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Lenia Thornton, 77
Technician; Was Member of St. John’s Baptist Church
Lenia (Lena) Thornton, 77, of
Scotch Plains died on Thursday
January 13, 2000 at home.
Born in Williamsburg, Va., she
had lived in Plainfield before relocating
to Scotch Plains 37 years ago.
She had been an electrical technician
for Westinghouse Electric in
Edison for 10 years and Bourrough’s
Electric in Piscataway for nine years.
She was a member of St. John’s
Baptist Church in Scotch Plains.
She was predeceased by her son,
Charles Powell, in November.
Surviving are two sisters, Sophronia
Stokes of Williamsburg, Va. and
Catherine Wallace of Plainfield; a
brother, Wardell S. Wallace of
Plainfield; five grandchildren and
three great-grandchildren.
Services were held on Monday,
January 17, at the Judkins Colonial
Home in Plainfield.
Aloysius Bennett, 78
Rescued Three During World Trade Center Bombing
Aloysius A. Bennett, 78, of
Westfield died on Thursday, January
13, 2000 in the Westfield Center, Genesis
ElderCare Network in Westfield.
Born in Harrison, he had lived in
Kearny before relocating to Westfield
five years ago.
Mr. Bennett had been employed by
the Otis Elevator Company, which
served the World Trade Center in
New York City, for 41 years. He was
a member of the International Union
of Elevator Constructors Local No. 1
in New York City.
He received a Recognition Award
from the City of New York in 1993
for having saved three people who
were trapped in an elevator during
the World Trade Center bombing that
year.
A United States Navy veteran of
World War II, Mr. Bennett served in
the Pacific Theatre as a Torpedo Man
2nd Class aboard the SS Buchanan.
Surviving are a son, Gordon
Bennett; a daughter, Joanne Bennett;
two brothers, Joseph Bennett and
Charles Bennett; four sisters, Iolene
Mastapeter, Marie Cahill, Veronica
Channing and Margaret Bennett, and
four grandchildren.
A Mass was offered on Saturday,
January 15, in St. Bartholomew the
Apostle Roman Catholic Church in
Scotch Plains, after the funeral from
the Rossi Funeral Home in Scotch
Plains.
Clara J. Miller, 92
Was Volunteer With Girl Scouts and Area Hospital
Clara J. Miller, 92, of Leesburg,
Fla., a former longtime Westfield
resident, died on Friday, December
31, 2000 in Leesburg.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y. on July 14,
1907, she had lived in Cranford and
Garwood before moving to Westfield
in 1948. She and her husband lived
in Westfield for 35 years before
relocating to Leesburg.
Mrs. Miller had worked as a secretary
before her marriage and again
after her children were grown. She
had been employed as assistant to a
vice president at Pyro Plastics in
Union for nine years before retiring.
While her children were young,
she was a homemaker. She also was
a Brownie Scout leader and later did
volunteer office work in the Girl Scout
Little House in Westfield for several
years.
As a volunteer, Mrs. Miller also
conducted social activities for
patients at Bonnie Burns Hospital. She
was also a member of St. Anne’s
Roman Catholic Church in Garwood,
where she taught Sunday School.
She was active in a bridge club and
in the Westfield Newcomers Club,
and was one of the founders of the
Amity Club that grew out of it.
She was predeceased by her husband,
Alfred J. Miller, in 1995.
Surviving are two daughters,
Marilyn Gildea of Incline Village,
Nev. and Marcia Mach of Oakdale,
N.Y., and seven grandchildren.
A Funeral Mass was offered on
Wednesday, January 5, in the
Catholic Community of St. Paul Roman
Catholic Church in Leesburg.
Dr. Robert Miner, Jr., 81
Had Helped Find Method for Distributing Penicillin
Dr. Robert S. Miner Jr., 81, of
Westfield, who fulfilled his boyhood
dream of seeing the year 2000 following a
distinguished career in science and education,
died on Friday, January 14, 2000 in Overlook
Hospital in Summit.
