Standish Backus Jr. ’33

STAN BACKUS, a prominent watercolor impressionist in Santa Barbara, Calif., died there on Oct. 12, 1989. A memorial service was held at All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church on Oct. 21, and Adele Smith, the widow of Howard (Bullet) Smith, represented the class.

Stan was born on Apr. 5, 1910, in Detroit. He prepared at Salisbury. In college, he was on the 150-lb. crew and was a member of Cap and Gown. Stan studied architecture in college, but on graduation he discovered that, as he put it, "architects were starving to death." He therefore went to Munich to study art. In 1935, he opened a studio in Santa Barbara. He joined the Navy in 1941 and was assigned as a Navy combat artist, a role in which he witnessed the surrender of the Japanese on the U.S.S. MISSOURI. He was among the first U.S. military men to enter Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He became a commander and remained in the Naval Reserve. After the war, Stan returned to Santa Barbara and resumed painting. In 1956, he accompanied Admiral Byrd to Antarctica. One of his paintings, "Midsummer Scene, McMurdo Sound," was shown in Princeton in 1968 by the Historical Society of Princeton.

Stan married Barbara Babcock on June 9, 1936, in N.Y.C. She died some time ago. Survivors include a daughter, Virginia (Mrs. Sander Vanocur); three sisters, Mrs. Edward Caulkins, Dorothy Lunken, and Mrs. Edward Jewell; and a granddaughter. His brother, Charles K. II '39, is deceased. We are proud to have been associated with Stan, and we send sympathy to his survivors.

The Class of 1933