62
Mr. Whitmer is survived by his wife of
58 years, Mary Leigh Pell Whitmer; his
sons, Robert Foster Whitmer IV, Walden
Pell Whitmer, and John Love Whitmer; his
grandchildren, Jenna Michelle Whitmer
and Garrett John Whitmer; his sister, Laura
Whitmer Spadone; his nieces, Laura
Spadone, Allison Spadone Karonis, and
Lele Whitmer McKenry; and his nephews,
Paul Spadone ’89 and Martin T. Whitmer, Jr.
He was predeceased in 2011 by his brother,
Martin T. Whitmer ’50.
1949
Paul E. A. Rochester
died peacefully in
Dallas, Texas, on
November 7, 2015,
at the age of 85.
Born in New
York, N.Y., on Oc-
tober 25, 1930,
he was one of
three children of
Gwendolen Wolfe
and Edward Rochester. He spent his child-
hood years in Vermont, where his father
operated a horse farm. The family also
lived in Maine and Massachusetts.
In 1936, Mr. Rocehster traveled out
West to live in Minden, Nevada, with his
mother. He attended The Judson School
in Phoenix, Ariz., before returning to the
East Coast and entering St. Paul’s School
as a Second Former in the fall of 1944,
following his grandfather, Thomas M.
Rochester of the Form of 1872, and his
brother, Dudley ’45, to the School.
During his years at SPS, Mr. Rochester
participated in the Rifle Club and the
Forestry Club. He competed in skiing and
crew. Mr. Rochester was an outstanding
scholar, who was ranked among the top
in his form. He was particularly adept in
modern languages, graduating SPS with
distinction in Spanish and earning Sec-
ond Testimonials.
Mr. Rochester went on to earn his B.A.
from Stanford University with the Class
of 1956 and his M.B.A. from Cornell in
1958. He worked in the accounting depart-
ment for various companies in the San
Francisco Bay Area and the Monterey
Peninsula, eventually retiring from the
Housing Authority in Salinas, Calif. In the
final years of his life, he moved to Dallas
to be close to his children.
Mr. Rochester was predeceased by his
parents and his second wife, Gay Ruth.
He is survived by his daughter, Alisone
Kopita; his son, Grafton Rochester; his
brother, Dudley Rochester ’45; his sister,
Nancy Caird; and two grandchildren.
1950
Hendon Chubb
an independent
thinker, who dem-
onstrated a life-
long thirst for
novelty and a
joyously eccentric
streak, died sud-
denly in Cornwall,
Conn., on Janu-
ary 3, 2016, at 77.
Born on March 1, 1938, Mr. Chubb was
the son of Percy Chubb II of the Form of
1927 and Corrine R. Chubb. He was a
great-grandnephew of President Theodore
Roosevelt and the grandson of noted phil-
anthropist Hendon Chubb, who helped
found The Chubb Corporation, a life
insurance company, and also established
the prestigious Chubb Fellowship at Yale
and the Victoria Foundation in Newark, N.J.
After preparing at The Buckley School
in New York City, Mr. Chubb enrolled at
St. Paul’s as a Third Former in the fall of
1946. At SPS, Mr. Chubb was a member of
the Library Association, the Glee Club and
Le Cercle Fran
ç
ais. He played soccer and
enjoyed writing poetry, some of which was
published in the
Horae Scholasticae.
His
academic record was exceptional, and he
was named a St. Paul’s Honor Scholar in
1950. A letter in his St. Paul’s School file
described him as “brilliant” and mentioned
his appreciation for the arts.
Mr. Chubb graduated from Yale in 1954,
served in the U.S. Army from 1954 to 1956,
and went on to enjoy a distinguished
career in the insurance industry, before
returning to school to earn his master’s
and Ph.D. from Adelphi University. He then
worked for 20 years as a clinical psycho-
logist in San Francisco and Cornwall, Conn.,
before reinventing himself as an artist
and rug designer.
Mr. Chubb loved dogs, enjoyed garden-
ing, cooking, wine, and poetry and was
published in the
New York Times
and
Los Angeles Times
. He recently wrote and
published a scholarly, quirky, encyclopedia
titled
The Curious Magpie,
which is avail-
able through Amazon.com. He made lexi-
cographic contributions for the Catalan
language, was a contributor to the
Cycad
Newsletter
– a conservation publication,
and served as moderator of a popular
online community network for the town
of Cornwall. In a newspaper interview, he
once likened the network to sitting around
the stove at an old general store, weighing
in on issues ranging from small-town
minutiae to global affairs.
In a
New York Times
obituary, Mr. Chubb
was described as “an eccentric polymath,”
with distinctions ranging from director
and CFO of a Fortune 500 Company to
civil rights election monitor, Army veteran
and honorary Girl Scout.
Hendon Chubb is survived by his wife,
Phyllis Nauts; his former wife, Nita Colgate;
his children, Anncaroline and Oliver; his
stepchildren, Jennifer and David Ott; his
siblings, Percy, Corinne, James ’64, and
Caldecott ’67; and six grandchildren and
step-grandchildren.
1951
Varick McNeil Bacon
a former financier
and composer,
died on Septem-
ber 11, 2015, in
New York City.
He was 81.
Mr. Bacon was
born on Octo-
ber 12, 1933, to
Antoinette W. and
Francis M. Bacon of the Form of 1917.
Mr. Bacon entered the School as a First
Former in the fall of 1945. He was a strong
student, who also sang in the Glee Club
and the Choir. His love of music was
evident, and he considered pursuing it
professionally, according to a School report.
Mr. Bacon attended Harvard, graduat-
ing with the Class of 1955. While there, he
composed music for the Hasty Pudding
Show. After his graduation, he served two
years in the U.S. Army, from 1956 to 1958.
Professionally, Mr. Bacon worked as a
research director and portfolio manager,
spending many years at the Westinghouse
Pension Investments Corp.
On October 2, 1963, he married Mary
Jane Lenihan. Together the couple raised
a daughter, Alexandra.
DECEASED
