William A. Buell Jr. ’46

Bill Buell died Nov. 1, 2011, at home in Middletown, R.I., with his wife, Mary, at his side.

A skilled ocean sailor, he enjoyed the sea view from his house, to which he retired after his long Foreign Service career. He graduated from St. George’s School, where his father had been headmaster, and entered Princeton in 1942. After serving in the Marine Corps as a fighter and transport pilot, he returned to Princeton, graduating in 1950.

Bill joined the Foreign Service after earning a master’s degree at George Washington University. Diplomatic posts followed in Taiwan, Germany, Belgium, Poland, Togo, and Washington, D.C.

Bill married Jeanne Baldwin and they had four children, but she died in 1968. He then married Mary O’Shaughnessy and acquired three stepchildren. Bill spent a year at the Naval War College, became director of the Polish language service at Voice of America, and retired from the State Department to work for Sen. Adlai Stevenson. He was director of Radio Free Europe in Munich before finally retiring in 1987. In retirement he worked for the International Rescue Com-
mittee and Newport Preservation Society and served as a trustee at St. George’s School.

Predeceased by his daughter, Nancy, Bill is survived by Mary; his children, Jewell, Bill, and John; stepchildren Elise, Nelson, and Sophie O’Shaughnessy; and seven grandchildren. To them all, the class sends sympathy.