William Henry Petring Jr. ’50

Bill died Sept. 30, 2003, of complications from a broken hip.

Bill entered Princeton after graduating from John Burroughs School in his hometown of St. Louis. At Princeton, he majored in economics, was a member of NROTC and Tower Club, sang in the Glee Club, and played JV football as a sophomore, junior and senior. His roommates were Bob Alexan-der, Bill Costen, Bob Frantz, and Bill Maritz.

He entered the Washington U. Law School in the fall of 1950, but a legal career was cut short when the Navy called him to active duty late in 1950. He spent three years as a junior officer on several ships before being released in 1953. Returning to St. Louis, he joined the H. P. Coffee Co., a family firm run by his father.

While still in his 20s, Bill began to suffer from schizophrenia, which caused him to spend the last 30 years of his life at the St. Joseph's Infirmary in Eureka, Mo.

Bill never married. He is survived by his brother, G. Lewis Petring '53.

The Class of 1950