On April 10, 2007, of Runnemede. Age 60. Beloved husband of 39 years of Judith P. (nee Pyffer). Devoted father of Judith P. Holliday, Jennifer L. Dalo, Jacquelyn D. Daleus and Jeannette E. Battersby. Loving Poppy of Amber Lee Reibel, Tyler and Olivia Daleus. Dear brother of Dolores Holt, and Joseph and James Battersby.
John retired from the Air National Guard, after serving 38 years and retired from the Philadelphia Navy Shipyard in 2002.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend the viewing on Saturday morning from 9 to 11am at GARDNER FUNERAL HOME, RUNNEMEDE. Funeral service 11am at the funeral home. Interment Hillcrest Memorial Park, Hurffville.
Family requests in lieu of flowers donations may be made in John\’s memory to Fox Chase Cancer Center , 7701 Burholme Ave., Phila., Pa 19119.
Expressions of sympathy may be e-mailed to [email protected]

On April 13, 2007. Age 87. (nee Pack). Of Gloucester City, NJ. Loving wife of 51 years to the late George R. Braunwarth. Devoted and beloved mother of Robert and wife Kimberly of Collingswood, James and wife Joan of Gloucester City and Susan Uzdavinis and husband John of Woodbury Heights. Dear Sister of Beatrice Lindoerfer and the late William of Gloucester City, Marianne and husband Donald Finnegan of Glen Mills, PA, the late Clara Pack, the late Edward Pack and the late Rev. Msgr. Eugene Pack. Cherished grandmother of Kimberly and husband Christopher Owens, Lori and husband Joseph Dorety, Jamie, Lauren and James. Loving great-grandmother of Jaclyn, Zachary, Jacob and Justin. Survived by many nieces, nephews and cousins. Vera was born in Pittsburgh, PA and was a longtime resident of Gloucester City. She was a devoted parishioner of Saint Mary\’s R.C. Church in Gloucester City where she served the elderly with the Meals on Wheels Program. Vera was a dedicated volunteer at the Cooper Convalescent Center in Pennsauken. She opened her home to newborn babies waiting to be adopted from Catholic Charities through the Diocese of Camden. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend her viewing on Tuesday morning from 9 am to 11 am at the McCANN-HEALEY FUNERAL HOME: 851 Monmouth Street, (at Brown Street) Gloucester City. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 11:30 am at Saint Mary\’s R.C. Church: 426 Monmouth Street, Gloucester City. Interment New Saint Mary\’s Cemetery, Bellmawr, NJ. There will be no evening viewing. Family requests that memorial donations be made in Vera\’s memory to Saint Mary\’s R.C. Church: Memorial Fund: at the above address or Saint Vincent DePaul Society c/o Saint Mary\’s R.C. Church at the above address. Expressions of sympathy can be e-mailed to the family through our funeral home website www.mccannhealey.com under online obituaries of Vera M. Braunwarth. Funeral Arrangements and Inquires may be made through: (McCANN-HEALEY FUNERAL HOME LOGO)

 

GARZARELLI, MARIO A.
On April 11, 2007; of West Collingswood Heights, NJ; age 85 years. Beloved husband of Janet (nee DiGiosaffatto); Devoted father of Marion and her late husband Zenek Luczny, Domenic, Mario Jr. and his wife Kathy, John, and Lawrence and his wife Joan; Loving grandfather of Gregory, Jessica, Diane, Nancy, Bonnie, Michael, Brian and great grandfather of Nadia; Dear brother of Albina Manske, and the late Frank, John and Thomas Garzarelli.
Prior to his retirement, Mr. Garzarelli was a member of UFCW Local 152, and was also a United States Marine Corps Veteran of World War II.
Relatives and friends are invited to the Visitation and Funeral on Sunday from 7 to 9 PM and Monday from 9 to 10:15 AM at the FALCO/CARUSO &LEONARD PENNSAUKEN FUNERAL HOME, 6600 North Browning Road. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 AM at the Church of Holy Maternity, 431 West Nicholson Road in Audubon. Interment will follow at Calvary Cemetery in Cherry Hill.
If desired, memorial donations may be made to the charity of the donor\’s choice. Info, condolences and guestbook at:

 

 

Move over Bill Dance! James Burkhardt of Gloucester City caught this huge Largemouth bass at Martins lake Johnson Blvd and Baynes Avenue. 

