William B. Mather Jr. ’57

One of the so-called “Townies” in our class, Bill came to the University from Princeton High School. Son of medical missionaries, Bill was born in Beijing, China, fled to the Philippines when World War II began, and was interred with his parents in a Japanese prison camp until coming to the United States after the war. He died June 15, 2023, in Shelburne, Vt. 

At Princeton, Bill majored in chemistry, captained the cross country team, and ran on the track team. He also competed in canoeing in the Olympic trials in 1960. A member of Court Club and the Outing Club, Bill roomed with John Bowers and Tom Van Auken his senior year.

In 1961, Bill obtained a Ph.D. in chemistry at Caltech, publishing three papers on electroanalytical chemistry, and began a long career with Texaco. He worked in research, but switched to finance and then to sales management, helping the corporation with mergers and reorganizing after bankruptcy. The corporation recognized him with a Four-Star Award for his varied services.

Spending summers at Camp Keewaydin on Lake Dunmore in Vermont, Bill met his wife, Margaret Mitchell, a cottager there, and they married in 1961. They had three children, Marcy, Timothy, and Mary. Retiring from Texaco just before its acquisition by Chevron, Bill and Margie moved to Vermont, where Bill worked with family-owned newspapers, climbed all 46 peaks in the nearby Adirondacks, and canoed with his children and grandchildren. Margie predeceased Bill; he is survived by his three children and their families.