Livingston community

S. Stephen Atkins of Livingston, NJ, known to all who knew and loved him as “Steve,” passed away on Saturday, January 22, 2022, of natural causes. He was 97 years old.

An esteemed member of the Greatest Generation, Steve lived a life personified by honesty, integrity, duty and love. He was married to his beloved wife, Alice, for 66 years, until her passing eight years ago.

Rona Lubetkin, 84, died at home on Friday, January 21.

Born in Newark to Moe and Tillie Zimmerman, she lived for many years in Livingston before moving to Verona 20 years ago.

She was the wife of Charles “Tudy” Lubetkin for 66 years; the mother of Jay Lubetkin (Debbie), David Lubetkin (Kathy), and Beth Talbert (Andy), the sister of Sherry Weintraub (Stephen); the grandmother of eight, and the greatgrandmother of one.

A funeral service was held on Monday, January 24, at Bernheim Apter Kreitzman Suburban Funeral Chapel, Livingston, followed by burial at King Solomon Cemetery, Clifton.

Donations in Mrs. Lubetkin’s memory may be made to Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, 1199 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ 07052.

William Bottorff, 93, of Dublin, Ohio, formerly of Livingston and Toms River, passed away peacefully surrounded by family on January 23.

Born in Neptune, New Jersey on July 4, 1928, he moved to Livingston in 1957 and to Toms River in 1999. William was a manager of F.W. Woolworth Company before his retirement.

William served his country in World War II and was stationed in Germany from 1946-1948. He served in the Army Reserves for 3½ years after his station. He was a proud member of the Livingston 201 American Legion for many years, including as Sergeant of Arms and Senior Vice Commander.

He was predeceased by his wife, Joan, and his son, William. He is survived by his daughters, Lori (Bill) and JoAnne (Don), his son, John (Patty), and his daughter-in-law, Patricia, as well as 12 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Gerald J. Reilly died on Monday, January 17, at the age of 77.

Born in Easton, Pennsylvania, to Marguerite and William J. Reilly, Mr. Reilly grew up in Livingston and lived in Scotch Plains before moving to Plainfield.

Mr. Reilly graduated from Livingston High School and received his BS in Finance from Seton Hall University in 1967. After serving as a Captain in the U.S. Army in Vietnam, he earned his MBA at Rutgers University.

He retired in 2006 from a long career in the financial sector at Fidelity and Bank of America in Summit.

He was predeceased by his longtime partner, Lucille Kory, and is survived by his wife, Dr. Joan Coll-Reilly, and her children; his sisters; his ex-wife and their children.

Services were held at Memorial Funeral Home in Fanwood, on Wednesday, January 26, followed by interment with military honors at Holy Redeemer Cemetery in South Plainfield.

Charles D. Curcio of Livingston, died at his home on Sunday, January 23.

Born in Newark to Rose and Charles Curcio on November 8, 1937, he graduated from Irvington High School in 1954. He joined the Navy and served four years at the submarine base in Norfolk, Virginia.

Mr. Curcio owned and operated Apollo Welding in Irvington for 30 years before retiring in 2002.

He was predeceased by his siblings, Josephine, Rose Marie and Patricia, and is survived by his four children, Dawn, Charles Jr., Hope and Cynthia, and his grandchildren.

A funeral Mass will be held at St. Philomena’s Roman Catholic Church in Livingston on Thursday, January 27, at 11:30 a.m. Interment will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover.

Memories and expressions of sympathy can be shared at quinnhoppingfuneral.com.

Illeane Estelle Cohen, 86, passed away at home on Tuesday, January 18, 2022. Born in Atlantic City, she was raised in Deal, New Jersey, before moving to West Orange where she lived for many years.

An entrepreneur and owner of the 7-Up Bottling Co. of Essex County, she was also very active in her community and was a generous philanthropist.

She was the loving mother of Laurie Lipper, Ellen Cohen (Matthew) and Robert Cohen, and the devoted grandmother of Michael, Jackie, Drew, Meg, Scott, Stephanie, Merissa, and Zach.

The family will be holding a private funeral service. Memorial donations may be made in Illeane’s name to the UJA or the American Heart Association.

Ben Fressola of Livingston passed away at home on January 6. He was born in Newark in 1929 to Lucy and James Fressola.

He graduated from Newark College of Engineering and worked as an electrical engineer at Automatic Switch Company in Florham Park for his entire career.

Ben met his wife, Barbara (Band), behind-the-scenes at Show Shop Theater Group in Newark. They married in 1955 and had four daughters. The family lived in East Hanover for more than 25 years. Ben was absolutely devoted to his family. They enjoyed many memorable vacations, including going to the Jersey shore, Expo ’67 in Montreal, The Thousand Islands and California. Ben and Barbara also journeyed to Florida and many of the western National Parks. For their 50th anniversary, they treated the entire family to a Caribbean cruise.

Judith R. McCarren, née Judith Ann Reilly, of Livingston, died on Wednesday, January 19. She was 89 years old.

Visitation will be held at St. Philomena Church on Thursday, January 27, from 4 to 8 p.m. The funeral Mass will be held at noon on Friday, January 28, also at St. Philomena Church. Interment will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Hanover.

Mrs. McCarren was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and grew up in Short Hills and East Orange, and lived in Short Hills before moving to Livingston in 2007.

She was class valedictorian at Manhattanville College and later worked for Crum and Forster Insurance and served as secretary at St. Rose of Lima School in Short Hills.

Mrs. McCarren was predeceased by her husband, Deacon Daniel McCarren, Jr., and her oldest son, J. Reilly McCarren. She is survived by her sons, Rev. Msgr. Gerard H. McCarren and Mark McCarren, her daughters-in-law, Caren and Dana McCarren, and five grandchildren.

Catherine M. (née Malvaso) Moran died on January 20, surrounded by family.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Philomena’s Church in Livingston on Thursday, January 27, at 10 a.m. Interment will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington.

Mrs. Moran was predeceased by her husband, George Eugene Moran, Sr.; her sons, George Eugene Moran, Jr., Francis T. Moran, Sr., and Kevin J. Moran; and her sisters, Concetta Garofalo and Nancy Ramondini.

She is survived by her daughters-in-law, Nancy and Natalie; four grandchildren; and four greatgrandchildren.

Now back to the same message we’ve been putting on these pages for the last couple of years. We know you have heard this before, but anyone who read the front page of their Tribune last week, knows that there have been several car burglaries recently. Of course, if you looked at most issues of the paper, you would have seen the same – that is how bad the situation has become in recent years. Believe it or not, we still have to mention this because it’s still happening frequently.