Robert LeGrand Johnstone Jr.

b. 15 July 1909, d. 18 September 1966

Robert LeGrand Johnstone Jr, 1909-1966
  • Robert LeGrand Johnstone Jr. was born on 15 July 1909 in Glen Ridge, Essex County, New Jersey.
  • Robert LeGrand Johnstone and Caroline Ann Maclaren appeared in the US federal census of 15 April 1910 in Glen Ridge, Essex County, New Jersey, at 100 Ridgewood Avenue and three domestic servants, living next to his mother.. Other members of the household included Robert LeGrand Johnstone Jr., Helen Irene Johnstone.
  • Robert LeGrand Johnstone and Caroline Ann Maclaren appeared in the US federal census of 1 January 1920 in Glen Ridge, Essex County, New York, at 100 Ridgewood Avenue and three domestic servants, living next to Robert's mother.. Other members of the household included Robert LeGrand Johnstone Jr., Helen Irene Johnstone, David Maclaren Johnstone and Paul LeGrand Johnstone.
  • Caroline Ann Maclaren appeared in the US federal census of 1 April 1930 in Glen Ridge, Essex County, New Jersey, at 100 Ridgewood Avenue. Other members of the household included Robert LeGrand Johnstone Jr., Helen Irene Johnstone, David Maclaren Johnstone and Paul LeGrand Johnstone. Also in the household were two female domestic servants.
  • The following appeared on 4 January 1931 in The New York Times: Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Butler Van Liew of Bloomfield, N. J., have announced the engagement of their daughter, Miss Elizabeth Van Liew, to Robert Le Grand Johnstone, son of Mrs. Robert Le Grand Johnstone of Glen Ridge, N. J., and the late Mr. Johnstone.
         Miss Van Liew attended the Kimberly School in Montclair, N. J., and later was graduated from the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, N. Y. She is a member of the Newark Junior League. Mr. Johnstone was graduated from the Hill School and is now a junior in the School of Engineering of Princeton University. No date has been set for the wedding.
  • He married Elizabeth Van Liew, daughter of Alfred Butler Van Liew and Elizabeth Carroll Bennett, on 11 June 1932 in Bloomfield, Essex County, New Jersey, at Westminster Church, with the Rev. Dr. William T. Wilcox, assisted by the Rev. Dr. Charles Polling, officiating.
  • The following appeared on 12 June 1932 in The New York Times: (Bloomfield, N.J., June 11) The wedding of Miss Elizabeth Van Liew, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Butler Van Liew of Bloomfield, to Robert Le Grand Johnstone Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Le Grand Johnstone of Glen Ridge, took place this afternoon in Westminster Church here. The Rev. Dr. William T. Wilcox, former pastor, assisted by the Rev. Dr. Charles Polling, performed the ceremony. A reception followed at the home of the bride's aunt, Mrs. Harry E. Richards of Bloomfield.
         Mrs. Harry R. Van Liew attended her sister-in-law as matron of honor, and Miss Helen Johnstone, sister of the bridegroom, was maid of honor. The bridesmaids were the Misses Mary W. Humphrey of Waverly, Pa; Margaret Tutwiler of Birmingham, Ala; Agnes Cook of Ridgewood, Josephine Merrill of Montclair, Elizabeth Eckert of Reading, Pa., and Eleanor and Juliet Oakes of Bloomfield, cousins of the bride.
         Robert McIver of Phoenix, Ariz., and Joseph Swayze of Hamburg surved as best men. The ushers included Leon Thomas Jr. of Reading, Pa; Curtis Towle of Lincoln, Neb; Cooper Schieffelin of New York, John Savage of Minneapolis, L. K. Wyatt of Wilmington, Del; Melvin Sheepard of Long Island, Holden Burnett of Newark and Harry R. Van Liew, brother of the bride.
         Mrs. Johnstone is a member of the Newark Junior League. Mr. Johnstone is a member of the class of '32 at Princeton.
         On their return from a wedding trip to England the couple will make their home temporarily in Glen Ridge.
  • The following appeared on 23 June 1932 in the Trenton Evening Times: The marriage of Miss Elizabeth VanLiew, of Bloomfield, to Robert L. Johnstone, of Glen Ridge, N. J., a graduate of Princeton this week, took place last week at Bloomfield. After a wedding trip to Europe, Mr. and Mrs. Johnstone are to live at Glen Ridge.
  • Robert LeGrand Johnstone Jr. and Elizabeth Van Liew appeared in the US federal census of 1 April 1940 in Glen Ridge, Essex County, New Jersey, at 96 Ridgewood Avenue enumerated next to Robert's mother Caroline Stuart. Other members of the household included Hampden LeGrand Johnstone. Also in the household was one male domestic servant.
  • He was employed by an insurance company as a real estate department head, according to the 1940 census.
  • Robert LeGrand Johnstone Jr. (and Elizabeth Van Liew) appeared in the 1945 Glen Ridge, New Jersey, City Directory with the listing "Johnstone Robert L (Elizabeth V) rem to Washington DC.".
