Vance Wiley Torbert Jr. ’42

Vance died peacefully May 6, 2006, at his home in Dallas, Texas.

He prepared at Columbia High School in Maplewood, N.J. At Princeton he earned honors in architecture, lettered in track, and was a member of Elm Club.

During World War II, Vance served as a lieutenant and captained a PT boat in the Solomon Islands under squadron commander Jack Searles '38. While in the Navy he married Evelyn Benson. They had Vance III '68, Stuart, Rodney, Paige, and Elizabeth-Ann. Evelyn and Paige predeceased Vance.

Before joining Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. in New York in 1955, Vance was chief field architect at nuclear power facilities in Paducah, Ky., and Waverley, Ohio. At Metropolitan his office controlled the design and construction of company district offices and mortgage investment buildings in the U.S. and Canada. Vance retired as architectural officer in 1985 after a stimulating career with extensive travel.

In 1995 Vance moved to Dallas, where he married high school classmate Dorothy "Dee" Dann Collins. They engaged prominently in the civic life of Dallas. Vance served on the boards of Goodwill Industries and the Dallas Museum of Natural History. He was author and illustrator of Solomon Island Sketches.

To Dee, Vance's sister, his surviving children, and two grandchildren, the class extends deepest condolences.