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John P. Cleary
Brielle resident John P. Cleary peacefully passed away at his home on Sunday, Feb. 4.
He was 94 years old.
His long and distinguished career in the broadcasting industry was capped by his appointment as the fist Director of the office of Cable Television for the state of New Jersey. As director, he was responsible for giving New Jersey the nation’s first state-wide cable interconnect.
Prior to that, he had been executive producer and co-owner of the Peabody Award and the Emmy Award-winning television show GE College Bowl. Before College Bowl, he worked for both ABC and NBC, becoming director of radio programming for the NBC Radio Network.
Previous occupations had included modeling and being the radio producer for several traveling Big Bands, including Paul Whitman and Sammy Kay.
Mr. Cleary attended Fordham University and was a four letter star athlete and president of the Student Council at Bloomfield High School.
He was predeceased by his wife Dorothy and son Michael.
He is survived by his sons Peter and Brian, his brother James, 12 grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren.
Margaret Mary Talbot Mattson
Brick resident Margaret Mary Talbot Mattson died Tuesday, Feb. 13 at Ocean Medical Center. She leaves behind many loved ones, including family in Wall and Lake Como.
She was 73 years old.
Margaret [Peggy] was born in Yonkers, N.Y., then moved to Lakewood in 1956 and then to Brick in 1963. Peggy was a very loving, caring, devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend to many. She was a good listener, but never judged. She had a gift of making everyone feel very special through her warm, kind and lovable personality. Peggy had a great sense of humor and will be truly missed.
She worked for the Brick Board of Education at the Herbertsville School for 18 years. She was affectionately known as “Miss Peggy”. She was a member of the Mothers Club at St. Mary’s Academy, one of the founding members of the Brick Town Junior Sports League and a member of St. Dominic Altar Rosary Society. As a communicant of St.Dominic Church in Brick, she was one of the original members from its inception.
Her grandsons Kristian and Richard Mattson, brother Matthew Talbot, and nephew-godson Robert Buccker predeceased Peggy.
She is survived by her devoted and beloved husband of 56 years, Kenneth. Surviving are her children Kenneth and daughter-in-law Barbara of Wall; Kevin and daughter-in-law Katherine of Mays Landing; Richard and daughter-in-law JoAnn of Brick; Kerry and daughter-in-law Beth of Bristol, N.H.; Kim DeAnnuntis and son-in-law John of Mays Landing; Robert and daughter-in-law Linda of Flemington; Margaret Ricca and son-in-law Stephen of Lake Como; Mary Beth Repage and son-in-law Christian of Brick; grandchildren Kenneth, Katelyn, Matthew, Erin, Meghan, Emily, Kelsey, Kerry, Kyle Mattson, Nicholas and Michael Ricca, and MaryKate, Christian and Connor Repage, will dearly miss her.
Margaret is also survived by her brother Robert Talbot and sister-in-law Lois of Deerfield Beach, Fla.; sisters Virginia Rickmers and brother-in-law John Ulissi of Berkeley Township; Dorothy Vitiello of Rye, N.Y.; Sarah Buccker and brother-in-law Edward of Brick; sister-in-law Maureen Talbot of Carlsbad, Calif., and many nieces, nephews, and friends.
Visitation was held Friday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at Colonial Funeral Home in Brick.
Mass was offered Saturday at 10 a.m. at St. Dominic’s R.C. Church in Brick.
Burial followed at St. Mary’s cemetery in Lakewood.
Catherine Greve Spratt
Neptune resident Catherine Greve Spratt died Tuesday, Feb. 13 at King Manor Care Center in Neptune. She leaves many loved ones behind, including family in Wall Township.
She was 87 years old.
Raised in Newark, she was a resident of the shore area most of her life. Catherine was a very kind and compassionate lady who will be missed by many.
She was predeceased by her parents William and Catherine Greve; two brothers Harry and Edward, and as sister Winifred Joyce.
She is survived by her two sons Gary and Craig Spratt; beloved sister Lillian Taylor; nephews Bruce and Lyle Taylor; Keith Smith of Wall Township; three great-nieces Cynthia Kortenhaus of Howell, Cathleen Frank of Wall, Laura Kerekes of Neptune, and two nephews Brian Smith of New Egypt and Gary Smith of Wall.
Memorial service was held Saturday, Feb. 17 at noon at the Orender Family Home for Funerals in Manasquan.
Interment will be private.
Condolences and memories can be e-mailed to the funeral home’s e-mail address, at www.orenderfamilyhome.com.