This is absolutely one for the scrapbook. WAY TO GO JAMES!! 

By Bill Cleary

Gloucester City residents are facing a .37 cent hike per $100 of assessed valuation in the local purpose tax said Councilman Nick Marchese, Finance Chairman in a recent telephone interview.

Marchese said the City applied for Extraordinary Aid Funding from the State to offset the increase.

\”If we received the aid then the rate will go down. Otherwise a property owner assessed at the average of $70,000 would pay an estimated $259 more in local taxes in the fiscal year of 2007-08.\”

The 2007 budget ($15,540,300) was introduced at the March 22 council meeting and approved by a 4-3 vote. The total amount is $320,867, less than last year\’s figure of $15,86,167.

Those in favor included Marchese, Councilmen Jay Brophy and Bill Hagan along with Mayor William James. Opposed were the incumbent members Council persons Elsie Loebell, Jean Kaye and Rocky Kormann.

The threesome said they hadn\’t had time to review the budget since copies were not released to them until March 21, the day before the meeting. Mayor James said this budget was released in the same time frame last year, but there were no complaints.

Marchese said some of the delay in getting the budget finished was because the finance committee had to deal with the budget and the lack of information without the help of Paul Kain, City Administrator.

Kain has been out of work on sick leave since the beginning of March, and it is not known when he will return.

Marchese, James and Brophy were elected this past November. Since January the newly elected Council members have been finding numerous signs of mismanagement that they inherited from the previous administration.

For example at the March 22 meeting it was pointed out by Marchese and Brophy that the City has kept in place the practice of longevity pay increases and vacation bonuses for supervisors. Brophy said when he asked the County and other Municipalities about the costly practice he was told it was done away with years ago by the majority of the municipalities in the state.

\”Under this system there were supervisors in our City getting longevity and vacation bonuses from 4 to 9 percent,\” he said.

Marchese said the finance committee was also capping buying back accumulative sick leave. \”It should be used when an employee is really sick. Sick leave wasn\’t meant to be used as a bank account for the employee. It is to be used to pay the person when he/she is ill.\”

This is only for non represented employees, Contractual employees negotiate their contracts.

He gave an example of how expensive it would be if the City\’s buyback practice wasn\’t done away. \”If all 110 City employees resigned tomorrow it would cost taxpayers $2 million dollars to buy back the sick leave and vacation time from them.\”

The incumbents argued during the meeting the finance committee\’s proposal was a violation of state law. Marchese said he would look at the law cited by Kaye.

And added, \”If you don\’t vote for this budget tonight, the City taxpayers will lose the chance to apply for Extraordinary Aid.\”

During Friday\’s interview Marchese mentioned the reason why a payment to Jim Maley\’s former law firm of Parker and McCay wasn\’t being paid this month for legal work it billed the city in conjunction with a lawsuit that was recently settled. Maley was the City Solicitor under the previous administration. Marchese said from what he has been able to decipher the company doing the work on the City Marina (Mobile Dredging) was delayed in completing the job on time because of poor engineering design. The company filed a lawsuit and received $260,000 judgment. The attorney fees cost taxpayers $300,000.

\”I have only been able to trace the legal fees for three years,\” Marchese said. \”There are two years missing. The lawyer fees for Mr. Maley\’s work on this lawsuit may even be higher. We are asking Parker McCay to produce those records. Until they do the final payment will be withheld.\”

See Story on Parker McCay

Other factors contributing to a higher tax rate said Marchese include the mismanagement of the City\’s Bond debt which is presently $13 million. Add the $10 million needed for the construction of a new water treatment plant and you have a figure that is too high. \”The City needs this water treatment plant so we must move ahead with it.\”

Another item he pointed out was the lack of oversight on the 30 grants the City has received which total $3 million. For example he referred to a $600,000 Small Cities Grant that was not approved for 2007 due to the fact that we were not utilizing the existing grants we presently have now. Because of the mistakes made the City will lose $900,000 in grants this year.

