Samuel L. Ertel ’53

Sam, who rowed crew in the University’s first boat for four years, co-captained the heavyweight varsity as a senior (Princeton then belonged to the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges), and later “pulled heavy oars” as a high-level executive for IBM before taking early retirement in 1989, died of Parkinson’s disease Nov. 1, 2011, at his Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., home.

Born in Philadelphia, Sam played freshman basketball before making crew his principal sport. In 1952, rowing in the No. 7 position, Sam and his fellow boat members broke the world 2,000-meter record in the semifinals of that year’s Olympic trials. He was an executive committeeman of the Varsity Club and a Chapel deacon, and he took his meals at Colonial Club with his roommate and crew co-captain, John Beck.

After graduating with a sociology degree, he completed Naval OCS and became communications officer of the admiral’s flagship in Sasebo, Japan. In 1956, he married Barbara Herren, a Columbia graduate, and they became the parents of Linda Ertel and  Steven and later had three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Beck, a Princeton trustee emeritus, said it well: “Sam was one of the gentle individuals in our class.”