Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Gilbert LEA
Gilbert Lea, 95, a Princeton resident from 1936 to 1961, died peacefully on May 4 in Vero Beach, Fla.
Born in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., he grew up in the family home in Wynnewood, Pa. He attended the Montgomery School and then St. Paul School in Concord, N.H., graduating in 1932. At St. Paul’s he received the Gordon Medal awarded to the best all-around athlete and was captain of the football team. After graduation he attended Princeton University, Class of 1936, where he started on the football team for four years as an end, playing both offense and defense. The Princeton team was ranked No. 1 in the nation in 1933 and 1935. At Princeton he was a member of Cottage Club.
His early working years were interrupted by military service during the Second World War. He served in the Army as an artillery instructor for two years at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and one year in California and Texas helping to build the 13th Armored Division. In the last year of the war he was assigned to the European Theatre as a battalion commander of an armored artillery unit attached to the 3rd Army commanded by General Patton. He ended the war in Bavaria as a Lt. Colonel and was awarded several battle stars and an air medal for commanding the assault of a combat unit from a cub airplane.
In 1938 he married Nancy Nalle of Charlotte, N.C. He was active in Princeton University alumni affairs as chairman of annual giving 1961-1962, chairman of the athletic committee, president of Princeton Alumni Associations in both Maine and Vero Beach, Florida and as a member of the Princeton Alumni Council for almost 20 years. He served on the Executive Committees of the National Football Foundation and the Visiting Nurses Association. He also served as president of the Pretty Brook Tennis Club for 17 years.
Most of his professional life was spent in New York, first for Time magazine from 1936 to 1948, for Business Week for four years as executive V.P. in charge of Eastern Market; then at McGraw Hill as the eastern advertising manager for Business Week; then as advertising director of McCall’s Magazine. He left McGraw-Hill in 1957 to work for 12 years at Ogilvy & Mather as vice president in charge of new business, ultimately serving as the agency’s account executive for Sears Roebuck. He was instrumental in getting public approval for the construction of Lincoln Center.
In 1962 he married Phyllis Thaxter in New York. Not long thereafter, they moved to Cumberland Foreside, Maine. In 1967 he purchased the Tower Publishing Company of Portland, Maine, which he operated until 1982. He became a full time resident of Vero Beach in 1982.
Active in Maine community affairs, Mr. Lea was a parishioner at St. Mary’s Church in Falmouth and a longtime member of the Portland Country Club. He was also head of the American Cancer Society and a trustee of the Baxter School for the Deaf. His avocations included painting, tennis, sailing, and golf.
He was predeceased by a son, Gilbert Lea Jr. He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Phyllis Thaxter Lea; a daughter, Ann Lea Fries of Savannah, Ga.; a son, Thomas Lea of Cumberland Foreside; a stepdaughter, Skye Aubrey of Orlando, Fla.; a stepson, James Aubrey; and his first wife, Nancy Genung of Princeton.
A memorial service will take place in Maine at a date to be determined. SERVICES: A memorial service will be in Maine at a later date. Arrangements are by Cox-Gifford-Seawinds Funeral Home and Crematory in Vero Beach.
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