The Westfield Leader Newspaper
The Times of Scotch Plains-Fanwood

CYAN YELLOW MAGENTA BLACK

– Obituaries –

William H. Parker, 4th, 55, Had Been Assistant Fire Chief in Mountainside

William H. Parker, 4th, 55, of Colonia died on Thursday, July 27, at home.

Born in Summit, he had lived in Mountainside before relocating to Colonia 12 years ago.

Mr. Parker had been a salesman withthe PlainfieldRoofingandSheet Metal Company in Plainfield for 10 years before retiring in 1997.

He was a member of the MountainsideVolunteer Fire Department, where he served as an Assistant Chief.

Mr. Parker was also a member of the New Jersey State Exempt Fire men.

Surviving are his wife, Barbara Parker; a daughter, Christine Parker; a son, Robert Parker, and a sister, Brenda Rizzi.

Private services were arranged by the Gustav J. Novak Funeral Home in Perth Amboy.

August 3, 2000

Robert A. Ruggiero, 69, Local Judge; Former Mountainside Councilman

Robert A. Ruggiero, 69, a Municipal Court Judge in Mountainside for the past 25 years, died on Thursday, July 27, at his home in the borough.

Born in Brooklyn, he had lived in LeoniaandCranford before moving to Mountainside in 1963. He also maintained a residence in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

Besides his position as a magistrate in Mountainside, Judge Ruggiero also served as an alternate municipalcourt judge in Westfield and Summit.

He had maintained a law practice in Jersey City since 1955, when he was admitted to the New Jersey, Federal and United States Supreme Court Bar Associations.

During the 1980s, he had coowned, with his late father, Charles Ruggiero, the Hobart Equipment Sales Agency in Jersey City. The company was the topselling supplier of Hobart supermarket equipment in the country at the time.

Judge Ruggiero received a bachelor’s degree in commerce and finance from Villanova University in Pennsylvania in 1952. He earned his

Doctorate from Fordham Law School in the Bronx in 1955 and completed the Rutgers Appellate

Procedures Program at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. He served as a Borough Councilman in Mountainside from 1974

through1980,during which time he was also Police Commissioner, andwasapast member of the Mountainside Planning Board.

Judge Ruggiero was an honorary silver lifemember of the Mountainside Police Benevolent Association; a founder of the Mountainside Pop WarnerMidgetFootball League and an art teacher for patients with Alzheimer’s disease at S. A. G. E. SpendADay, operated by the Summit Area Association for Gerontological Endeavor.

He was Past President of the Union County Municipal Judges Association, a member of the Union County Bar Association and the New Jersey State Bar Association.

He was Past President of the Holy NameSocietyat OurLadyofLourdes Roman Catholic Church in Mountainside and a member of the EchoLake CountryClubinWestfield and the St. ThomasYacht Club in the Virgin Islands.

Judge Ruggiero, who developed the Supermarket National Account Sales Program for the Hobart Equipment Company, was named “Industry Man of the Year” in 1988 by the Southeastern Weights and Measures Association of New York State.

Surviving are his wife, Diane Ruggiero; two sons, Dr. Charles F. Ruggiero and Peter A. Ruggiero; a brother, Joseph C. Ruggiero; three sisters, Nancy Venuto, Joy Moneuse and Mellarie Marra, and six grandchildren.

A Mass will be offered at 10 a. m. today, Thursday, August 3, in Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Mountainside, following the funeral from the Higgins and Bonner Echo Lake Funeral Home in Westfield.

August 3, 2000

Doris Bezkorowayny, 71

Doris Panzer Bezkorowayny, 71, of Garwood died on Friday, July 28, at home.

Born in Frankfurt, Germany, she came to the United States in 1944. She had lived in Elizabeth, Garwood and Westfield before returning to Garwood 13 years ago.

Mrs. Bezkorowayny had been a secretary for 20 years with Elb Ginders in Mountainside before retiring in 1996.

Shewasa memberoftheDeutscher Club of Clark and the Ladies Auxiliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Bayleaf Post No. 6807 of Garwood.

Surviving are a son, Eric Bezkorowayny; a daughter, Karen D. Riordan; a sister, Anny Goldman, and three grandchildren.

A Mass was offered on Monday, July 31, in St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church in Garwood. Interment was in Rosehill Cemetery in Linden.

