Stanley Webster Pearson Jr. ’41

Stan died Feb. 8, 2004, after a long illness.

A graduate of Chestnut Hill Academy and Lawrenceville, he majored in geology at Princeton and joined Ivy Club. He roomed first with R. P. Williams, then sophomore year with Sam Finnell and Thacher Longstreth, and junior and senior year with Longstreth at Ivy.

Son of a notable squash player, Stan was an excellent quarterback and drop-kicker. He captained the squash and baseball teams senior year, and won the Intercollegiate Squash Championship in 1939. In the first sports event ever televised in the US, Stan was shown driving in the winning run in the 10th inning of a 2-1 victory over Columbia.

Going into active service in 1941 with the Field Artillery, he transferred to the Air Corps. He was a flight instructor in B-17s, B-24s, and B-32s, and separated as a major.

Returning to the family business, Stan became president of Joseph T. Pearson Box Co. After 20 years, he left and went to work for the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, the former Provident Bank, and the Franklin Institute, and finally became administrative assistant to Philadelphia Councilman Thacher Longstreth.

Stan kept up his involvement in squash, and became the first person to win both the US Squash Singles Championship (1948) and the US Racquets Singles Championship (1952). He also won the US championship in doubles in both sports.

Predeceased by his wife of 40 years, Dorothy Disston Nalle, he is survived by his son, Stanley W. III, his daughter, Dorothy, and five grandchildren.

The Class of 1941