Category Archives: Obituaries

Obituaries, Opinion

The Neighborhood: Steeping in Love of Home to Honor Jane Croft

Here stays the neighborhood. Yes. For the love of home, we’re always steeping in it.

Even though another forever Fair Haven neighbor is now gone, the neighborhood stays, as always — right in that hometown heart. The one that swells with a different kind of pride and comfort that some unlucky souls will never understand.

That neighbor, the latest who has left the block, is Jane Croft. Born in Fair Haven, she lived her entire life there, always with that easy-going smile and soothing, welcoming cadence in her voice.

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Obituaries

In Memoriam: Red Bank Native, Citarella’s Market Owner, Maria Citarella, 84

Red Bank native and Citarella’s Market owner Maria DiFiore Citarella passed away on Feb. 28 at her daughter’s home, surrounded by family, after an “extraordinary four-year battle with lung cancer.” She was 84.

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Obituaries

In Memoriam: Longtime Former Fair Havenite, U.S. Navy WW II Vet, Arthur J. Flanagan Sr., 95

Former longtime Fair Havenite, Arthur J. Flanagan, Sr., also of Middletown and Kearny, passed away peacefully on Feb. 26. He was 95.

Born on June 26,1926 in Lyndhurst and raised in Kearny, Arthur was a resident of Fair Haven for more than 50 years.

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Obituaries

In Memoriam: Longtime Rumsonite, Noted Attorney, George Aguilar, 91

“We can all be comforted knowing he not only lived the full life of his dreams, but became a pillar of the very community he admired so much. In fact, it is hard to even imagine Rumson without George, beloved by so many friends, serving as their own local North Star, gently guiding them to the right side of things.”
~ family of George Aguilar

On Feb. 6, 2022, after the first perfect round of golf ever recorded, longtime Rumsonite George Aguilar put away his clubs for the last time, kissed his beautiful wife Jutta, and left this world the best way he knew how, by making it a better place for all who came in contact with him. He was 91.

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Obituaries

In Memoriam: Rumson-Raised, RFH ’83 Grad, Teacher, Coach, Paul McGrade, 56

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”

Confucius

“We will all meet again someday.
Now get out there and live!“

Paul McGrade

That’s what Rumson-raised Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Class of 1983 graduate Paul McGrade did. Known for his zest for life, the popular RFH guy, husband, dad, soccer and lacrosse coach, called by those who knew and loved him “one of the greatest, yet humble men to ever walk the Earth” departed peacefully from this life on Feb. 1 at 56. He was “surrounded by his loving and wonderful family.”

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