The Dooley Funeral Home, 218 North Avenue in Cranford, was in charge of the arrangements.

August 3, 2000

Hazel Brix, 83, Active in Area Church; Retired From Westfield School District

Hazel May Brix, 83, of Scotch Plains died on Friday, July 28, at the Baptist Retirement Home in Newark.

Born in Brooklyn, she had lived in Cranford before relocating to Scotch Plains nine years ago.

Mrs. Brix had been an administrative assistant for the Westfield Board of Education before retiring in 1973.

A member of the Hydewood Park Baptist Church in North Plainfield for more than 40 years, she taught Sunday school there and served with her late husband, George C. Brix, as an advisor to the Senior High Youth Fellowship.

She also served as President of the Women’s Missionary Society and worked at the church as a secretary after her retirement.

Besides her husband, who died in 1990, she was predeceased by a sister, Dorothy B. Stone, and twin infant sons.

Surviving are a daughter, Debora L. Huffman of Claremont, Calif.; two sons, Kenneth G. Brix of West Redding, Conn. and the Reverend James A. Brix of Scotch Plains; a sister, Edith B. Gallagher of Whiting; seven grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren.

Funeral services were held yesterday, Wednesday, August 2, in the Hydewood Park Baptist Church. Interment took place in Rosedale Memorial Park in Linden.

Arrangements were handled by the Memorial Funeral Home, 155 South Avenue in Fanwood.

Memorial donations may be made to the Memorial Fund of the Hydewood Park Baptist Church.

August 3, 2000

Connie Golembeske, 71

Connie C. Golembeske, 71, of South Plainfield died on Saturday, July 29, in Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

Born in Newark, she had lived in Maplewood and Scotch Plains before moving to South Plainfield 45 years ago.

Mrs. Golembeske was the owner of Evergard Steel Corporation in Linden, which she and her husband, Frank W. Golembeske, started in 1962. She retired in 1990, but remained as a consultant.

Surviving, in addition to her husband, are four daughters, Leslie Curley, Catherine Smith, Connie Macellara and Tracey Golembeske; two brothers, Mario Bruttaniti and Salvatore Bruttaniti, and six grandchildren.

A Mass was offered on Monday, July 31, in Our Lady of Czestochowa Roman Catholic Church in South Plainfield, followingthefuneralfrom the McCriskin Home For Funerals, also in South Plainfield. Cremation took place in Rosehill Cemetery in Linden.

Memorial donations may be made toOur LadyofCzestochowaChurch, 120 Kosciusko Avenue, South Plainfield, 07080.

August 3, 2000

MASTER MEMORIALS

1171 E. Broad St. Westfield, NJ

2332350 ALSO: 300 Rt. 37 East Toms River, N. J. 3492350

MONUMENTS MARKERS MAUSOLEUMS

DESIGNER • BUILDERS OF FINE LETTERED • CLEANED Bruce Bauer, Prop. (Established 1938)

Funeral planning makes it easier for those you love.

Forethought ® funeral planning...

– Since 1897 –

FUNERAL DIRECTORS

Together,

not alone.

Do it today, not tomorrow.

WESTFIELD: 318 East Broad St., Fred H. Gray, Jr. Mgr. • 2330143

CRANFORD: 12 Springfield Ave., Dale R. Schoustra, Mgr. • 2760092

Executive Administrator – William A. Doyle

• FRED H. GRAY, JR. •WILLIAM A. DOYLE • PAULETTE CRABIEL WAHLER • DALE SCHOUSTRA • DAVID J. CRABIEL

Dooley Funeral Service, Inc.

Caring & Courteous Service to the Cranford/Westfield Area Since 1913

Westfield

556 Westfield Avenue 2330255 John L. Dooley Manager

Cranford

218 North Avenue 2760255 Charles V. Dooley

Manager

Judge Ruggiero

DEATH NOTICE

MAYZETTE STOVER, – tired Westfield teacher, died July 26 in State College, PA. A writer and artist, Mayzette volunteered as a docent in museums in NJ and PA, as a children’s grief lor and by instructing diverse ics at schools and prisons. She

was predeceased by husband Burd Stover; friend, George Levenbach.

Marie Dempsey, 86, Was Staff Sergeant In Women’s Army Corps During War

MarieC. Dempsey,85,ofCranford diedonWednesday, July26,inUnion Hospital.

