Category Archives: Obituaries

Obituaries, Opinion

Mark F. Hughes Jr.: Legacy of a Rumson Dad

“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.”

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Obituaries

Brotherhood: Honoring Fair Haven-Raised RFH Grad Clinton Miller with a Memorial & Fundraiser

“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.

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Obituaries

In Memoriam: Forever Fair Havenite Jack Butler, 88

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.”  

Loved ones of Jack Butler in his obituary

Read on Jack … Forever a Fair Havenite.

Jack Butler … Photo/courtesy of FHFD media

More about Jack Butler …

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.

Obituaries

In Memoriam: Rumsonite, Former RFH BOE Prez, Coach, Volunteer, John Caruso, 53

“We ask that you honor him by doing a daily act of kindness, as John epitomized all that is good in this world and lived a life far greater than for just himself.”

That was the request made by family to honor the memory of Rumsonite John Michael Caruso who passed away peacefully, surrounded by family at home, on March 4. He was 53.
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Obituaries

In Memoriam: Rumsonite, Doctor, Coach, Dr. Ed Gangemi, 60

Rumson resident, father, basketball coach, volunteer and doctor, Edwin Michael Gangemi, passed away peacefully after a brief illness, surrounded by his physician and nursing friends at Clara Maass Medical Center, Belleville, on March 1. He was 60.

After several years living in Montclair, Ed and his wife Laura moved to Rumson, where Ed had spent summers throughout his early life. Ed treasured raising their two beloved sons, Marco and Matteo, also known as “the babies,” his family said in his obituary.

Dr. Ed Gangemi … Photo/family via John E. Day Funeral Home

“He loved being part of his sons’ active lives whether watching their games, feeding their friends, pontoon boat rides, or finding the perfect wave for surfing. 
Ed was a huge sports fan and was proud to be an RFH varsity basketball volunteer coach for a few seasons and enjoyed coaching in the Victory Park summer’s D League program … Ed loved throwing his nieces and nephews in the truck and getting a good Slurpee from the 7-Eleven. He loved swapping recipes with his sisters. He loved working his yard on the tractor. He loved boating down the Navesink and Shrewsbury Rivers. He loved meeting friends and players after the football and basketball games at Val’s. He loved dining under the stars at Undici after the D League games. He loved working in the neighborhood he grew up in, he loved skiing with his children and their friends. He loved his St. Bernard dogs. When he worked at the Harbor Island Spa in Long Branch, which was a health and weight loss retreat, he would sneak the old ladies hot fudge sundaes from the kitchen.
Ed was loved by so many who knew him for sense of humor, his caring nature, his generosity and his Ed-isms!

Loved ones of Ed Gangemi in his obituary

He was known to enjoy leisure time among friends and family at Surfrider Beach Club which, for him, was reminiscent of his younger days as a lifeguard and parking attendant at the Harbor Island Spa and the White Sands Beach Club in Long Branch.

He was  a member of the Navesink Country Club and Chapel Beach Club and Holy Cross Church in Rumson.

He also loved traveling to the Italian island of Sardegna, visiting the Costa Smeralda some 25 times over the years. He was fluent in Spanish and spoke Italian. 

Ed was proud of his family’s roots in Newark, where he was born and raised in the city’s Mount Prospect neighborhood. He attended the Prospect Hill Country Day School there and Newark Academy, Livingston. After graduating from Rutgers University, he packed his Volkswagen van and headed off to Mexico for medical school at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara.

Upon his return, he practiced medicine in the early years of his career with his older brother, Fred, at the same Newark office in which their physician father,Frederick, practiced for decades before them.

Ed met hiswife, Laura Blake Gangemi, when they were both working at Clara Maass. They married in 1996 and continued to work together, eventually with Ed establishing a new practice, Jersey Rehab, PA. “Over the years, this practice became his true passion and he was so proud of the people he worked with who became his work family,” his family said in his obituary.

Dr. Gangemi was preceded in death by his parents, Frederick A. Gangemi, M.D., and Agnes Rocco Gangemi.

He is survived by: his loving wife and children; and his three siblings, Frederick D. Gangemi, M.D., of Highlands, NJ, Cathleen Goode (John), of Red Bank, and Judith Green (Eliot) of Stamford, CT; and his nieces and nephews, Sarahanne (Brent), Darrin, Gianna, Tyler, Jenna, Ryan, Gabriella, Anthony, Chessa and Cash.

A private funeral service is scheduled and a celebration of Ed’s life will be held at a later date.  In lieu of flowers, donations would be appreciated to Ed’s favorite charity, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

— Edited obituary provided by family via John E. Day Funeral Home

Obituaries

Saying Goodbye to Longtime Fair Haven Teacher, ‘Jeannie’ Burgess, Mrs. B.

Students called her Mrs. B. She was Jeannie to fellow teachers. She was Jean Burgess — Nellie Jean (Badida) Burgess. She taught in the Fair Haven schools for 33 years. The valued longtime Fair Haven wife, mom, teacher, colleague and friend to many passed away peacefully on Jan. 28 in Chester, VA. She was 73.

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