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Ralph M. Travisano
Eatontown resident Ralph M. Travisano, formerly of Manasquan died Monday, March 2 at Jersey Shore Care Center, Eatontown .
He was 98 years old.
Ralph graduated from Newark College of Engineering and worked for GE for 10 years. He then went to work for Bell Telephone for 30 years, retiring in 1976. He was a member of the BELLTEL Retirees. He was a parishioner of St. Jerome Roman Catholic Church, West Long Branch.
Born in Newark, Ralph lived in Bloomfield and Manasquan for many years.
Ralph was predeceased by his wife of 40 years, Kathleen Eller Christian Travisano a daughter, Cheryl Christian Loyer and five sisters.
He is survived by his son Robert Christian, Verona; a daughter, Kathleen Christian, Spring Lake; his sisters, Elizabeth Roas and Eleanor Pecoraro; three grandchildren, Kelly, Megan and Kevin Loyer and many nieces and nephews. We all lost one of the world's bright lights. He will be greatly missed.
Visitation will be held tomorrow from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the Damiano Funeral Home, 191 Franklin Ave, on the corner of Third Ave, Long Branch. A funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m. at St Jerome R.C. Church, West Long Branch. Entombment will be at St Catharine’s Mausoleum, Wall.
James E. Kelly
Brielle resident James E. Kelly died Sunday, March 1 in his home surrounded by his loving family.
He was 84 years old.
Jim was born in Newark in 1924.
Jim served his country in the Navy during World War II as a sailor on a mine sweeper that patrolled the Solomon and Marshall Islands. He attended Stephens Institute of Technology. After receiving his degree in mechanical engineering, he continued to serve the Navy as Technical and Executive Director of Naval Weapons Station Earle for 40 years until his retirement in 1994. He was honored with the position of Highest Civilian Designation in the Department of Defense.
He was a resident of Brielle for almost 46 years. An avid sailor of sneakboxes, he was a member of the Manasquan River Yacht Club for 45 years where he served as Commodore from 1968-70. He served many years on the board of trustees and was very active in Club activities. He loved golf and tennis but his true passion was thoroughbred horse racing. His favorite place to be on a summer afternoon was his box at the finish line at Monmouth Park Racetrack.
He was predeceased by his parents Edward and Frieda Ganter Kelly, and his beloved dog Chelsea.
Jim is survived by his beloved wife Valerie; his son Shawn Kelly and his wife Meg of Mendham and Sea Girt; his daughter Meghan Kelly of Cary, N.C.; his son Doane Kelly and his wife Kathie of Basking Ridge and Brielle; his daughter Siobhan Kelly of Long Branch; and Valerie’s daughters Karen Brodeur of Point Pleasant, and Allison Storer and her husband Mike of Brielle. He is also survived by his eleven grandchildren A.J. [32], Kelly [29], Jessica [22], Kevin [21], Maureen [20], Samantha [19], Patrick [17], Matthew [16], Christopher [14], Evan [10] and Abigail [7]; his brother Edward Kelly of Morristown, Tenn.; and his sister Eileen Bilby of Whippany.
Funeral arrangements were handled by O’Brien Funeral Home, Wall. Committal will be private.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in Jim’s memory to Meridian Hospice, 4900 Rt. 33, Ste. 200 Neptune, 07753. [www.meridanathome.com.]
Rosemary A. [Williams] Smith
Rosemary A. [Williams] Smith, with family in Spring Lake, died Thursday, Feb. 19 at the Grand Stand Medical Center in South Carolina.
She was 63 years old.
Born in Jacksonville, Fla. on Sept. 10, 1945, she resided in Loris, S.C. and was a long time resident of the Jersey Shore.
The daughter of Fred and Eileen Williams of Spring Lake, she was a graduate of Verona High School, Verona.
“Rowboat, ” as she was affectionately known to most that knew her, had a great love of animals, especially the family dog Charlotte. She was a great communicator, keeping in touch daily with her nine brothers and sister by phone.
Rosemary was a cherished wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sibling and friend of anyone who ever met her.
She is predeceased by her father Fred T. Williams.