Born in Chicago, he lived in
Westfield since 1947.
Dr. Miner began his professional
career in the pharmaceutical industry as a
key member of the team at
Merck & Company, Inc. in Rahway
that developed the procedure for the
massive production of penicillin.
After World War II, he joined Ciba-Geigy in
Summit and eventually became Director of
Chemical Manufacturing before retiring from
the company in 1969.
Dr. Miner, who had contracted
polio in 1950, subsequently took a
less physically demanding position
at Princeton University. He completed
an 11-year career that included
administrative and laboratory research
work and three National Science
Foundation-sponsored assignments
to the Soviet Union before retiring in
1981.
He later served as a chemical manufacturing
consultant on assignments in China, Brazil,
Turkey, Peru and throughout North America.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the
University of Chicago, he earned a
Doctoral Degree from Princeton University.
Dr. Miner was recognized in 1996
as one of three Princeton alumni to
receive the university’s Alumni Council
Award for Service during its 250th
anniversary celebration.
He also was formally recognized
that year in Chicago for his outstanding
contributions to his undergraduate alma
mater.
Dr. Miner served as a Deacon,
Elder and choir member at The Presbyterian
Church in Westfield. He was a past
President of the Westfield Board
of Education and a former board
member of the Westfield Y and the
Westfield Adult School.
He also chaired the Westfield
United Fund Drive and served in
various capacities at Union County
College.
Dr. Miner was active with the
Westfield Men’s Glee Club and the
American Chemical Society and was
a Fellow of the American Institute of
Chemists.
Surviving are his wife of 57 years,
Mary Evelyn Richey Miner; two
daughters, Becky Jane Miner and
Esther Davis Almgren; a son, R.
Scott Miner, 3rd, and four grandchildren.
A memorial service was held on
Tuesday, January 18, in The Presbyterian
Church in Westfield.
Arrangements were under the direction of
the Funeral Service of New Jersey in
Hillside.
Memorial donations may be made to The
Presbyterian Church in Westfield.
Mary K. Counts, 71
Mary K. Counts, 71, of Rahway
died on Wednesday, January 12, 2000 at
Overlook Hospital in Summit.
Born in Scotch Plains, she had
lived in Plainfield before moving to
Rahway 47 years ago.
Mrs. Counts had been a keypunch
operator for Swift Company in Union
for 10 years before retiring in 1983.
She had also worked as an assembler
for R.C.A. in Clark.
She was a member of the Ebenezer
African Methodist Episcopal Church
in Rahway for 40 years.
She was predeceased by a brother,
James A. E. Ingram, in August.
Surviving are her husband, John
S. Counts, Sr.; two sons, John S.
Counts, Jr. of Cranford and Charles
F. Counts of Rahway and a brother,
James A. Ingram of Pasadena, Calif.
Funeral services took place on
Tuesday, January 18, at the Ebenezer
Church.
Arrangements were handled by the
Judkins Colonial Home in Plainfield.
Joan Lomenzo, 81
Member, Volunteer At St. Bartholomew the Apostle Church
Joan M. Lomenzo, 81, of Scotch
Plains died on Wednesday, January
12, 2000 in Muhlenberg Regional Medical
Center in Plainfield.
Born in Bayonne, she had lived in
Altasburg, Pa., in Brooklyn and in
Newark before moving to Scotch
Plains in 1952.
Mrs. Lomenzo was a member of
the Women’s Club in Scotch Plains
and a bingo volunteer and member
of the Parent Teacher Association of
St. Bartholomew the Apostle Roman
Catholic Church in Scotch Plains.
Surviving are a son, Joseph R.
Lomenzo; a daughter, Carol Jackson;
a sister, Minna Cherenko; three
brothers, Michael Cherenko,
William Cherenko and Peter Cherenko;
four grandchildren and two great-
grandchildren.
A Mass was offered on Tuesday,
January 18, in St. Bartholomew the
Apostle Church, following the funeral
from the Rossi Funeral Home in Scotch
Plains.