Elizabeth M. ‘Betty’ Ryan
Wall Township resident Elizabeth M. “Betty” Ryan passes away peacefully at home on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
She was 82 years old.
Born in Bayonne, Mrs. Ryan was a graduate of the Berkeley Secretarial School in New York City and worked as a legal secretary for over 20 years before earning a certified social worker certification from Rutgers University and becoming the Municipal Welfare Director of Wall Township, a position she held proudly for over 35 years, before retiring in 2005.
She was a founder and past president of Wall Helps Its People, a service organization that helps Wall residents in times of Crisis. She was a member of the Board of Governors of the State Municipal Welfare Association, as well as the Manasquan Elks BPOE 2534 Ladies Auxiliary serving as their Lady of the Year from 1993 to 1994.
Mrs. Ryan was also a member of the Manasquan VFW Post 1838 Auxiliary and was their Citizen of the Year in 1994. She was a charter member and past officer of the Red Oak Woman’s Club in Wall Township, and was actively involved with the Salvation Army.
Mrs. Ryan was predeceased by her husband, Robert F. Ryan in 1987; her parents, Oliver and Beatrice Brymer; and her brother and sister Arthur Brymer of Dallas, Texas and Emma Bloss of Rochester, N.Y.
She is survived by her three children, Nancy L. Cook and her husband Christopher of Point Pleasant, Robert S. Ryan of Los Angeles, Calif., and Virginia M. Clevenger and her husband James of Point Pleasant. She was a role model to her four granddaughters, Robin Louise Cook of New York City, Caitlyn Ryan Cook, Jamie Elizabeth Clevenger and Jaclyn Ryan Clevenger all of Point Pleasant, and will be dearly missed by her many nieces, nephews, and friends.
Relatives and friends were invited to call Sunday, Feb. 18., from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at the O’Brien Funeral Home in Wall.
A funeral service followed Monday at 10 a.m. at the funeral home.
Burial is at Greenwood cemetery in Brielle.
In lieu of flowers, donations to Wall Helps Its People, PO Box 1214, Wall, NJ 07719, would be greatly appreciated.
Joan J. Farmer
Ocean Township resident Joan J. [nee Zabel] Farmer, a member of the Manasquan Elks Lodge Ladies Auxiliary, passed away on Thursday, Feb. 15 at Care Center of Brakeley Park in Phillipsburg.
She was 76 years old.
Mrs. Farmer had been employed as a Bookkeeper at the Homestead Restaurant in Ocean Grove and also at the former Christies Restaurant in Ocean Township. She received her Associates Degree with High Honors from Brookdale Community College in Lincroft. Born in New Brunswick, she had lived in South River before moving to Ocean Township 48 years ago.
She was predeceased by her parents Irving and Estelle Zabel, and her daughter Linda Joan Blalock.
Surviving is her husband of 48 years Robert J. Farmer Sr.; her children and their spouses, Randy and Debbie Blalock of Robbinsville, Robert J. and Therese Farmer Jr. of Phillipsburg, Susan and John Dabbar of Houston, Texas, and Joan Ellen and Robert Maderious of Lafayette, Calif., and her grandchildren Jennifer, David, R.J., Skylar, John, Wade, Hannah, Madison, Chase, Willie, and Jeff.
Relatives and friends were invited to call on Monday, Feb. 19, from 10:30am until the time of the funeral service at 11:30am at the O’Brien Funeral Home, Hwy 35 at New Bedford Road in Wall.
Interment is at Greenwood cemetery in Brielle.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the American Cancer Society, 801 Broad St., Shrewsbury, NJ 07702.
Thomas J. Roach
Wall resident Thomas J. Roach died Thursday, Feb. 15 at his home.
He was born in New Rochelle, N.Y. and graduated from Fordham University in 1954 with a Bachelor of Science degree.
He entered the US Army upon graduation, served a tour of duty in Europe as a platoon leader in a tank compound, and separated in 1956 with the rank of First Lieutenant.
He joined the Equitable Life in 1957 in the Group Insurance area. He then transferred to Systems Development in 1959, serving as systems and programming manager of one of the first on-line systems in the insurance industry.
Mr. Roach was elected an officer of the Equitable in 1971. In 1975, he was assigned responsibility for computer and systems planning for the regionalization of all life insurance operations. In 1977, he changed his career path and was appointed vice-president of the Regional Service Center in Columbus, Ohio. In 1982, he was given company-wide responsibility for all regional operations for the individual life line.