Rosemary is survived by her devoted husband of 39 years Larry Smith; her daughter Christine Smith Row and husband John and their daughter Amanda of Toms River; her sons Paul Smith and wife Jenifer and children Sarah and Adam of Ocean Gate, and Peter Smith of New Port News, Va; her nine brothers and sisters, Robert and Sally Williams of Wall, Patricia and Roger Hunt of Honesdale, Pa., Eileen and Tom Curran of Mt. Joy, Pa., Judith McClellan of Allenhurst, Maureen Abel of Ocean Grove, Peggy Williams of Montclair, Shawn and Joann Williams of Encinitas, Calif., Kevin and Lele Williams of Encinitas, and John and Spring Williams of Lindenwold; and her aunts Marylou O'Malley and Loretta McAlevey of Spring Lake Heights.
Memorial contributions maybe made to United Way of Monmouth County, 1415 Wyckoff Rd, Farmingdale, 07727.
A memorial celebrating Rosemary's richly textured life will be privately held by the family on March 8.
Philip M. Winchester Jr.
Sea Girt resident Philip M. Winchester Jr. died Tuesday, Feb. 24 at home.
He was 77 years old.
Mr. Winchester was the former owner of The Hutch in Spring Lake and West Orange. He was born in Millington and lived in West Orange before coming to the Jersey Shore 40 years ago. He was a graduate of Seton Hall University, South Orange NJ.
He was predeceased by his parents, Philip M. Sr. and Gertrude Winchester.
He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Jane Winchester; his children, Amanda Winchester Summers and her husband Robert William Summers Jr. of New York, N.Y., Philip M. Winchester III of Tampa, Fla., Leigh Winchester Fleming and her husband Todd Lawrence Fleming of Pittsburgh, Pa.; his grandchildren, Austin Winchester, Steele Summers and Cooper Fleming; and his sister-in-law and brother-in-law Lois and Jim Black of Little Silver and New York.
Funeral arrangements were handled by the O’Brien Funeral Home, Wall. Burial
followed at the Atlantic View Cemetery, Manasquan.
Dorothy Holthusen
Sea Girt resident Dorothy Meeker Sayre Holthusen died on Monday, March 2 at her home, with her family in attendance.
She was born September 13, 1920, at Ann May Hospital in Spring Lake, the daughter of Dudley Ogden and Mary Elizabeth Sayre, of Montclair.
Educated in the Montclair schools, she also graduated from the Berkeley Secretarial School in East Orange. With her husband, A. John Holthusen, she moved to Sea Girt in 1947.
Dottie loved her community and was interested in history, drama, education and historic preservation. A Brownie Scout leader for 12 years, she also served as president of the Girl Scout Leaders Club of South Monmouth. She was a longtime member and past president of the Holly Club of Sea Girt and a member of the altar guild of the Church of St. Uriel the Archangel for more than 50 years. She was a member of the Point Pleasant Hospital Guild and the Sea Girt Woman’s Club.
One of the original petition sponsors of the Sea Girt Lighthouse Citizens Committee, she later served as a trustee and secretary of that organization. She joined the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Governor William Livingston Chapter.
In the 1980s she was employed by the Sea Girt Board of Education as assistant board secretary. She was a talented needlewoman, knitter, baker, gardener and bridge player.
She was predeceased by her husband, Jack, and her sister, Natalie Sayre Dalton.
She is survived by her daughter, Cynthia Holthusen Sanford, and her son, John Dirk Holthusen; her grandchildren, John Dirk Holthusen Jr., Jenna Holthusen Morris and Katharyn Liliana Sayre Sanford; her great-grandson, John Martin Morris; her sister, Marjorie Sayre Wallwork; and many loving nieces and nephews.
In the last months of her illness, her devoted cat, Brownie, an adopted stray from the island of Bermuda, never left her side.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Cantigas Women’s Choir at P.O. Box 904, Hoboken, 07030 or to Heart of the Catskills Humane Society, P.O. Box 88, Delhi, NY, 13753.
A liturgy of Christian burial in memory of Dorothy Sayre Holthusen will be celebrated on Saturday, March 21, 2009, at 12:30 at the Church of St. Uriel the Archangel, Third Avenue and Philadelphia Blvd., Sea Girt, NJ.
Eugene Melody
Spring Lake resident Eugene Melody, a longtime resident of Hazlet, passed away Thursday, April 24 at Kensington Manor, Toms River.
