Robert S. Appel ’62

    Bob died Jan. 16, 2023, at Wado County Hospital in Belfast, Maine. 

He came to Princeton from New Trier High School in Winnetka, Ill. At Princeton, Bob was active on the business staff of the Triangle Club, the Campus Fund Drive, and rowed a year on freshman crew. After a junior year in Paris on a special program in French literature, he returned to the Department of Romance Languages and was mentored — as many others — by Professor André Maman. 

After passing the New York bar, Bob spent a year in a postgraduate program in French corporate law at the University of Paris School of Law. His law practice, with various firms in New York, was a diverse corporate and international practice, generally involving France. 

In 2006, Bob received France’s National Order of Merit (Ordre national du Mérite), with the rank of Chevalier, “for furthering the cultural ties between France and the United States and promoting the French language.” With the permission of the French consul general, Bob’s award was conferred by Professor Maman.

Bob is survived by his wife, Cathy; daughters Ondine and Robin; son Christopher: and grandson Dylan Minnick. The class offers its condolences.