System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Alan Karcher dies at 56
Former Speaker of the State Assembly
By Jennifer Potash
Tuesday, July 27, 1999
One of the great voices in New Jersey politics fell silent Monday, with the death of former Speaker of the State Assembly Alan Karcher.
Mr. Karcher, who lived on Sergeant Street in Princeton Borough, died Monday afternoon in Neptune. He was 56 and had been suffering from lung cancer for almost two years.
"He was an amazing storyteller," said Pam Hersh, who was a neighbor and friend of Mr. Karcher's for many years and edited some of his books. "For any speck of time in the history of New Jersey, he had a story to go along with it. He was insightful and inciting and just a brilliant political animal."
The third generation of Karchers to serve in the state Legislature, he was a member of the Assembly for 17 years until his retirement in 1990. He represented the 19th Legislative District in Middlesex County.
His father, Joseph T. Karcher, served in the Assembly from 1930 to 1933 and his great uncle, John J. Quaid, served from 1898 to 1900.
He served as speaker of the Assembly from 1982 to 1985, during an activist Legislature. He played a key role in the adoption of the state's first Uniform Penal code, which provided guidelines for priority sentences. He also fought battles for senior citizens, tax reform, workers' rights, environmental cleanup, job creation and additional support for education and the arts.
In 1982, he argued against the restoration of the death penalty and in favor of using the resources that would go into enforcing the death penalty for law-enforcement measures. At a symposium on the state's criminal justice system held in April at Princeton University, Mr. Karcher again called for the state to devote resources that would go to enforcement of the death penalty to other law enforcement measures.
"It's time for some reflection on what has and what has not worked," he said.
After leaving elected office in 1990, he devoted more of his professional time to his law practice and lobbying for clients. But his departure from the state Assembly did not mean he left the political arena.
In his capacity as Mercer County Democratic chairman, Mr. Karcher became a political mentor to many budding politicians at the local, county and state levels.
Mercer County Freeholder Jim McManimon worked closely with Mr. Karcher on various county issues and cited his courage in the political arena and in his own battle with cancer. "Alan never backed away from a fight. Not even when the fight was for his life," Mr. McManimon said, adding that Mr. Karcher wanted, more than anything, to live through one more election cycle.
Congressman Rush Holt (D-12) of Hopewell Township recalled "spending many hours at his house, talking politics and political strategies.
"He helped me a great deal," Mr. Holt said.
Princeton Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand said Mr. Karcher was a mentor as well as a friend. "His political intuition was wonderful and he was a marvelous mentor for me," she said.
Mr. Karcher stepped down from the Democratic chairmanship in January to devote more time to writing books. "There's a lot to be said of the Michael Jordan school of retirement, to quit while you're ahead," he said at that time.
He completed one book last fall, "New Jersey's Municipal Madness," in which he advocated that many of the state's 566 municipalities be eliminated, or at least combined. He was working on two other books — one was intended to be a collection of the political anecdotes and wisdom of New Jersey leaders, such as former governors Richard Hughes, Brendan Byrne and Thomas Kean.
Ms. Hersh, who was editing his books, noted that it was sad Mr. Karcher didn't have time to complete those observations. B. Thomas Byrne — son of Gov. Byrne, former chairman of the New Jersey Democratic Party and current candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate — encouraged Mr. Karcher to become county chairman.
"Alan was an unusual mix of great intelligence and a gifted politician and also a great storyteller," said Mr. Byrne, who lives in Princeton Township.
In addition to Mr. Karcher's political skills, his friends and colleagues cited his tremendous talents in the arts, including music and painting, and his lifelong love of history.
"He was a true Renaissance man," said Mayor Marchand, pointing out the watercolor paintings he created, his avid interest in opera and his varied writing for books, legal journals and newspaper opinion pages.
"He was so accomplished in so many things," Congressman Holt said. "He got started relatively early in life so it's easy to forget how young he was when he died."
Mr. Karcher was born in New Brunswick in 1943. He graduated from Rutgers University in 1964 and from its law school in 1967, and was admitted to the bar associations in New Jersey and Washington D.C. in the same year. He was later admitted to the Florida bar.
In addition to his law degree, Mr. Karcher earned a master's degree in liberal studies from the New School for Social Research in New York City.
Between 1967 and 1969, he served Gov. Hughes as assistant counsel and secretary to the governor. After leaving Gov. Hughes' staff, Mr. Karcher joined a family law practice with his father and older sister.
Mr. Karcher served as the appellate counsel concentrating on constitutional issues on behalf of Mary Beth Whitehead-Gould in the "Baby M" surrogate motherhood case, and the challenge to the New Jersey State Pension Bond Issues, but he loved arguing "cause cases" on behalf of peace activists or homeless advocates.
"He really cared about making the law work for people who didn't have a voice," said Lou Rainone, a senior partner in the firm Karcher Rainone, P.C. of Sayreville, which specializes in municipal law. "He had a great time doing it."
Mr. Karcher is survived by his wife, the former Margaret Taylor; two daughters, Elizabeth Karcher of Chevy Chase, Md., and Ellen Karcher Hochberg of Marlboro; son Timothy Karcher of Princeton; and five grandchildren, Alexander and Theodore Cohen and Benjamin, Lael and Ariela Hochberg. He is also survived by two sisters, Rosemary K. Reavey and Evelyn K. Graff, both of Spring Lake.
He was predeceased by his mother, Ellen Louise Joseph; his father, Joseph T.; and sister Joyce Karcher Rhaesa.
Funeral services will be held at 8:45 a.m. Friday at the Carmen F. Spezzi Funeral Home, 15 Cherry Lane, Parlin, followed by a 9:30 a.m. mass at Our Lady of Victories Roman Catholic Church, 42 Main St., Sayreville. Calling hours at the funeral home will be 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to LifeTies Inc., a Trenton-based organization that provides care and social services for abused, neglected and homeless teen-agers, located at 2205 Pennington Road, Trenton, N.J. 08625.
