Garwood Remembers Resident John Kandel, 47

Kandel was a longtime Garwood resident.

At Tuesday's Garwood council meeting, Mayor Patricia Quattrocchi mentioned the passing of longtime resident John Kandel. Kandel's obituary on the Dooley Funeral Home website: John Kandel, 47 of Garwood passed away peacefully on Saturday, August 11, 2012. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to visit the Dooley Colonial Home, 556 Westfield Ave., Westfield on Tuesday from 6-9 pm. John grew up in Westfield and has resided in Garwood the last 17 years and will be deeply missed by his wife Kristan and their son’s; John and Michael. He is also survived by his brother, William and his five sisters; Joanne, Maureen, Elise, Robin and Kimberly.

Services Announced for James Pflug, Retired Clark Detective

Services for James Michael Pflug, 53, of Toms River, will be held on Sunday at Walter J. Johnson funeral home.

From the Walter J. Johnson Funeral Home website: James Michael Pflug, 53, of Toms River, formerly of Clark, entered into eternal rest on Tuesday, July 10, 2012. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend the Funeral Service at the Walter J. Johnson Funeral Home, 803 Raritan Rd., Clark, on Sunday, July 15 at 5:30 pm. Final disposition will be private. Visiting hours will be on Sunday, from 2 - 5:30 pm. James was born in Plainfield to Leo Pflug and the late Theresa Anne (Abbott) Pflug. He was raised in Clark and graduated from Arthur L. Johnson High School where he was an outstanding varsity athlete in baseball and basketball. He was a former coach of his children in soccer, baseball and basketball. In his spare time he also loved to…

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Services Announced for Vera Pecoraro, Woman Found Slain in Rolling Hill Way Home

Visitation will be held Tuesday, funeral Wednesday from Walter J. Johnson Funeral Home in Clark to St. Agnes Church to St. Gertrude Cemetery in Colonia.

According to the Walter J. Johnson Funeral Home website, services for Vera Pecoraro, the 73-year-old woman found slain in her Rolling Hill Way home on Saturday, will be as follows: Elvira "Vera" J. Pecoraro, 74, of Clark, entered into eternal rest on Saturday, July 7, 2012. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend the Funeral from the Walter J. Johnson Funeral Home, 803 Raritan Rd., Clark, on Wednesday, July 11 at 8:45 am, thence to St. Agnes RC Church, Clark, where a Funeral Mass will be offered at 9:45 am. Entombment will follow in St. Gertrude Cemetery, Colonia. Visiting hours will be on Tuesday, from 6 - 9 pm. Mrs. Pecoraro was born in Newark to Vito and Mary (Venuto) Cuozzo. She has lived in Clark for the past 38 years and …

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Clark Memorial Day Parade, Services Will Be Dedicated to Army Sgt. James Harvey

A ceremony honoring Harvey will take place at Arthur L. Johnson after the parade.

This year's Clark Memorial Day Parade will be dedicated to the memory of Clark native and Army Sgt. James Harvey II who was killed by small-arms fire from insurgents in the Ghazni province of Afghanistan on June 20, 2011. Harvey was a 2005 Arthur L. Johnson graduate, where he played lacrosse for two years, was well liked, a good student and had many friends. He lived on Conger Way in Clark after moving from Union with his parents and three older sisters – Christine, 35, Robin, 29, and Tracey, 25. (The Harveys moved to Toms River in 2007.) Harvey went on to study at Lincoln Tech, work as a mechanic and then as a substation operator for PSEG. But joining the Army was always on his mind. He enlisted in January 2009 and was deployed to …

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Dick Clark Dead at 82

'World's Oldest Teenager' launched iconic American Bandstand, New Year's Rock'n Eve, music careers and many TV shows.

Dick Clark, who brought rock and roll to the masses as the longtime host of "American Bandstand," is dead after suffering a heart attack, according to several news reports. The always smiling 82-year-old TV producer and host had been at St. John's Hospital in Los Angeles after undergoing an outpatient procedure on Tuesday, according to TMZ. Clark reportedly suffered the heart attack following the procedure and died on Wednesday after failed attempts to resuscitate him. The Mount Vernon, NY-born Clark endured a long list of health troubles over the years; a stroke in 2004 that caused him to retire as host of "New Years' Rockin' Eve," the show he created in 1972. Although Ryan Seacrest took over as host, Clark made brief appearances on the …

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Services Announced for Robert Lerner, Owner of Robbie's Clark Camera

Services will be Tuesday and Wednesday at Walter J. Johnson Funeral Home in Clark.

