Robert C. Townsend ’41

Bob suffered a fatal heart arrack Jan. 12, 1998, while aboard a ketch in Anguilla's harbor when he was vacationing in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean. He is survived by his wife, the former Joan Tours.

Also known as Towny, he was born in Washington, grew up in Great Neck, and prepped at Lawrenceville. At college he roomed with Sedlmayr, Pryor, and Selby, ate at Tower, and played golf. He was a naval officer in the war.

Bob became famous when, as CEO of Avis he not only made that rental-car company number two but nearly beat out Hertz for the number-one spot. His best-selling book Up the Organization is a wicked spoof of The Orgnization Man. Ralph Nader '55 called Bob "a witty and incisive archenemy of corporate bureaucracy."

Other survivors include daughters Jill and Joan, sons Jeffrey and Robert Jr., and two grandsons. A deceased daughter, Clair '74, was one of Princeton's golden girls. We mourn for both of them.