Paul N. "Nick" Colby, '50

PAUL N. "NICK" COLBY died March 7, 2015 in California at the age of 86. Nick was born to Jesse Van Horne and Paul N. Colby in Trenton, NJ on August 16, 1928. Nick was an all-state football player for The Pennington School. At Princeton, he played football and was a member of Elm Club. Nick graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering and subsequently served in the Navy during the Korean War on the USS Rendova from 1950 to 1952. Nick worked in the plastics industry for 60 years, designing and manufacturing feed screw systems for plastics processing machinery. He and his wife, Illene, started their own company, Spirex Corporation, in 1978. Nick patented seven of his inventions in injection molding machine screw and barrel technology. He served as President of the Plastic Pioneers and was inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame in 2009. Nick was also a skilled pilot and regularly used his multi-engine, instrument license. Nick's sister, Marylou Sharrett, died in 2005. He is survived by his wife, Illene Colby; his daughter, Gale Colby Mirzayanov, of Princeton, NJ; his son, Paul T. Colby, of Incline Village, CA; his daughter, Sarah Colby '90, of Oakland, CA; his grandchildren, Ted Colby, Steve Schauer, Sarah Schauer, Matthew Colby, Nicholas Colby, and Lucas Massa; and his great grandchildren, Camilla Colby and Angelo Pasquerella.