In Memoriam

Vernell Wright, who served two terms as a Union County freeholder before retiring in 2017, died on December 23.  She was 89.  Wright was a public school teacher and principal in Union Township.

James Carney, a former Atlantic County freeholder and surrogate, died on January 19 after an extended illness.   He was 78.  Carney spent fourteen years as a Republican freeholder before becoming a Democrat to run for surrogate in 2005.  He lost re-election to Republican James Curcio in 2010 and a rematch in 2015 by 1,720 votes.

Edward Gant, a longtime IBEW Local 351 leader and member of the New Jersey Casino Redevelopment Authority, died on January 10.  He was 71.

Grace Nocella, a Camden County woman who served as a secretary to the late Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo, died on January 11.  She was 95.

James Clyne, who became a Superior Court Judge at age 38 and served on the bench for 22 years, died on December 24.  He was 78.  Clyne has served as presiding civil court judge in Ocean County.

Robert Figarotta, a Superior Court Judge from 1981 until 2003, died on  January 3.  He was 84.

Brian Matthews, a former Assistant Essex County Prosecutor, died on January 15.  He was 71.  Matthews was a prosecutor from 1978 to 1983 and again from 2011 to 2023.  He is the brother of Edwin Matthews, the counsel to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission; his late uncle, Elmer Matthews, served as Speaker of the New Jersey State Assembly in 1963.

James King, who served as a mayor, councilman, and school board member in Franklin Borough, died on January 18.  He was 75.

John Roth, a former Mahwah mayor and school board member, died on January 4  He was 75.

Buddy Litchult, a former Waldwick mayor and councilman, died on January 3.  He was 91.  Lithult served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War.

Ann Megill, who served on the Farmingdale Borough Council and Board of Education, died on January 6.  She was 95.

James Pierson, a former Glen Ridge councilman, died on December 29 after a battle with Alzheimer’s.  He was 96.

Bill Burk, a former North Haledon councilman, died on January 1.  He was 86.    Burk was a U.S. Army veteran.

Edna Huesmann, a former Rutherford Republican municipal chair and a 52-year county committee member, died on December 29.  She was 93.

Audrey Foster, a former Port  Republic school board member, died on January 4.  She was 92.

Virginia Dunn, who spent twenty years as the Marlboro township clerk, died on December 30.  She was 89.

Joseph Batten, a former Berlin Township police chief and fire commissioner, died on December 24.  He was 87.

Donald Simpson, a former Moorestown school board member, died on January 15.  He was 92.

Lester Allen, a New Jersey resident who was a copy editor at the New York Times, died on December 24.  He was 75.

Benjamin Steltzer, a U.S. Air Force veteran who served as the Pompton Lakes Public Works director, a New Jersey Real Estate Commission member, and a Morris County Tax Commissioner, died on January 4.  He was 81.

Frank Scamporino, the father-in-law of Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, died on January 3.  He was 91.

Charles Puff, who served on the Elmer Planning Board, died on January 6.  He was 81. Puff was a U.S. Air Force veteran.

Carol Lyunne McMackin, a former Allendale school board president, died on January 17.  She was 72.

Leigh Hopper, who served on the Montville Board of Health for two decades, died on on January 14.   He was the father of former District 39 Republican Chairman Steve Hopper.