William K. Verner ’57

BILL VERNER died of leukemia on May 8, 1989, in Schenectady, N.Y., where he had lived since 1960.

Bill came to Princeton from his native city of Baltimore, Md. He majored in music and graduated with high honors. His club was Tower, and his senior roommates were A.M. Casey, J.B.R. Carroll, and H.E. Wilgis. As an undergraduate, he played lacrosse and participated in the Euripedes Club.

After three years in the Army, Bill "headed for the wilderness." He joined the Adirondack Museum, in Blue Mountain Lake, N.Y. He later became curator. He also served as editor of ADIRONDACK LIFE.

He married Abbie Lathrop Sunde and settled down to his lifelong passion of maintaining the wilderness of the Adirondacks. He also had time to be a consulting director of the Olympic Sports Museum in Lake Placid, N.Y., and a consultant to the National Fine Arts Committee of the XIII Olympic Games in Lake Placid.

He was president of the Adirondack Mountain School, a consultant for stations WCFE-TV and WMHT-TV, chairman of the Adirondack Citizens' Task Force, trustee of the Assn. for the Protection of the Adirondacks, and the Federation of Historical Services.

Bill wrote numerous articles on the Adirondacks and conservation, published in CONSERVATIONIST, ADIRONDACK LIFE, MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, and other periodicals. He was a director of the Schenectady Museum.

He is survived by his wife, Abbie, of Schenectady; two daughters, Victoria and Alexandra; his mother, Helen; and his brother, Elliott. To these, the Class of '57 extends its sincerest sympathy. He enjoyed the wilderness and strove to protect it. We are all proud of him and his life's work.