Banker Robert Van Buren dies

By PBDN

Robert Van Buren of Palm Beach, died Wednesday, Aug. 20 2014 at Good Samaritan Medical Center. He was 89.

A descendant of President Martin Van Buren, he was born April 23, 1925, in Plainfield, N.J., to Dorothy Way and William Benjamin Van Buren II. He attended Plainfield High School, where he was captain of the football team. He was a veteran of WW II, having served in the U.S. Army.

Mr. Van Buren and his wife, Ann Vanderveer Rapalje, were married sixty years until her death in 2005.

Mr. Van Buren graduated from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Va., with a degree in business administration. There, he established the Robert Van Buren Scholarship Endowment.

He received his MBA from the Stern School of Business at New York University, and he attended the Harvard Business School 59th advanced management program.

Mr. Van Buren started his banking career at the Chemical Bank in New York City, rising to executive vice president. He moved to Midlantic Bank in New Jersey as president, then chairman of the board.

He was appointed by then-Gov. Thomas Kean as a commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, serving 15 years. He also served on the board of directors of Champion Products, the Foster Wheeler Corp., MGM Grand Corp. and Smith-Corona Corp.; and was president of the board of The Muhlenberg Hospital in Plainfield, where he and his wife established the Van Buren Intensive Care Unit.

He was a board member of Pine Valley Golf Club, a member of Baltusrol Golf Club, the Plainfield Country Club, the University Club in New York City, and The Pacific Union Club in San Francisco.

Mr. Van Buren retired to Palm Beach where he continued his philanthropy through the Van Buren Family Foundation. He supported the Society of the Four Arts (Chairman’s Forum), the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, the Palm Beach Civic Association and the Royal Poinciana Chapel.

He was a member of the Everglades Club and Club Colette.

Mr. Van Buren is survived by two daughters, Marcia Van Buren-Brown and husband Thomas W. Brown of New York City, and Cynthia Way Rapalje Van Buren of Palm Beach; a son, Robert Scott Van Buren of North Beach, N.J.; a brother, William Benjamin Van Buren III of Austin, Texas; several nieces and nephews; and a companion, Martha Janet Utterback of Palm Beach Gardens.

A memorial service will be held at a later time in Palm Beach.

Memorial donations may be made to The Royal Poinciana Chapel, 60 Cocoanut Row, Palm Beach, Fl 33480, and Hospice of Palm Beach County, 5300 East Ave., West Palm Beach, Fl 33407.

Memorial Funeral Home in Fanwood, N.J., is in charge of arrangements.