Appropriations that were brought inside the cap were 8.3 cents. Deferred charges were up $114,000. Increases in landfill charges were up $ 45,000. Trash collection up $ 35,000. Insurance up $ 86,000. Police Salary up $ 190,000. Fire salaries up $113,000. Street and roads salaries up $ 106,000. Police and Fire pension are in the fourth round and are at $ 228,000.

Councilman Brophy mentioned the 28 full-time employees Fire Department has become costly to the taxpayers to operate. He mentioned the line item cost each taxpayer six cents of every $100 of home assessed valuation. In other words a home owner assessed at $100,000 is paying $600 in taxes just for operation of the paid fire department. \”Some firemen are making $21,000 annually in overtime. Something has to be done; it has gotten out of hand.\”

Marchese said the City needs a new street sweeper, trash truck, and additional police cars. More equipment for the water & sewer department is still needed.

Marchese added the main capital improvement is the water treatment plant. \”The future infrastructure will cost the City hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to complete our new housing construction.\”

See more stories on Gloucester City

Hank received the story below about Karla Comfort from a friend and is asking everyone to pass it on. He and his wife Keiko reside in Kitakyushu City, Japan. Hank is a former resident of Gloucester City

The Millers have two sons, Lucas a PFC with the U.S. Army 25th Division is stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii will be deployed to Iraq on May 31. Their other son, Max is a L/CPL in the U.S. Marines stationed at Camp Schwab, Okinawa. Max has been deployed to Iraq for one tour of duty already and will be deployed to Afghanistan sometime in June.

\”I\’m asking for prayers to bring them both home to us safely. God Bless All our Troops.\”

Hank and Keiko Miller

The Karla Comfort story:
 

 

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. ( March 2, 2006)Karla Comfort received a lot of looks and even some salutes from people when she drove from Benton, Ark., to Camp Pendleton, Calif., in her newly-painted, custom Hummer H3 March 2. The vehicle is adorned with the likeness of her son, 20-year-old Lance Cpl. John M. Holmason, and nine other Marines with F Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division who where all killed by the same improvised explosive device blast in Fallujah, Iraq, in December.

For Karla Comfort, having the vehicle air brushed with the image of the 10 Marines was a way to pay homage to her hero and his fellow comrades who fell on Iraq\’s urban battlefield

\”I wanted to let people know (Marines) are doing their jobs honorably, and some of them die,\” said the 39-year-old from Portland, OR \”I don\’t want people to forget the sacrifices that my son and the other Marines made.\”

Leading up to her son\’s death, Karla Comfort had received several letters from him prior to his return. He had been deployed for five months, and Comfort \”worried everyday he was gone until she got the letters and found out the date he was coming home,\” she said.

Marines knocked on the front door of her home in Farmington, Mich., at 3 am with the dreadful news.

\”I let my guard down when I found out he was coming home,\” she said. \”There are times that I still cannot believe it happened. It\’s very hard to deal with.\”

Karla Comfort came up with the idea for the rolling memorial when she and her two other sons attended John\’s funeral in Portland, Oregon.

\”I saw a Vietnam (War) memorial on a car, and I said to my son Josh, \’we should do something like that for John,\’ she recalled.\”He loved Hummers.\”

She purchased the vehicle in January and immediately took it to Airbrush Guy & Co. in Benton, Ark., where artist Robert Powell went to work on changing the plain, black vehicle into a decorative, mobile, art piece.

Two hundred and fifty man-hours later, Powell had completed the vehicle. The custom job would have cost $25,000 Out of respect for Karla Comfort\’s loss and the sacrifices the Marines made, Airbrush Guy & Co. did it for free. Comfort only had to purchase the paint, which cost $3,000.

\”I love it,\” she said. \”I\’m really impressed with it, and I think John would be happy with the vehicle. He would have a big smile on his face because he loved Hummers.\”

Karla Comfort gave Powell basic instructions on what to include in the paint job. But in addition to the image of her son in Dress Blues and the faces of the nine other Marines, there were several surprises. \”He put a lot more on than I expected,\” she said \”I think my favorite part is the heaven scene.\”

On the left side of the vehicle, a detail of Marines are depicted carrying their fallen comrades through the clouds to their final resting place. The American flag drapes across the hood, the words, \”Semper Fi\” crowns the front windshield and the spare tire cover carries the same Eagle Globe and Anchor design that her son had tattooed on his back.

