In Memoriam: Sharpe James’ mother dies at 109; Ken Gibson’s chief of staff; ex-reporter; former Summit mayor; others

Beulah James Fluker, a retired nurse and the mother of former Newark Mayor Sharpe James, died on September 29.  She was 109.  “Beulah James, fled segregation and an abusive boyfriend in Jacksonville, Florida,” wrote Star-Ledger legend Barry Carter in 2016.  “She packed up (Sharpe) James and his brother, Joe, in the middle of the night with a plan to board a freight train headed (to Newark).

Dick Bozzone, a former reporter for the Jersey Journal and Hudson Dispatch, died on September 27.  He was 92.  A U.S. Air Force veteran who served in the Korean War, Governors Brendan Byrne and Thomas Kean named him to the New Jersey State Battleship Museum Commission.

Ellen Dickson, a former mayor of Summit, died on September 24 after a battle with cancer.  She was 71.  Dickson spent six years as a member of the Summit Common Council before her election as mayor in 2011.

Zinneford Smith, who served as chief of staff to Newark Mayor Kenneth Gibson and later as executive director of the Newark Watershed, died on September 28.  He was 87.

Jeffrey April, a former municipal solicitor and prosecutor for several towns in Cape May County and the 1977 Democratic nominee for State Assembly in the 1st district, died on September 23 after a long illness.  He was 75.

Alexander Glebocki, who spent 35 years as a project manager in the state Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services, where he saved lives leading suicide prevention initiatives, died on September 26.  He was 75.  Glebocki served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and was the chairman of the Florence Zoning Board.

Thomas Beirne, who served as a Wharton councilman from 1976 to 1983 and then as mayor from 1983 to 1991, died on September 23.  He was 82.

Karl Lacklemacher, a former Clinton town councilman, died on September 23.  He was 79.

Bill Reifsteck, who served as a Haddonfield commissioner, and borough solicitor, died on September 17.  He was 92.

Jeff Furbish, a former Chatham Planning Board member, died on September 27.  He was 63.

Luis Rivera, a former Galloway Democratic county committeeman and zoning board member, died on September 26 after an extended battle with cancer.  He was 77.  Rivera was a U.S. Army veteran and member of the Laborers Local 1972.

Jean Wells, who worked for the Burlington County Board of Freeholders, died on September 23.  She was 94.

Geraldine Credidio, a former Guttenberg Planning Board secretary, died on September 24.  She was 79.