  • The following appeared on 7 March 1957 in the Trenton Evening Times: (Princeton) Robert Le Grand Johnstone, general manager of the building management department of the Prudential Life Insurance Company of America and manager of the Prudential Building in Chicago, will join the administrative staff of Princeton University April 1 as assistant to treasurer Ricardo A. Mestres.
         A Princeton graduate of '32, Johnstone has had wide experience in building management, construction, purchasing and in personnel work. Except for his first few years following graduation as an electrical engineer and service during World War II as a naval officer, he has been continuously associated with the Prudential Company.
         In 1953 Johnstone represented Prudential's agencies service department in supervising the construction and management of the company's Mid-America Home Office Building in Chicago.
         The Chicago building is the second largest office building outside New York city in point of floor space and height. It rises 41 stories and 601 feet above the Chicago lake front with over 1,000,000 square feet of rentable space and was the first major downtown building erected in that city in twenty years.
         Johnstone has been general manager of the Prudential's building management department since 1956. He has been a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, Newark; an executive committee member of the Newark Safety Council, and chairman of the Newark Highway Safety Committee.
         Before joining Prudential, Johnstone was assistant maintenance engineer and district manager with the Franklin Mortgage and Title Company in Newark, and later managed a chain of restaurants. His favorite hobbies are golfing and sailing. He is a member of the North American Yacht Racing Union and the Wadawannuck Yacht Club in Stonington, Conn., and the Anvil, Digest, and Geneva Golf Clubs in the Chicago area.
  • Robert LeGrand Johnstone Jr. died on 18 September 1966 at age 57 in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey.
  • His wife Elizabeth Van Liew became a widow at his death.
  • He was interred at Rosedale Cemetery, Orange, Essex County, New Jersey.
  • The following appeared on 19 September 1966 in the Trenton Evening Times: (Princeton) Robert Le Grand Johnstone, Princeton University officer involved with construction, died yesterday at his home on Princeton-Kingston Road of an apparent heart attack. He was 57.
         Johnstone had held the titles General Manager of the Division of Properties and Physical Facilities and Manger of Construction for the past 18 months. Prior to that he had served as business manager of the university for eight years.
         He played a key role in the planning and construction of all the new buildings made possible by Princeton's $53 million capital campaign in the first three years of this decade. These include undergraduate and graduate dormitories, the engineering quadrangle, the school of architecture, new buildings for the art museum and the department of art and archaeology, the Woolworth Center of Musical Studies, and several apartment units.
         Also build during Johnstone's tenure was the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs on Washington Road. The building was dedicated in May by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
         Johnstone was born in Glen Ridge, and attended Princeton's engineering school. He worked for the Prudential Life Insurance Company of America for 20 years before joining the Princeton administration in 1957. He served as general manager of Prudential's building management department for several years.
         Since 1965, he was in charge of the university's Division of Physical Planning and Construction, Department of Grounds and Buildings, and the Real Estate Department.
         He was widely known as a sailor and had interested his family in recreational and competitive sailing. He served with the Navy during World War II.
         He leaves his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Johnstone of the Princeton address; a daughter, Mrs. E. A. Burkhalter of Norfolk, Va; three sons, Robert L. Johnstone III of Chicago, Rodney S. Johnstone of New London, Conn; and John B. Johnstone with the Air Force in Texas; his mother, Mrs. Rodney B. Stuart of Sea Island, Ga; and 12 grandchildren.
         Services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, in the university chapel. Burial will be in Rosedale Cemetery in Orange with Kimble Funeral Home of Princeton in charge.
         The family requests memorial gifts to be made to the dean of the Princeton chapel's fund for assisting undergraduates.
  • Last Edited: 20 Jul 2014

Family: Elizabeth Van Liew b. 9 November 1910, d. circa 1986