Robert P. Watson ’56

Known to friends and family as “Wats” and “Big Wats,” Bob died June 13, 2025.

Born in Brussels and raised in Toronto, he graduated from Lower Merion (Pa.) High School. At Princeton, Bob played lacrosse, joined Quadrangle, majored in politics, and made lifelong friends like senior year roommates: Freund, Bacher, Doyle, and Gatch.

Bob served in the Air Force before life took him across Latin America, where he had managerial roles with Colgate-Palmolive. It was in St. Thomas, VI, where he met his future wife, Katharine “Kit” Mohlman, followed by a wedding three months later. They were married for 47 joyful years before her passing.

After several entrepreneurial endeavors, Bob founded the Managers Funds, a pioneering mutual fund company. An avid skier and outdoor enthusiast, Bob continued to seek out challenges well into his later years — including climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with his daughter Whitney at age 70. He was a devoted family man, a lover of Labradors, and had a deep passion for both the mountains and the Caribbean.

Bob is survived by daughters Daphne Watson Ely and husband Clute, Amanda Watson Marmer ’97 and her husband Craig, and Whitney Watson Littman ’99 and her husband Will; and eight grandchildren.