Tag Archives: Rumson

Obituaries

In Memoriam: Longtime Rumsonite, ‘Grady Bunch’ Dad, Daniel Grady, 86

“‘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.

Continue reading In Memoriam: Longtime Rumsonite, ‘Grady Bunch’ Dad, Daniel Grady, 86 →
Obituaries

In Memoriam: Longtime Rumsonite, Former Councilman, Dennis Patrick Lynch, 80

Photo/screenshot, Borough of Rumson newsletter

“And now, our Dennis dances with the angels.”

Loved ones of Dennis Patrick Lynch

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.”

Loved ones of Dennis Lynch in his obituary
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

Local Life

Focus: Riverfront Sunny Side Leg Up

Gallery
Sunny daze at Barnacle’s
Photos/Elaine Van Develde … exclusively for R-FH Retro

It’s always good to get a leg up on brighter days, especially when it involves a simple riverside adventure, a friendly hand from a childhood friend.

The picture says it all.

Soaking up the sun on the horizon is more than symbolic these days. Basking in it all at an iconic spot down by the Navesink River at Barnacle Bill’s in Rumson is, well, tradition. But it’s more poignant than ever as we begin to head out of pandemic darkness and into the light. Better weather ushers that better view into a fuzzy warm focus.

Looking to the bright side of spring …

Continue reading Focus: Riverfront Sunny Side Leg Up →
Local Life

Retro ‘Oliver!’ Show Time at The Barn Theater

The Barn cast of Oliver! circa 1972
Photo/Jeff Blumenkrantz

“Consider yourself at home. Consider yourself one of the family. We’ve taken to you so strong …”

The line in the song from Oliver! captures the tenor of the actors’ bond in community theater. And it couldn’t be better encapsulated than in a photo of the cast of Oliver at the iconic Barn Theater in Rumson in 1972.

Continue reading Retro ‘Oliver!’ Show Time at The Barn Theater →
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.”

Continue reading Mark F. Hughes Jr.: Legacy of a Rumson Dad →
Local Life

Ode to Rumson’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Image

Well, it’s St. Patrick’s Day. And this year is the year without a parade to usher in the day.

So, on the year without a Rumson St. Patrick’s Day Parade, we offer a glimpse back at some favorite parade moments over the past few years.

Cheers! Here’s to the next parade passing by all!

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