“‘Tis I’ll be here in sunshine or in shadow …” Danny Boy
“Dan loved his family, he loved his friends, he loved his work — Dan loved life.“
Loved ones of Dan Grady
Friends called them The Grady Bunch: A passel of six affable Rumson- and Fair Haven-raised kids, all graduates of Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School. The bunch was headed by patriarch Daniel “Dan” Richard Grady.
Surrounded by his children, the longtime former Rumson and Fair Haven dad passed away on March 9 at his Florida home. He was 86.
The popular dad was laid to rest today, April 14, what would have been his 87th birthday.
Longtime Rumsonite Dennis Patrick Lynch entered into his eternal life on April 10. He was 80.
The former Borough councilman, Rumson Country Day School Board vice chair, volunteer, consummate businessman and tennis player was known to
“practice what he preached.
He saw the good in every person, and was the gentle, self-effacing one so many sought out for counsel; his patience, understanding, and supportiveness were incomparable (as was his wit!). Dennis enjoyed the game of Bridge and earned the ACBL rank of ‘regional master.’ His taste in music was eclectic, and he was everyone’s favorite dance partner, especially his wife’s.”
Dennis Patrick Lynch Photo/family via Thompson Memorial Home
Longtime singles and doubles champion of the Seabright Lawn Tennis & Cricket Club, he served as its president and was recently named an honorary member. In 2000, the Asbury Park Press voted him second best player in the history of Jersey Shore tennis.
Dennis served on the Board of the Navesink House (now The Atrium CCRC) and was vice chair of the Rumson Country Day School Board. He also headed the investment sub-committee of the Meridian Health Group after years on the Riverview Medical Center Foundation.
In addition, Dennis served on the Yale Advisory Committee, and was named a Sterling Fellow. A longstanding member of the Racquet and Tennis Club of N.Y., Dennis was also a member of the Sea Bright Beach Club and Rumson Country Club.
More about Dennis Patrick Lynch …
Born in Jersey City, Dennis was a son of Thomas E. Lynch and Mary Doust Lynch. A longtime resident of Rumson, he was a graduate of Red Bank Catholic High School. After spending a postgraduate year at Phillips Exeter Academy, Dennis earned a B.A. from Yale College in l964.
Upon completion of his service in the Coast Guard, Dennis married his former classmate, Ann Marie Blades, his “best friend for life.”
The newlyweds moved to Philadelphia where Dennis studied for his M.B.A. at Penn’s Wharton School, majoring in finance.
He became a V.P. at Smith, Barney & Co. before cofounding the investment advisory firm of Lynch and Mayer, Inc., N.Y.C., in 1976. For 20 years, L & M ranked nationally in the top quintile of large-cap investment managers. Early retirement years were partly spent in Hanover, N.H., and Essex, CT.
Throughout his school years and thereafter, Dennis pursued an outstanding athletic career, distinguishing himself on both the basketball and tennis courts.
A member of the 1962 Yale Ivy League Basketball Championship Team, Dennis was named an All-Ivy Player in 1963 and 1964, was point guard for the Navy and All-Service Teams in 1965, and was drafted by the N.Y. Knickerbockers.
Dennis was also captain of the 1964 Yale Tennis Team and of the Yale-Harvard Team that played Oxford-Cambridge in the Prentice Cup matches of that year.
He was a decades-long parishioner of Holy Cross Church in Rumson.
Dennis is predeceased by: his brother, Thomas E. Lynch, Jr.; and sister, Maureen Lynch.
Dennis is survived by: his loving wife, Ann Marie; his devoted children, Kathy L. Hale (Jon), Dennis P. Lynch, Jr. (Marshall), William T. Lynch, and Nora A. Lynch; his brother, Vincent; his grandchildren, Ted and Nick Hale, Eleanor and Coley Lynch; nieces, Perri Howard and Meghan Lynch; nephew, Nick Lynch; and several close cousins.
A mass of christian burial and a celebration of Dennis’s life will be held in July.
Donations in his name may be made to the Sisters of Mercy of NJ, Red Bank Catholic H.S. and the SLTCC Landmark Preservation Friends.
— Edited obituary provided by family to Thompson Memorial Home
“He was a great man, and a humble man … His hearty laughter at a good story or joke, his warm-hearted and frequent expressions of love and support for all of us, his kindness to people from all walks of life, and his keen intellect and insight will be missed, while memories of him live on.”
Nan Hughes Poole, Mark Hughes Jr.’s daughter
Memories. Moments. They’re what live on after we’re gone — what takes on a life of its own, indelibly etched in the minds of future generations. Legacy. There are so very many of those moments, those memories that many could call to mind as they put on their best bowtie and tip their hat to all that comprise the legacy left by longtime Rumsonite Mark F. Hughes Jr..
