintained his interest in Princeton, and attended the 50th reunion of the Class of 1928, His classmates remember him with admiration, and extend their deep sympathy to Peggy and John III.

The Class of 1928