He was 83 years old.
Mr. Melody had been employed as an ironworker with Ironworker’s Local No. 11, Bloomfield, for 25 years and after retiring from there he went on to become the Director of Public Works for Monmouth County for 10 years, retiring in 1988.
He was a graduate of Belleville High School and a U.S. Army veteran of WWII receiving a Purple Heart for wounds incurred in action on August 5, 1944 near Laval, France.
Born in Trenton, he had lived in Hazlet for 42 years before moving to Spring Lake five years ago. He was a lifelong Democrat and had served as the Democratic Municipal Chairman for Hazlet, and he also belonged to the Monmouth County Democratic Party, and had served as the Delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1976. He was a former communicant of St. Benedict’s Church, Holmdel and since moving to Spring Lake, was a communicant of St. Rose Church, Belmar. He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather and was an avid golfer.
He is survived by his wife of 54 years Dolores Bartley Melody; his children, Eugene J. Melody Jr., of Aberdeen, Kyle Melody, of Little Egg Harbor, Marylynn Dorsey, of Bradley Beach, and Diane and husband, Thomas Devine, of the Allenwood section of Wall Township; his sister, Esther DeChant, of Toms River; and eight grandchildren, Eugene III and his wife, Denise, Danielle, Michael, Timothy, Katelyn, Mary Ellen, Thomas, and Patrick.
Committal will be private at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to the Alzheimer’s Association, 400 Morris Ave., Suite 251, Denville, 07834.
O’Brien Funeral Home, Wall, was in charge of the arrangements.
Judge James M. Bell
Cranford and Sea Girt resident Judge James M. Bell, a Cranford municipal judge for 30 years, died Sunday, April 27 at his home in Sea Girt.
He was 72 years old.
A native of Elizabeth, Judge Bell lived the past 43 years in Cranford, establishing his own law practice in 1983. Prior to that time, he served as partner in the Newark firm Nolan, Lynes, Bell and Moore. Judge Bell was a graduate of St. Patrick’s High School, Elizabeth; St. Michael’s College, New Mexico; and Fordham Law School, New York. He received an athletic scholarship to St. Michael’s and was later inducted into St. Patrick’s Hall of Fame.
Judge Bell served on numerous civic, religious, and charitable organizations, including as chairman of the St. Patrick’s High School Alumni Association, Raphael’s Life House Board of Trustees, St. Michael’s Church [Cranford)] Board of Trustees, The United Way, March of Dimes, Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, Supreme Court Committee on Municipal Courts, numerous municipal committees and many other charitable causes. For his service, he was honored by the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick as “Union County Irishman of the Year” in 1997.
Judge Bell was an avid golfer and member of the Suburban Golf Club, as well as a two-time runner of the New York City Marathon. He was a man devoted to work, sport, and his front porch in Sea Girt, where he smoked his trademark cigar, sipped on a Martini and engaged in continuous banter with his family and friends.
He was predeceased by his parents, George and Mollie Flynn Bell, and a brother, George Bell.
He is survived by his children, Timothy Bell and his wife, Wendy, of Costa Rica, Katherine Bell Kelly and her husband, Bill, of Neptune, Megan Phillips, of Manasquan, and Michael Bell, of California; his former wife, Mary Foxwell, of Wall; his sisters, Sheila Bell Campbell, of Cranford, and Peggy Bell O'Brien and her husband, James, of Sea Girt; his grandchildren, Teegan Phillips, James Bell, and Liam and Devon Kelly; his beloved nephews and nieces, Kevin, James, Thomas, Patrick and Brian Campbell, Cathleen Ferns and Maura Campbell, David, Sean, and Elizabeth Bell, and Brendan O'Brien and Deirdre Spiropolous; his cousins in America and Ireland; and his many loyal friends and colleagues.
Viewing hours will be held Thursday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Higgins and Bonner Echo Lake Funeral Home, 582 Springfield Ave., Westfield.
The funeral will be at 9:15 a.m. Friday from the funeral home, followed by a 10:30 a.m. Mass at St. Michael’s R.C. Church, Cranford.
Interment will be in Fairview Cemetery, Westfield.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Jim’s favorite charity, St. Patrick's High School, 221 Court St., Elizabeth, 07206.