\”All the support I have been getting is wonderful,\” she said.

Karla Comfort decided to move back to her hometown of Portland, and making the cross-country trip from Arkansas was a way for her to share her son\’s story. It\’s also her way of coping with the loss.

\”Along the way I got nothing but positive feedback from people,\” she said \”What got to me was when people would salute the guys (Marines). It\’s hard to look at his picture. I still cry and try to get used to the idea, but it\’s hard to grasp the idea that he\’s really gone.\”

Let\’s get this Hummer going around the world, we won\’t forget, pass it on.

By Bill Cleary

For all those political fanatics in Gloucester City looking forward to an exciting June Primary election it appears you will have to look elsewhere for the \”war of words\”. Yesterday (Monday, April 9) was the filing deadline for the Primary. There will be no contest for the council seats as there are only three people running for the three vacated seats that expired at the end of this year. And as for the Committee seats there is only one contest and that is in the Third Ward.

Following the upset of the City Democrat organization last November by the \”Independent or New Democrats\” (Bill James, Jay Brophy, and Nick Marchese) there was speculation that the upcoming June primary would be another hotly contested election. The differences between the two sides have been mended and the newcomers of the City Democrat organization have won out.

Those endorsed by the \”New\” Organization for City Council include: John Hutchinson, (1st Ward), Bruce Parry, (2nd Ward), and Kellie Ferry, (3rd Ward). The three are running unopposed.

Stepping down from office will be Council members Rocky Kormann, Elsie Loebell and Jean Kaye.

Camden County Male Committee people include: Patrick R. Hagan and Robert Saunders (1^st Ward), Francis Wunsch and Raymond Coxe (2^nd Ward).

In the Third Ward there are three candidates running for two seats. They include, Sean Murphy, Daniel Cosner and Ron Pollander. Pollander is running under the banner \”Dedicated Democrat for Change.\”

Camden County Female Committee people: Anna Marie Smith and Carol Stafford (1^st Ward), Bernadette Flinn and Vanessa Courant (2^nd Ward), Helen \”Lynn\” Bucher and Mary DeFoney (3^rd Ward).

No Nominations Made for Republican Candidates

James, Brophy and Marchese issued the following joint statement, \”we would like to add that the new Mayor and Council endorse all of these candidates and are looking forward to working and cooperating with them in the near future for a better Gloucester City.

 

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 04/8/07

HEALTHDAY

Guidelines to help high school and college officials prepare for and
deal with sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes are published in the
April issue of the journal Heart Rhythm.

Sudden cardiac arrest, which occurs when the heart suddenly and
unexpectedly stops working, is the leading cause of death in young
athletes.

About 95 percent of people of all ages who suffer sudden cardiac arrest
die before they reach a hospital or receive some other source of emergency
help, according to background information in the article. Overall, sudden
cardiac arrest claims more than 460,000 lives in the United States each
year.Story Continues

By Lois Staas

NEWS Correspondent

Mrs. Annette Castiglione was welcomed by the Bellmawr Board of Education, PTO representatives, parents, and residents as the new district superintendent beginning Monday, April 16.

At Thursday evening\’s regular meeting Mrs. Castiglione began by saying \”Thank you to the public, the board, and the principals for your warm welcome. I am excited about starting this new role in my life.\”

The new superintendent has been a resident of Haddon Heights since 1983 and is the mother of three adult children.

Mrs. Castiglione began her educational career in 1975 teaching elementary school and special education in New York for one year before moving to Philadelphia to teach two years in Catholic school.

Before taking eleven years off from teaching to rear her family, she taught special education in West Philadelphia to students between eleven and twenty-one years old.

Castilglione taught reading to grades 9, 10, and 11 in Camden High starting in 1991.

In 2002 she worked for the State Department of Education as Special Assistant to the Administrator of Abbott Districts. Mrs. Castiglione was also Freeholder.

