System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Frederick Porter Jr. dead at 73
Devoted his life to serving the community
By Jane Karlicek
Tuesday, Sept. 14, 1999
Frederick M. Porter Jr., a former Princeton Township police chief and township committeeman, died Saturday at The Medical Center at Princeton.
Mr. Porter, 73, of Birch Avenue, devoted his life to serving the community throughout the 50 years he lived in the township.
He was a police officer for 30 years, working his way up through the ranks, starting as a patrol officer in 1952 and moving up to detective, detective sergeant and lieutenant.
In 1970, with the retirement of then-Chief James Campbell, Mr. Porter was named the township's fourth police chief. He served in the position until 1982.
"Chief Porter was the first African-American police chief (the township) ever had," said current Police Chief Anthony Gaylord. "He really started a lot of changes in the department."
Former Mayor Jim Floyd recalled that he was on the Township Committee when Mr. Porter was chosen to serve as the township police chief.
"He was certainly a police officer that respected and enjoyed his position on the force and his position in the community," Mr. Floyd said. "I knew him as a friend and as a member of our church."
Mr. Porter was a member of the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church. "He had many community relationships, personally and professionally," Mr. Floyd said. "He was very well respected in law enforcement."
After Mr. Porter retired from the force in 1982, he became a private security consultant.
Eight years later, he ran for public office. Together with Ellen Souter, Mr. Porter ran on the Republican ticket for Princeton Township Committee. Following a campaign that focused primarily on controlling taxes, Mr. Porter and Ms. Souter defeated Democratic incumbent Mayor Cathleen Litvack and her running mate, Michael Washington.
Mr. Porter served a three-year term from January 1991 to December 1993 and ran for re-election with Ms. Souter in 1993. The Republican pair lost by a small margin to Democrats Michelle Tuck-Ponder and Steven Frakt, both current Township Committee members.
"I'd known Fred for about 30 years," said former Township Municipal Court Judge Sydney Souter, husband of Ms. Souter. "He was an absolutely wonderful person. He was generous, kind, considerate and cared about people very much. His passing is a great loss to the community."
Mr. Souter said he worked with Mr. Porter during his time on the bench in Princeton Township, and also knew him as a friend through the Princeton Kiwanis Club.
Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand, who served with Mr. Porter during his three years on the committee, said, "I think he was a real gentleman, both as a gentleman and a gentle man. He was a very nice colleague on the Township Committee even if we didn't vote the same way. He was so nice and so kind, soft-spoken and a really pleasant person. He always had a smile on his face and a pleasant word for everyone. It's a real sad loss."
Mr. Porter was born in 1926 in Scranton, Pa. and graduated from Overbrook High School in Philadelphia. He attended the New Jersey State Police Academy and continued his education at Glassboro State Teachers College and Northeastern University in Boston.
He was a member of the American Legion Post 218, the International Brotherhood of Elks, Witherspoon Lodge and an at-large member of Veterans of Foreign Wars.
He is survived by his wife, Helen, and daughter, Debbie.
Services for Mr. Porter will be Saturday at the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church. Calling hours will be from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. with the funeral to follow. The Rev. John White will officiate. Burial will be in Princeton Memorial Cemetery in Robbinsville.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Hughes Funeral Home in Trenton.
