R. Sidney Pinch ’56

Sid died March 6, 2025, in Bryn Mawr, Pa.

He came to Princeton from Media High School, where he was class president and an all-around athlete in football, basketball, and baseball. He joined Cannon Club, majored in English, was active in the Westminster Foundation, and played football for four years including a critical stint as backup single-wing tailback in our senior year Ivy championship.

After graduating, Sid studied at Harvard Divinity School and earned theology degrees from Oxford (where he played on the rugby team) and Princeton Theological Seminary. He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister, leading churches in West Virginia, New Canaan, Conn., Baldwin, N.Y. (where he married Catherine Spelman), and Union, N.J., as pastor of the Connecticut Farms Church.

At once humble and dynamic in service to his vocation, Sid will be remembered for his love of learning, wise and empathetic counsel, and devotion to lifting up the lives of others.

He is survived by his wife, Cathy; his children Frederick, Philip and his wife Melissa, Merryn, and Susannah; four grandchildren; and brother Lewis.