William H. Flammer Jr. ’50

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Bill died peacefully April 7, 2016.

Following graduation from Loomis Chaffee in 1943, he entered the Army. His ultimate assignment was as a tank battalion gunner in the Pacific. At Princeton, where his father had been in the Class of 1910, he majored in history and was a member of Triangle Club and Elm.

Bill worked for 12 years with Penn Mutual Life in New York City, and then moved to Philadelphia to become vice president of an insurance agency. He retired in 1992. Sadly, his first wife, Betsy Gage, died in 1976.

In retirement, he pursued philanthropic interests, initiating a scholarship fund at Loomis Chaffee and breaking records as fundraising chairman for his class. He established a gallery at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to honor his second wife, Patricia Sinnett, who died in 2000. He funded the Flammer Theater in the Adirondacks, an area dear to his heart since boyhood. Bill loved music, theater, and fine art. A lifelong Christian Scientist, he was known for the thoughtful way he reached out to friends and family when they faced difficulties.

He is survived by his three children, William III, Hope, and Lucy; as well as four stepchildren; and 13 grandchildren. His third wife, “Terri” Powers, died in 2013. 

Paw in print

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The cover of PAW’s November 2024 issue, featuring an illustration of a military tank that's made out of a pink brain, and the headline "Armed With Ideas: Princetonians lead think tanks through troubled political times."
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November 2024

Princetonians lead think tanks; the perfect football season of 1964; Nobel in physics.