\”This is a great district and an exciting place,\” continued Mrs. Castiglione. \”I will continue what you have begun and take you to the next step.\”

The superintendent concluded her remarks by reassuring everyone that she has an open door policy.

In other timely business, Business Administrator and Board Secretary Bruce B. Finkle presented a review of the proposed 2007-08 budget.

The General Fund is $10,643,431 with the local tax levy being $6,899,964. This represents an increase of 4.9 percent or 7.8 cents.

The end result would be an increase of $70.20 for the year on a house valued at $90,000.

\”According to the State Report Card our district has had the smallest increase in spending per student in the tri-county area,\” commented Finkle.

When asked by the public about administrative costs, Finkle replied, \”The administrative cost is one of the lowest in the area.\” This information is available on the internet.

\”I hope you will support the budget,\” concluded the Administrator Secretary.

The board presented the individuals for the April 17 election. The names to appear on the ballot are as follows:

Full three year term (two seats) Better Sheppard and Ron Henry and un-expired one year term (one seat) Frank R. Filipek, Jr.

In another resolution the Board regretfully accepted the resignation of several dedicated employees: Rose Ann Buttafogo, Robert Duus, Barbara Worrell, and Sylvia Grimm.

In her report Interim Superintendent and Bellmawr Park School Principal Elizabeth A. Calabria stated, \”We are thankful that state testing is over. The students did an outstanding job.

\”On March 2, Dr. Seuss\’s birthday, we began to celebrate \’Read Across America\’ with an array of literature based activities.

I would like to thank the following people for taking time from their busy schedules to read to our students:

Mayor Frank Filipek, Captain Muller of the Bellmawr Police, Two Camden Rivershark\’s representatives, Officer Moody from the Bellmawr Police, Mrs. Marie Serfling, mother of Bellmawr Park teacher Mrs. Sue Hubbard, and Mr. Richard Serfling, father of Mrs. Hubbard and former Superintendent of the Mount Ephraim School District.

Bell Oaks Principal Anthony Farinelli congratulated the chorale on their participation in the Teen Arts Festival.

Mrs. Sue DiPrinzio was awarded a $3,500 grant from the Dodge Foundation to explore past and present cultures in Mexico.

Special thanks were extended to Ms. Gancher and Mrs. Bartley for successful testing.

Adele Conner, Patti Bartley, Sue DiPrinzio, Gina Heller, Colleen Cullen, and Jen Tofts were commended for their work as the Professional Development Committee in organizing a professional day which included Writer\’s Workshop, Study Island, Suicide Prevention & Anti-Bullying.

In his report Principal Frank E. Jankowski, Jr. commended the teamwork of the district in preparing the district students for the challenging state tests.

Jankowski said, \”Also, thank you to Mrs. Beth Calabria, Mr. Anthony Farinelli, and Mrs. Lorraine Gancher for maintaining open lines of communication during this period to ensure that everything went smoothly.\”

\”Thank you to Mrs. Linda Keyek for organizing Pasta for Pennies fundraiser collecting coins for the South Jersey Leukemia Society.

\”The Summer Reading Program will again be implemented this year.

The reading lists and student incentives have yet to be determined.

Parents will be involved and ideas will be taken during PTO meetings.

The district website will have information as we get closer to the end of the school year.\”

Board Member Frank Filipek, Jr. announced that while the cafeteria committee had not yet met again, he did some work behind the scenes with the UMDNJ concerning a nutrition and activities program for next year.

Next, Board Member Jamie Casey stated that lockdown drills were in the planning stage, and that there would be some unannounced drills in the near future.

Betty Sheppard said that there still was no date for further negotiations.

During the public discussion portion of the meeting, resident George Stetser commented that Mrs. Worrell and Mrs. Grimm would both be missed at the Park School.

\”I would also like to commend Patti Bartley for all the out of district work she does with special needs children.\”

An unidentified parent noted, \”Study Island. My children love that. They cannot wait to come home and get onto the computer!\”

Resident Grace Letner said, \”It was nice to get reports from everyone of the board members. Mrs. Sheppard, you need to answer to us from month to month. As a taxpayer, I feel we deserve that.\”

Board President Ron Henry closed by stating, \”Everybody should give some report about something every month.\”