George Pearson, a three-term Pennington councilman in the 1970s, died on February 18. He was 100. Pearson was a U.S. Army veteran who served in World War II. A Republican, he survived the 1973 Watergate Democratic wave, winning reelection by 26 votes. He was easily re-elected to a third three-year term in 1976.
Bunny Kniesler, a former aide to State Sen. Robert Singer (R-Lakewood) and Assemblyman Ronald Dancer (R-Plumsted), died on February 22. She was 94. Her husband of seventy years, Fred Kniesler, a former Monmouth County Republican Chairman, died on January 19. Kniesler had worked as a clerk in the Allentown tax assessor’s office and was an alternate delegate to the 1992 Republican National Convention pledged to President George H.W. Bush.
Roger Mahon, a former Hunterdon County Prosecutor, Superior Court Judge, and mayor of Raritan Township, died on February 20. He was 81.
Ronald Peterson, who served as a Liberty Township Committeeman for eighteen years, died on February 17. He was 65.,
Benn Micheletti, a former Superior Court Judge, died on February 20. He was 87. Micheletti was a U.S. Army veteran.
Charles Massey, an aide to Jersey City Mayor Anthony Cucci, died on February 17. He was 72. A U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam, Massey was a retired Jersey City police detective.
Jim Merkel, who served as chairman of the Keansburg Board of Fire Commissioners, died on February 23. He was 60. Merkel was a U.S. Navy veteran.
Jacqueline Strimpler, a former Manasquan school board member, died on February 17. She was 71.
Edward Meehan, a former clerk to the chief judge of the Jersey City Municipal Court, has died. He was 86. A longtime observer of Jersey City politics, Meehan had attended rallies for Mayor Frank Hague as a child. He served in the New Jersey National Guard.
Marie Pellecchia, who ran as an independent candidate for State Assembly in the 1st district in 1997 against Nicholas Asselta (R-Vineland) and John Gibson (R-Sea Isle City) and received 1,127 votes, died on February 22. She was 81. Pellecchia had also been a candidate for mayor of Ocean City.
Marianne Connolly, a longtime Democratic county committeewoman in Carteret, died on February 23. She was 91.
Marilyn Flagler, a former Beach Haven Zoning Board member, died on February 14. She was 91.