At Monday night's council meeting, Councilman Brian Toal discussed the passing of longtime Clark resident and owner of Robbie's Clark Camera shop, Robert Lerner. "Robbie Lerner was a dear friend," said Toal. "He set up shop in 1970s and when technology changed, he went back to teaching. Robbie also helped set up the photos in Room 30 [in the municipal building], the history room, where the wall displays archival photos of town. He was one of our special people that passed away and we will miss a wonderful man who gave of himself to this community." Lerner's obituary as posted on the Walter J. Johnson Funeral Home website: Robert J. Lerner, 63, of Clark passed away on Sunday, April 15, 2012. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to …

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Garwood Council Meets Tonight, Agenda Attached

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at Borough Hall.

Garwood Council convenes for their second February meeting tonight at 7 p.m. in Borough Hall. There are no ordinances on the agenda. See the a PDF of tonight's agenda in our gallery, right. Also this week, tomorrow, Garwood Council and the Planning/Zoning Board will hold a special meeting wherein NJ Transit will present the results of their feasability study regarding Transit Village possibilities and train stops in the borough. That meeting begins at 7 p.m. in Borough Hall.

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Fairview Rep: 'Cemetery Open Only to Lot Owners'

The East Broad Street cemetery has been closed to the public since late singer Whitney Houston's Sunday burial.

Whitney Houston fans hoping to pay their respects will have to wait a little longer. Fairview Cemetery, where the late pop star was laid to rest in a private service Sunday morning, remains closed to anyone other than lot owners, a spokesman for the cemetery said Wednesday morning. The private cemetery, where Houston's father, John Russell Houston Jr. was buried in 2003, has admitted those with loved ones interred there but has kept all others outside the gated property. When the cemetery will reopen to the public "has not been determined at this point," the spokesman said. More than 100 fans lined up outside the 105-acre cemetery Sunday morning to say their goodbyes to Houston, who died on Feb. 11 at the age of 48.  

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Whitney Houston Laid to Rest in Westfield

Procession arrived at noon Sunday for burial ceremony at Fairview Cemetery. Nearly 100 fans shouted 'We love you, Whitney' as hearse turned into the cemetery.

The vigil at Fairview Cemetery began at first light Sunday morning. There were no mourners, just reporters and photographers mingling congenially as they staked out a good spot for their reports back to the network morning shows or a position for the perfect photo of the funeral procession bringing Whitney Houston to the cemetery for her burial. Police officers arrived before daylight, at 6 a.m., to secure every possible corner of the Fairview property, from the Cranford border along Union County College to the south and E. Broad Street to the north. At the western end of the cemetery, Gallows Hill Road was closed to prevent any neighborhood street from messing up any potential route in which the procession of hearses and limos that would …

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shirrone spivey

5:12 pm on Tuesday, November 27, 2012

ron   more ›

Westfield Mourners Turned Away From Fairview Cemetery

Visits to gravesites denied Saturday as cemetery prepares for Sunday burial of music icon Whitney Houston.

Roseanne Benjamin lost her father on Feb. 18, 2008 after a long struggle with colon cancer. Her father Dave was a long-time Westfield resident, and there was no question in Roseanne's mind that when he passed, he would be buried in Fairview Cemetery.  For the past four years, Benjamin, who now lives in Cranford, would stop by her father's grave to tell him about how his granddaughter was getting married, or how his grandson got into college.  But on the fourth anniversary of his death, Benjamin won't be able to place a bouquet of flowers on his grave. She won't even be allowed in the cemetery.  "I understand what a tragedy it is that Whitney Houston died, she was the voice of a generation," she said on the phone. "But just because she is …

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Markjohn Michalik

9:30 pm on Monday, February 20, 2012

The fans who come will not be the type of people to go shopping in Westfield, maybe for crack.   more ›