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<\/a><\/p>\nMather Hodge Funeral Home Funeral Home, Princeton, New Jersey
\nAlton H. Bassett
\nNovember 27, 1930 \u2013 November 16, 2020<\/p>\n
Alton H. Bassett passed away peacefully, with family by his side, on November 16, 2020, just shy of his 90th birthday.\u00a0 He will be remembered as a devoted family man.\u00a0 Alt was born November 27, 1930 in Hartford, Connecticut, son of Martha and Arthur Bassett.\u00a0 He graduated from Middlebury College in 1953, with a BS Degree in chemistry.\u00a0 In his junior year he met and dated his future wife, Joan Tolley.\u00a0 After graduation, he served two years in the Marine Corps ending at the Marine Corps Institute in Washington DC, teaching math.\u00a0 In 1956, he married Joan, stopping at the Princeton Inn on the first night of the honeymoon, never realizing this would become their hometown.\u00a0 Alt worked briefly at American Viscose Corporation in Front Royal, VA, where his first daughter was born. He then began a job\u00a0with Chicopee Manufacturing Company (Johnson & Johnson) and moved the family to New Brunswick, NJ, where his second daughter was born.\u00a0 They bought a \u201cstarter\u201d house in Princeton in 1962, which became the \u201chome\u201d he lived in for the rest of his life.<\/p>\n
Alt was a Research Director at Chicopee for 30 years, developing non-woven fabrics for surgical and medical supplies, and recorded three patents.\u00a0 He retired in 1988 and consulted for five more years.\u00a0 After retiring, he and Joan purchased an old 32\u2019 Bristol sailboat, enjoying 25 years cruising the Toms River and Barnegat Bay waters.\u00a0 Every February, the two would travel to Venice, Florida, to enjoy the beach in a relaxing location.\u00a0 Alt developed lasting friendships that he cherished for a lifetime: in college, business (\u201cThe Old Farts\u201d), Princeton, boating and Florida.<\/p>\n
Alt inspired his family with a sense of adventure and exploration.\u00a0 He proposed marriage to Joan, who was afraid of heights, on a waterfall cliff near Middlebury.\u00a0 On family vacations they went tent camping along the East Coast, and skiing in New England. Weekends were spent canoeing, hiking or exploring New Jersey and Pennsylvania, or testing his homemade model airplanes, rockets and sailboats.\u00a0 Alt amused everyone with creative activities, like mock baseball in the kitchen, (the sport he played in high school) or sand games at the beach.\u00a0 He pursued his love for the desert southwest by climbing Angel\u2019s Landing in Zion National Park and taking his entire family on an RV trip to Death Valley. Because of his talent with a camera, he captured all of his adventures on film.<\/p>\n
Alt is survived by his wife Joan Bassett, his two daughters, Linda Bassett and Bobbie Erdman, sons-in-law Billy Erdman and George Morris, and two grandchildren, Jamie and Drew Erdman.<\/p>\n
Alton\u2019s family gives thanks to the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad, Penn Medical Center and Park Place Center for their exceptional care during his final months.\u00a0 There will be a small family service in the Princeton Cemetery at a future date, due to Covid-19 concerns.\u00a0 Arrangements are under the direction of the Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alton Herman Bassett descends from #34B Bassetts of County Down, Ireland as follows: John Bassett (b. 1740) and wife Agnes Welshman Arthur Bassett (b. 1764) and wife Jane Stafford George Bassett (b. 1798) and wife Ann M. Henry D. Bassett … Continue reading