Joseph Clift Cornwall ’39

Joe died peacefully Aug. 14, 2007, at home.

After graduation he received his law degree from Yale Law School in 1942. Later that year he was commissioned an ensign in the Navy, and he served for the duration of the war. He then became a corporate secretary for Wallace & Tiernan Inc., the manufacturing company begun by his father-in-law, Charles Wallace.

After Barbara Wallace, his wife of 44 years, died, he married Elizabeth Hillard Eddy. Joe died only four weeks after he and Betty celebrated their 21st anniversary.

Joe was a lifelong supporter of nonprofit institutions, and after retirement, served as trustee for many personal trusts and foundations. He was a founding board member and chair of the Fund for New Jersey, a private foundation committed to public-policy initiatives in the state. In 2001, the Newark campus of Rutgers University opened the Joseph Cornwall Metropolitan Center for research, analysis, and formulation of data on the New Jersey urban environment.

Joe is survived by Betty; the children from his first marriage, daughters Elizabeth Cornwall and Pamela Duncan and sons John W. and Joseph F. Cornwall; a stepdaughter and stepson; and 12 grandchildren. We offer them our sympathy in their loss of a wise, kind, and generous gentleman.