Idamae G. Trenner, 83, Beloved Sister and Aunt, GSA Executive, Camp Dir.
Idamae G. Trenner died peacefully at home in Princeton on Friday, April 12, after a long illness. Her four siblings, several nieces and nephews, and many friends spent precious time with her during her final weeks. Although Idamae embraced independence in most aspects of life, she made and kept a lot of friends of varied ages and backgrounds over her 83 years.
Born on July 20, 1940, Idamae was the eldest of the five children of Dr. Nelson Richards Trenner, Sr. and Kathryn Farrell Trenner. Except for one year in each of Uppsala, Sweden; Washington, D.C.; and New York City, she always lived in New Jersey: in Westfield from 19401991 and Princeton from 1991-2024.
Idamae graduated in 1958 from Westfield Senior High School, where she was an excellent student and won the award as the top female athlete, and in 1962 from the College of St. Elizabeth, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. After graduation, she began what became one of the highlights of her life: working in the laboratory of Peyton Rous at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York City. (Prof. Rous was awarded the 1966 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discoveries in virology and oncology.)
Following her time at the Rockefeller Institute, she joined Merck & Co. After three years working in drug R&D at Merck and three years teaching biology at Saint Aloysius Academy in Jersey City, Idamae decided to follow her heart and began what turned out to be a highly satisfying career as an executive of the Girl Scouts of America.
One of the happiest aspects of her GSA years was spending some 20 summers as director of Camp Lou Henry Hoover on Swartswood Lake in Middleville, N.J., as well as one summer as director of Camp Blue Bay in East Hampton, Long Island. She loved her camp summers. Several friends who came to visit her in recent weeks shared fond and often highly amusing memories of Idamae as the kind, enthusiastic, but no-nonsense camp director. Afew years ago, Camp Hoover dedicated the Idamae Trenner Pavilion and a sculpture of her.
When Idamae moved to Princeton in 1991 to live closer to her father as well as to one of her sisters, one of her brothers and his growing family, she started a business in money and household management, primarily for senior citizens.Through word-of-mouth, she gained several Princeton-area clients, many of whom became devoted friends. She continued to work, albeit on a reduced scope, until her death. The greatest source of meaning and connection in her later years was spending time with friends of all ages, perhaps especially with her two nephews, Miles and Winslow Radcliffe Trenner, who lived literally around the corner. Auntie Ida, Miles and Win formed early and enduring bonds when she picked them up at Princeton Friends School, took them sledding, skiing or snowboarding, and spent happy (and sometimes riotous) summer days fishing with them from their boat or from the town dock in Castine, Maine. When the boys were older, she thought nothing of driving 300+ miles roundtrip in a single day to be with them for swim meets, water polo games or musical performances at their high school in Lakeville, Conn.
In addition to the Radcliffe-Trenner nephews, Idamae is survived by several other family members, including her siblings, Kathryn T. Trenner of Princeton, Georganna T. Krivonak of Tinicum, Pa., Robert F. S. Trenner of Bellevue, Wash., and Nelson Richards Trenner, Jr. of Princeton, as well as by her nieces and nephews, Kathy Dearborn, Gregory and Daniel Krivonak, Mary K. Benash, and Jake, Katie and Erik Dearborn. Idamae was predeceased by a niece, Ashley Richards Trenner, and a nephew, Darin Scott Trenner.
A funeral mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 30, at St. Paul’s Church in Princeton. It will be followed by a service at the Trenner Family plot in Princeton Cemetery and then by a private reception. The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home in Princeton is handling the arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that contributions be made to the Camp Hoover Campership Fund, Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey, 1171 State Route 28, North Branch, N.J. 08876.
April 25, 2024
