W. Finley McElroy ’27

W. Finley McElroy died Jan. 25, 1996, from many infirmities at his home in Clayton, Mo.

Mac came to Princeton from St. Louis Country Day School. At Princeton he was manager of the rifle team and a member of the Polity Club, Whig Hall, and Arbor Inn Club. He roomed with Bill Hitschler and Joel Berrall in his upperclass years. After graduation, he worked as a stockbroker, becoming a partner in the firm of A. G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis. He served them for 55 years, becoming a v.p. and director.

In WWII, he entered the Army Air Corps as a second lieutenant and came out as a captain with 21 months of service in the Mediterranean theater, eight battle stars, and two presidential citations. He specialized in training aviators to use air-rescue equipment.

He became a director of the Natl. Insurance Underwriters of Clayton after the war, while continuing as an A. G. Edwards partner. His firm was the largest brokerage house west of the Hudson River and he saw the number of its employees grow from 35 to 6,000. He retired in 1989.

Mac traveled around the world, including visits to Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, India, China, Europe, South Africa, and Morocco. Mac never married. He is survived by a brother, David B., and two sisters, Jane McCain and Ruth Childress, to whom our class sends its sympathy.

The Class of 1927