Tag Archives: feature

Obituaries

In Memoriam: Longtime Fair Havenite, Joe Carroll

Forever Fair Havenite Joseph Edmund Carroll passed away on Jan. 23.

“There was nothing Joe loved more than his family and Fair Haven.

“He was married to his wife, Mary Patricia, for over 60 years and together they raised one son and three daughters. He was always willing to get involved. Joe was a member of the Fair Haven Fire Department, spent time as a recreation commissioner, and was a long time coach of baseball and CYO basketball. Even when not in an official role, he was often seen umpiring softball games or moving the chains for Pop Warner football. Joe was a proponent of equality in sports well before it was popular. His daughters were among the first to play hardball with the boys instead of softball. He was at every game his children played, always cheering them on.”

Loved ones of Joe Carroll in his obituary
Ed Carroll … Photo/loved ones via Thompson Memorial Home

Born in Long Branch, Joe was a lifelong resident of Red Bank and Fair Haven. A star athlete in high school, Joe helped Croydon Hall Academy win the state basketball championship, his obituary said.

After graduating, Joe enlisted in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne. After three years of active duty and several years in the reserves, he was honorably discharged and set his sights on Wall Street.

Over his 30-year career, he worked his way from an entry-level page to a member of the New York Stock Exchange, working for the First of Michigan Corporation.

After retiring, he started a second career in an area he loved — the outdoors. Joe was an avid fisherman, duck hunter, and gardener.  He worked for the Monmouth County Parks System into his 80s.

Joe is survived by: his wife Mary Patrica (Eddy); son, Patrick Carroll and wife Eileen; daughters, Sharon Everett and husband Michael, Maura Creekmore and husband Hill, and Megan Haran and husband Richard; and 12 grandchildren.

Joe is predeceased by his parents. Joseph and Florence Carroll (Hanisch).

— Edited obituary submitted by loved ones via Thompson Memorial Home

Obituaries

Remembrance: Fair Havenite, RFH Grad, Musician, Shannon Gilvary; Fundraising for the RFH Band in His Memory

The Rumson-Fair Haven community and beyond is in mourning over the death to COVID-19 of Terence “Shannon” Gilvary, a musician and former longtime Fair Havenite and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School Class of 1986 graduate. He was 52.

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Local Life

Retro Frontlining Fair Haven Doc & Mayor

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Dr. John Movelle, former Fair Haven Mayor Bill Leonard and Movelle’s wife Betty circa 2001
Photos/FHFD and Kathy Robbins

There’s something about memories of an iconic doctor, mayor, house calls, volunteerism and community that soothe what ails the stressed and scared in surging pandemic and vaccination times.

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Fair Haven Police and Fire Files, News

Fair Haven Post Office Accident: The Fact Update

The aftermath of Tuesday’s post office accident in Fair Haven
Photos/Paul Kellogg & Elaine Van Develde

“Driver error” is what Fair Haven Police Chief Joe McGovern attributed to Tuesday’s post office accident that left a car in the lobby of the building at the River Road plaza. A similar such accident has happened before and next door.

While the chief said the accident that occurred at 6:19 p.m. that evening is still under investigation, he said that no summonses have been issued at this time.

The facts, so far, he said, are that an 89-year-old local woman “was pulling into the parking spot in front on the post office to mail a letter and accidentally hit the (car’s) accelerator instead of (the) brake.”

The car ended up completely inside the office, breaking out the entire front window and door, the chief said. As a result, there was no structural damage done to the building and “no one was injured, including the driver,” he added.

Fair Haven Police, Fire Company and First Aid responded to the scene.

The vehicle versus building accident has happened in the area and with frequency at one point a few years ago. The last time something similar occurred in the borough itself was about 15 or 20 years ago, the chief said he recalled, when a vehicle struck the building next door.

Local Life

Living The Dream: Susan Sorensen’s Legacy of Heart for Home

Photo/courtesy of Susan Sorensen
  • Councilwoman Susan Sorensen is sworn in to her second term.
    Photo/Elaine Van Develde

“You gotta have heart … all you really need is heart!” ~ You Gotta Have Heart, Damn Yankees, lyrics by Jerry Ross

The signature championing song was belted out loud, clear and with a lot heart in the musical Damn Yankees. Heart is what former nine-year Fair Haven Councilwoman Susan Sorensen says you need at the core of not only your own legacy, but that of your home town. It’s a legacy that she’s forever striving to fulfill, on and off the dais.

Service to community is at the heart of family legacy for Sorensen. And, she said recently, she’s not anywhere near done fulfilling hers and continuing in her family’s without skipping a beat.

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