Samuel W. Averett ’48

Sam died May 7, 2012, in Madison,
N.J. He was 85. His wife, Jean (née Ward), died less than three months later, at age 88. They had been married for 51 years.

Sam was born at home and spent most of his life on the family’s Dixiedale Farm in Chatham Township, N.J. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1944, and from Princeton in 1948. He served in the Navy during World War II, joined the Navy Reserve, and was recalled to active duty during the Korean War.

As a civilian he managed the working family farm, which had been established in 1911. He also was business manager of The Seeing Eye in Morristown, a trustee of the Chatham Township Fire Department, and a longtime member of the local Kiwanis Club.

Sam and Jean were ardent fans of opera and ballet, both in New York and in Europe. They crossed the Atlantic repeatedly — on the Queen Mary, including its last voyage, and the QE2 — and also took several Mediterranean cruises. They are survived by a number of cousins, nieces, and nephews.