Born in Newark, she had lived in Westfield for 12 years before mov ing to Cranford a year ago.

Miss Dempsey had been a supervi sor for eight years at the former Presbyterian Hospital in Newark before retiring in 1979. Earlier, she had owned Marie C. Dempsey phone Exchange in Newark for eight

years. She served as a Staff Sergeant in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II.

Surviving are three sisters, Rose L. Dempsey, Irene Marhold and Dorothy Smith.

A Mass was offered on Saturday, July 29, in St. Anne’s Roman Catho lic Church in Garwood. Burial took place in the Holy Sepulchre Cem etery in East Orange.

Arrangements were handled by the Dooley Funeral Home, 218 North Avenue in Cranford.

August 3, 2000

Rita Harraden, 83

Rita Harraden, 83, of Westfield died on Tuesday, July 25, in Rahway Hospital.

Born in Rahway, she had lived in Linden beforerelocatingtoWestfield in 1960.

Surviving are her husband of 60 years, Benjamin J. Harraden; a son, James Harraden of Wickatunk; a daughter, Diane Gupko of TeleTewksbury, and a granddaughter.

Private services were arranged by the PettitDavis Funeral Home in Rahway. Interment took place at St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Colonia.

August 3, 2000

John Boyce, 72

John Boyce, 72, of Carteret died on Wednesday, July 26, in Overlook

in Summit. Born in Ludlow, Ky., he had lived in Westfield before moving to Carteret eight years ago.

Mr. Boyce had been a truck driver for H. P. Townsend and Sons in Westfield for 35 years before ing in 1998.

He served in the United States Navy during peacetime.

Surviving are his wife, Annette Boyce; four sons, Richard Ray Boyce, Cecil Boyce, Richard Boyce and Keith Boyce; two daughters, Linda Ray Boyce and Donna Jean Boyce; four brothers, Curtis Boyce,

Boyce, Clydis Boyce and Ronny Boyce; two sisters, Vivian Kyle and Sue Ann Roderick; 12 grandchildren and two greatgrand children.

Services were held on Friday, July 28, in the Dooley Funeral Home, 218North Avenue,West,inCranford.

August 3, 2000

Nicholas Wowchuck, 52, Traffic Analyst; Captain on Scotch Plains Rescue Squad

Nicholas Wowchuck,52,ofRaritan Township died on Friday, July 28, at his home.

Born in Newark, the son of the late Nicholas and Janet Wowchuck, he had lived in Scotch Plains before relocating to Raritan Township in 1985. reMr. Wowchuck was a traffic ana

lyst for Unilever/ Calvin Klein Cos metics in Mount Olive.

He was a member of the Scotch Plains Rescue Squad for 27 years and counsea former Captain and life member,

topand was in charge of disaster mobili

zation throughout New Jersey. He served on the committee of Flemington South Estates and was a member of the Traffic Club of New

Jersey and the Hunterdon Computer Club.

Surviving are his wife of 28 years, Pam Wowchuck; a son, Nicholas J. Wowchuck of Hillsborough; a sister, Kathie Friesen of Flemington, and a granddaughter.

A memorial service will be held at 8 p. m. today, Thursday, August 3, in the Robert L. Ford Funeral Home in Flemington.

Visitation will take place today from 2 to 4 p. m. and from 7 to 9 p. m. at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Soci ety and the Scotch Plains Rescue Squad.

August 3, 2000

Anne P. Hanigan

Anne P. Hanigan of Mountainside died on Monday, July 31, at home.

Born in NewYork City, she lived in Mountainside since 1967.

Mrs. Hanigan was a volunteer with the Atlantic Hospice Program in Millburn and a member of the RoVernon sary Society at Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church in Mountainside.

She was a board member of the Occupational Center of Union County.

Mrs. HanigangraduatedfromKean College in Union.

Surviving are two daughters, Arlene M. Benigno and Patricia A. Hanigan; a sister, Mae Brogan, and two grandchildren.

A Mass will be offered at 10 a. m. tomorrow, Friday, August 4, in Our Lady of Lourdes Church.

Arrangements were handled by the Gray Funeral Home, 318 East Broad Street in Westfield.

August 3, 2000

Phillip Perrucci, 86

Phillip Perrucci, 86, of Scotch Plains died on Saturday, July 29, in Muhlenberg Regional Medical Cen ter in Plainfield.