In 1983, he was elected senior vice president and chief operations officer for all administrative functions within the Life Company.
While at Equitable, he served on the Board of Directors for the Equitable of Colorado and for the Integrity Life Insurance Co.
Active in industry activities, he served on the Board of Directors of the Life Insurance Management Association.
In 1985, he elected early retirement from the Equitable. He subsequently became an executive vice president at Mutual of America where he served four years developing and implementing an on-line system utilized by employees and clients of Mutual.
During his career, Mr. Roach attended a Summer Executive program at the Indiana University graduate school. In 1982, he completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business.
Mr. Roach had also recently became a member of the American Legion Post 346 in Neptune.
To know him was to love him, and thousands did crossing generations and all walks of life. Tom was a true family man, the best friend to more names than could be printed here, and the true love of his wife Lorraine.
Mr. Roach was predeceased by his brother John “Jack” Roach.
Surviving are his wife Lorraine Church; daughter Deborah and husband Patrick Yobs of Morris Plains; son Thomas and wife Colleen Roach of Westlake, Ohio, and three grandchildren, Lauren, Ryan, and Sean, as well as several nieces, nephews, and step-children.
Relatives and friends were invited to call Sunday, Feb. 18 from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at the O’Brien Funeral Home in Wall.
A funeral mass was held on Monday, Feb. 19 at 10 a.m. at St. Rose Church in Belmar.
A private committal followed in St. Catharine’s Mausoleum in Sea Girt.
Dr. Rudolf G. Buser
Wall Township resident Dr. Rudolf G. Buser died Thursday, Feb. 15 at the Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune.
Rudolf was born in May 1929 in Ludwigshafen, Germany. He received his doctorate at the University of Munich in 1957. He and his wife Waltraut emigrated to the United States in 1958 to work at Fort Monmouth.
He pursued a distinguished career in physics, electro-optics and lasers, and electronic systems and received both the Meritorious Civil Service Award and the Exceptional Civilian Service Award from the secretary of the Army. After his retirement, he remained active as a Member at Large of NATO’s Sensors and Electronics Technology Panel and provided consulting services as president of RGB Associates.
Rudolf enjoyed traveling, gardening, skiing, hiking, canoeing, and biking. Locally, he was instrumental in planning and building the “Capitol to the Coast Trail”. Local sections of this trail have been completed and the concept of this bicycle trail is to connect state and county parks from the beach to the capitol.
He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Dr. Waltraut Heinrich Buser; his four children Claudia, Christopher, Carolyn, and Cornelia and their spouses and his 10 grandchildren.
The family received friends on Tuesday, Feb. 20 from 7 to 9p.m. at the O’Brien Funeral Home in Wall.
A funeral service was held yesterday, Wednesday, Feb. 21, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Manasquan, with Pastor Mary Farnham presiding.
Private burial will follow in Munich, Germany.
In lieu of flowers donations may be made in his memory to either one of his favorite charities: St. Jude’s Childrens Research Hospital, Doctors Without Borders, American Friends Service Committee, The Foodbank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, or Friends of the Parks of Monmouth County, or your own favorite charity.
Daniel J. Franklin Jr.
Lake Como resident Daniel Joseph Franklin, Jr. died Friday, Feb. 16 at his residence surrounded by his family.
He was 72 years old.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., he lived in Lake Como for 36 years. Mr. Franklin retired as a staff sergeant from the U.S. Army in 1974 after 20 years of service.
He served in Fort Dix, Fort Gordan in Ga.; Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.; Fort Hamilton, N.Y.; Fort Brag, N.C.; Fort Devans, Mass.; Fort Eustice, Va.; Korea, Schwabebisch, Germany, and Thule Air Force Base in Greenland.
After his recruitment, he worked as a dispatcher for the Allenhurst Police Department for 13 years retiring in 2000.
Surviving are his wife of 50 years, Mary Jane; three sons, Daniel Thomas Franklin, William Joseph Franklin, and Sean Michael Franklin; three daughters, Elizabeth Ann Franklin, Lorrianne Marie Franklin, and Dawn Marie Paolino; and six grandchildren, Jessica, Rebecca, Danielle, Daniel, Jr., Bridget, and Brooke Franklin.
Visitation was held on Tuesday, Feb. 20 from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Reilly Funeral Home in Belmar.
A funeral service was held at the funeral home at 8:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Lake Como First Aid Squad, P.O. Box 247, Lake Como, NJ 07719.