The husband, dad, grandfather, lawyer and rarest of gems among gentleman died on March 10, just four days shy of his 90th birthday. He and his wife, Marie H. “Mimi” Hughes, a longtime Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) English teacher, lived in Rumson for more than 55 years. They raised their four children there, in their home right across the street from the high school. They welcomed many into the Hughes home, like family, with open hearts and a voracious interest in the passions of all they met and cared to know better.
Anyone who has crossed the Hughes home threshold or been on stage with one or many has a story to tell. One of patriarch Mark, always the gentile Mr. Hughes to me, stands out in my mind. It tells his legacy tale in a mind’s snapshot. It’s a little lost-and-found snippet of a dad and grandfather steeped in a moment that had become tradition — a generational one to be carried on for lifetimes.
In my mind’s eye, a locked frame-freeze cache, it remains …
“Somehow, we’ve lost Dad,” said a content, grinning Paul Hughes, Mark’s son and my longtime friend, at closing day of an RFH show. Decades before, it was we who were at the RFH auditorium, mingling, crying over the ending, collecting accolades and bouquets. “He got caught up chatting with people and he’s still at the high school somewhere. Somehow, he got left behind. Gotta go find him.”
Former area teacher and band “mom” Harriet Ruth Luckenbill, known to many as “Nana,” passed away peacefully on Friday, March 19 at the Chelsea Assisted Living Home. She was 96.
“Man is not man until he has learned to live with his brothers.”
Clinton Miller, RFH Yearbook quote
The news of the sudden death of former Fair Havenite and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) graduate, Clinton Miller, on March 11, was met with a tsunami of shock and sadness coupled with gratitude from countless people for having known a man many called their brother, blood or not.
Surrounded by loved ones, former Fair Havenite and 70-year Shrewsbury resident Eileen G. Kirsh passed away from natural causes at Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank, on March 12. She was 95.
Forever Fair Havenite, 64-year fire company member, U.S. Navy vet, mailman, father, and friend to the community, John J. “Jack” Butler passed away on March 11. He was 88.
Jack loved Fair Haven. At one time, in fact, his daughter Bridget Butler Kaniewski said, in a post about his death, Jack “knew every person and address in town” and loved seeing retro photos and reminiscing.
“He enjoyed all of the photos from years past and we were so happy to be able to keep him up to date on town happenings (even if he didn’t fully understand how we were obtaining this information from our phones). Whether he delivered your mail with care, swiped away your bet at the Big Six, was a classmate at Sickles School or RFH class of 1950, or was simply a familiar face from town — he knew you. If he didn’t know you he knew your parents, or grandparents, or who used to live in your house.
Fair Haven was his town.”
Bridget Butler Kaniewski
Jack Butler … Photo/family via John E. Day Funeral Home
“Throughout his life, Jack’s primary passion was his family and he cherished the many barbeques, parties, trips, and other events that brought everyone together.
“Second, though, was thoroughbred horse racing. Jack loved talking about the horses with his friends, analyzing his picks and simply being part of the atmosphere at Monmouth Park every summer. Fittingly, Jack won the most recent bets he placed — backing Authentic in the 2020 Kentucky Derby and Breeders Cup Classic.
“When not at the track, Jack was a golfer, a bowler, a baseball player, and a strong supporter of both the Jets and the Mets. Last, no day was complete for Jack without first reading the NY Daily News—from back to front.”
Born in Long Branch, NJ on August 2, 1932 to the late James F. and Beatrice (Touhy) Butler, Jack lived in Fair Haven for most of his life.
He worked as a letter carrier for the Red Bank Post Office for 42 years — a career he greatly enjoyed, as it enabled him to work outdoors and to get to know his customers along his route. Being a letter carrier also enabled Jack to stop in at his children’s sporting or school events and then head right back to work. Jack valued his time and accomplishments at the post office and the many friendships he made while working there over his four-decade tenure.
Jack’s commitment to helping others led him to enlist in the US Navy where he served on the USS Borie (DD-704) during the Korean War from 1952-1956. Jack also proudly served his local community as a life-long, 64-year member of the Fair Haven Fire Company.
Jack was predeceased by his adored granddaughter, Maren Kaniewski and his sister, Eileen Butler.
He is survived by: his loving children, John F. Butler and his wife Janelle, and Bridget Kaniewski and her husband Richard; his cherished grandchildren, John, Rory, Megan, Ricky and Deirdre; and his dear brother, James F. Butler.
A visitation will be held from 9 to 10:30 a.m at the John E. Day Funeral Home, Red Bank. A mass will immediately follow at 11 a.m. at the Church of the Nativity, Fair Haven. Interment will follow at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Middletown.
Jack’s family will then hold a celebration of his life at Monmouth Park this summer, once Covid 19 conditions permit.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent in Jack’s memory to Maren’s Fierce Fighters, www.marensfiercefighters.org in honor of his granddaughter.
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