Born in Montazzoli, Italy, he came to the United States in 1936, settling in Westfield. He moved to Scotch Plains in 1950.

Mr. Perrucci had been employed bytheScotchPlainsFanwoodBoard of Education in the Maintenance Department at Park Middle School in Scotch Plains for 20 years before retiring in 1979.

He was a member of the Scotch PlainsFanwood ItalianAmerican Club.

Surviving are his wife, Antoinette Perrucci; four daughters, Theresa Hill, Donna Perrucci, Clara Perrucci and Phyllis Rich, and five grandchil dren.

A Mass was offered on Tuesday, August 1, in St. Bartholomew the Apostle Roman Catholic Church in Scotch Plains.

Arrangements were under the diJuris rection of the Rossi Funeral Home in Scotch Plains.

August 3, 2000

Michael J. Guarino, Sr., 87, Had Been Mechanical Engineer at Watchung Firm

Michael J. Guarino, Sr., 87, of North Palm Beach, Fla. died on Fri day, July 21, in Palm Beach Medical Center in Palm Beach, Fla.

Born in Newark, he had lived in Mountainside beforemovingtoNorth Palm Beach several years ago.

Mr. Guarino had been a mechani cal engineer with the L & Z Tool andDie Company in Watchung for 15 years before retiring in 1980.

He attended Newark College of Engineering.

He was a member of the Society of Plastic Engineers.

Surviving are his wife, Edythe Guarino; two sons, Michael J. Guarino, Jr. and Kenneth R. Guarino; a sister, Katherine Marchesanni; five grandchildren and four greatgrand children.

A Mass was offered on Friday, July 28, in the Notre Dame of Mount Carmel Church in Cedar Knolls.

Arrangements were under the di rection of the Norman Dean Home for Services in Denville.

August 3, 2000

Louis Caruso

Louis Caruso of Edison died on Monday, July 31, at home.

BorninItaly,he hadlivedinScotch Plains before moving to Edison 15 years ago.

A heavy construction contractor, Mr. Caruso was the founder and owner of Lumar Enterprises Inc. in South Plainfield for more than 50 years before retiring in 1996.

Surviving are his wife, Teresa Caruso; three sons, Dominic Caruso, Louis Caruso, Jr. and Mario Guiducci; five daughters, Rose Ditchko, PhyllisCullen,TinaCaruso, Gina Guiducci and Maryanne Guiducci; twosisters,LorettaCipolla and Carmella Abbate; three brothHospital ers, Dominick Caruso Augustine Caruso and Giovanni Caruso, and 10 grandchildren.

A Mass will be offered at 10: 30 m. today, Thursday, August 3, in

Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church in Elizabeth. The funeral will be from the McCracken Funeral Home in Union.

August 3, 2000

Elizabeth S. Kelly

Elizabeth S. Kelly of Westfield died on Monday, July 24, in the Bridgeway Care Center in Bridgewater.

Born in Milwaukee, Wis., she moved to Westfield in 1945.

Mrs. Kelly had been the office managerfor RudelMachineryinNew York City for many years before retiring in 1963.

She was a member of the Rosary Society of the Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Westfield.

Surviving are a daughter, Mary Gail Lynch; four grandchildren and three greatgrandchildren.

Funeral services were held on Sata. urday, July 29, at the Dooley ColoSt. nial Home, 556 Westfield Avenue in retirWestfield, followed by a Mass at the

Holy Trinity Church.

August 3, 2000

Estelle M. Wright, 83

Estelle M. Wright, 83, of Bridgewater died on Sunday, July 30, in the Meridian Genesis HealthCare at the Woodlands in Plainfield.

Born in Cicero, Ill., she had lived in Florida, New York, Scotch Plains and Elkin, N. C. before moving to Bridgewater in 1999.

Mrs. Wright had been an office manager with Equipment Repair Company in Piscataway for 10 years before retiring in 1972.

She was a member of the Scotch Plains Garden Club and had served as a Eucharistic Minister at St. Stephen’s Church in Elkin, N. C.

Surviving are two sons, William W.Wright, Jr. and Robert M.Wright; a halfbrother, Robert Mercier, and five grandchildren.

A Mass will be offered at 11 a. m. today, Thursday, August 3, in the Holy TrinityRomanCatholicChurch in Westfield, following the funeral from the Rossi Funeral Home in Scotch Plains.

August 3, 2000