West Essex Tribune

Joan Brennan (née Dassing), 91, of Livingston, died on November 3. She resided in Livingston since 1959.

Mrs. Brennan was born in Newark and graduated from Irvington High School in 1949. She worked for ten years at the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company and, after raising her family, at the Guymar Construction Company for 27 years.

Mrs. Brennan was involved in school and community activities, such as Girl Scouts and PTA. She was a daily communicant at St. Philomena Roman Catholic Church where she taught CCD and was a member of the Rosary Society.

She was predeceased by her husband, Harry, her daughter, Nancy Rynearson, her brother, Louis Dassing, and her sister-in-law, Patricia Conlon. She is survived by her children, Timothy Brennan (Nancy) and Colleen Brennan (Robert Hoke), and her son-in-law, Robert Rynearson; and four grandchildren.

RUNS FIRST MARATHON: Gabrielle Levy, who was raised in Livingston and is a 2012 graduate of Livingston High School, participated in the 50th TCS New York City Marathon as her first full marathon. The 26.2 mile race took place Sunday, November 7 passing through the five boroughs of New York City. Levy crossed the finish line at 3:48:53. She is shown here with her fiancé, Jason Azzoparde of Quebec, Canada, who completed the race in 3:47:30. The couple qualified in 2019 but as last year’s marathon was canceled due to the pandemic, this was their first opportunity to run a full in-person marathon.

CARRY OFF CEREMONY: The Livingston High School football team held its Senior Carry Off Ceremony on Thursday, November 4, on the turf. Each senior selects underclassmen to carry him off the field turf for the last time. Underclassmen form a tunnel for them to exit the field. The Lancers were defeated by the Union Farmers, 41-3, on Friday evening, November 5, in the first round of the NJSIAA North Section 2 Group 5 football playoffs. Shown at left are Danny Cullen, Joey Maiello, John Ferrante, Ryan Park, Hayden Arsht, and Owen Gordon; above are Darren Morgan, Ben Hauser, Andrew Gobbler, Justin Naylor, Mory Ashenberg, Brandon Kenney, Ryan Park, LJ Cocuzza, Quinn Devlin, Ben Keim, Jakob Taub, Jayvier Cayemitte, Daniel Jacobson, Brandon Bechtold, Matteo Chalfin, and Daniel Silva. Don Schwartz Photos

Paula Gloria Davidson, 88 years old, died October 31, 2021.

She was born in Brooklyn, New York to Sadie and Harris Katzman. She married Les Davidson on July 4, 1954, and had four children, Lynn, Honey, Harris, and Ronald; and five grandchildren, Michael, Stefanie, Laura, Steven, and Matthew.

Paula lived in Livingston for 57 years. Prior to that, she had lived in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens. New York.

She was active in activities in Livingston, especially the Livingston Public Library. Paula had a love of family, travel, and taking cruises. She enjoyed reading mysteries, and watching tennis, gymnastics, ice skating, and the Olympics.

Paula received a B.A. from Montclair State University (originally at Queens College) in sociology. She spent years as editor and proof reader at several locations before retirement.

Alex Richardson, a retired engineer, passed away peacefully at his home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on September 13, 2021, aged 93.

Born in Michigan to Margaret and Avery Richardson, he graduated from Boonton (New Jersey) High School, earned a BEE and MME in electrical engineering from Cornell University, and an MS in engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology. He served as an officer in the Army Signal Corps and was deployed to Korea. After a long career with ITT Avionics, he had a second career as a project engineer for the New Jersey Turnpike, developing the original EZ-Pass system. Alex was a certified Professional Engineer and a Brother of Alpha Chi Rho fraternity.

Livingston is currently in the midst of its annual leaf collection. People who fall under section two (the area south of East and West Mt. Pleasant Avenue and north of East and West Northfield Road) are having their leaves picked up through November 21. This is a great service that allows residents a proper way to dispose of all of the leaves on their property.

And yet, we receive reports each week from the fire department about leaf and lawn debris fires in town. Not only does this waste the time of our firefighters, who are being called to investigate these reports of smoke in residential neighborhoods, but it is also dangerous, as one gust of wind can send that burning pile of brush toward a home or wooded area. It is also disrespectful of neighbors.

Not only that – it is also illegal.

Earlier this month, Livingston Public Schools superintendent Matthew Block wrote a letter to families explaining the toll that the return to full-time in-person learning has placed on students. To mitigate this stress, he announced several days that no outside schoolwork will be given to children, to allow them to decompress from the rigors of the classroom.

This sense of stress among students tracks with what the data says we are all currently feeling.

It can be easy – at times – to forget that we are still in the middle of an ongoing pandemic. Through rose colored glasses, many things can start to look normal. But COVID-19 is still raging, and cases have slowly started to increase again over the past few weeks. Earlier this summer, it appeared that the pandemic might have been in retreat, but the delta variant took hold and sparked a new wave of cases and hospitalizations.

Livingston Philanthropies, Inc. (LPI) has saluted long-time regular donor, the National Council of Jewish Women, Essex County Section, Creative Hands knitting group, which recently presented the Livingston charity with a large number of hand-knitted items. “Their creative hands have also been busy hands throughout the spring and summer months,” said LPI founder and director, Jeff Friedman of Livingston.
The Creative Hands volunteers create projects such as baby blankets, hats, infant and baby sweaters, and face masks to donate to hospitals, nursing homes and community organizations. “Creative Hands NCJW/Essex co-chairwomen Barbara Kerner and Debbie Shelkowitz just delivered hundreds of beautiful hand-crafted knit items for distribution by Livingston Philanthropies’ Newark partners,” recounted Friedman. “ ‘We have lots of stuff for you,’ Barbara told me, and said, ‘We know you’ll get it to the right people!’ ”

LEAF COLLECTION UNDERWAY: Leaves were being collected in Section 1 this week, the area north of East and West Mt. Pleasant Avenues. Leaves in Section 2 – the area south of East and West Mt. Pleasant Avenues and north of East and West Northfield Roads – can be put at the curb through Sunday, November 7, for pick-up next week. Shown here, crews collect leaves on Washington Court. Jerry Siskind Photo

As of press time, Wednesday morning, November 3, Pamela Chirls and Jenissa Arnette have tallied the most votes for the open Livingston Public Schools Board of Education seats, according to preliminary results of this year’s General Election. Chirls, the incumbent, and Arnette both lead challenger James Calderón for the two open seats on the Board.

With 10,661 votes cast (and 24 of 26 districts reporting as of Wednesday morning), according to the Essex County clerk’s office, Chirls received 4,507 votes (42.28 percent). Arnette received 3,614 votes (33.90 percent), followed by Calderón with 2,540 votes (23.83 percent).

Chirls will retain her Board seat for another term, while Arnette will assume the role for the first time. Both Arnette and Calderón ran for a single open seat on the Board in 2020, losing to Vineeta Khanna.