West Essex Tribune

Alfonso M. DeCicco died in his Livingston home on December 21. He was 96 years old.

Mr. DeCicco was born in Newark in 1924. He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II, serving in the 376th Anti-Aircraft Artillery in the European Campaign throughout Normandy, France and Germany. He received the campaign’s Victory Medal and in 2003 was awarded the New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal and the Oak Leaf Cluster, a high-level decoration of the Purple Heart.

He lived for many years in West Orange, and spent summers in Long Branch, where he met his wife 75 years ago.

Benefitting from the G.I. Bill, he graduated from Seton Hall University in 1950, with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. He was vice president of sales at Chicago Title Insurance, from which he retired in the 1980s.

Harriet I. Mechanik (nee Harrison), 94, died December 22 in Long Grove, Illinois. She had been a 35-year resident of Livingston.

Mrs. Mechanik grew up in Detroit, Michigan, before moving to New York City. There she met her future husband, the late Dr. Harvey K. Mechanik, who was originally of Plainfield.

She lived in New Jersey for 50 years before moving to Chicago, Illinois, to be near her daughters. She earned master’s of social work degree from Smith College and spent over 20 years working at the Essex County Hospital Center.

Mrs. Mechanik is survived by her daughters, Rebecca Mechanik (Robert Irish) of Inverness, Illinois, and Deborah Lamm (Joel) of Deerfield, Illinois; her step-daughters, Eileen Lebegue (Jean-Lin) and Kathy Kassover (Jeffrey) of Florida; and four grandchildren. She was predeceased by her brother, Hershel Harrison.

Sondra L. Falkenheim, age 87, a life-long resident of Livingston, died Sunday, December 20. Funeral services were held December 24 at Mount Lebanon Cemetery, Iselin, with arrangements by Louis Suburban Chapel, Fair Lawn.

Mrs. Falkenheim was the wife of the late Erwin Falkenheim; and the mother of Jill Grayson and Eric Falkenheim and his wife, Ellen. She is also survived by four grandchildren.

She was a former member ofTemple Beth Shalom in Livingston.

The family has suggested that donations in Mrs. Falkenheim’s memory be made to the Make A Wish Foundation New Jersey at wish.org/nj.

T. Carter Hagaman of Rochester, Michigan, formerly of Livingston, died November 28 at the age of 82.

Mr. Hagaman grew up in Livingston, where he became an Eagle Scout. He graduated from Grover Cleveland High School in Caldwell, and from Harvard College in 1960, where he had been the band manager in his junior year. He earned an MBA from the University of Chicago in 1964.

After college, he worked for Irving Trust from 1960 to 1989, becoming a senior vice president in the corporate finance department. He next worked as an adjunct profe ssor offinance and economics at Kean University from 1991 to 2008. During that time, he served as chairman of the New York (then later New Jersey) Council of Economic Education.

Former Livingston resident David Martin Dondershine died in Roseville, California on December 22 after battling Alzheimer’s disease and COVID-19. He was 83 years old.

Mr. Dondershine was born in Newark, and lived for almost 70 years in the Livingston area. He worked in a variety of careers from selling adspecialty products, truck parts, and real estate, to providing financial planning services.

He spent the last years of his life with his partner, Barbara Lawson. He is also survived by his son, Steven and his wife, Marci, of Truckee, California, and Scott and his wife, Diane, of Vienna, Virginia; and four grandchildren.

Mr. Jeffrey D. Tamburri, 43, died on December 19, 2020 at home in West Orange, NJ.

Jeff was born and raised in Livingston and lived in Arizona, Colorado and Washington, D.C. before moving to West Orange.

He graduated from Livingston High School, Class of 1995, and earned a B.A. in history and English from Rutgers University and a double master’s in general and special education from Hunter College.

Jeff enjoyed varied careers, including Head Chef at the South Street Trattoria in Morristown, New Jersey; co-owner ofthe Italian Marketplace in Livingston, New Jersey; Sous Chef at a five-star Washington, D.C. restaurant; and a special education teacher in the South Bronx.

In the months prior to the June 2013 accident during which he was struck by a bus and paralyzed, Jeff actively trained for several mud and obstacle races and commuted to the South Bronx, where he taught at the elementary level while completing full-time graduate studies.

Marc Alan Unger of Livingston, New Jersey, devoted husband, father, son and brother, passed away at Weill-Cornell Medical Center on Tuesday, December 22, 2020 at the age of 56.

Marc was raised in Livingston and later resettled there with his beloved wife, Suzanne, and their two girls, Morgan and Ryann. Marc graduated with a B.S. degree in accounting from Lehigh University in 1986 and subsequently obtained his M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. Marc joined Harvest Partners in 2015, and was currently a partner and the Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Harvest, Marc held po sitions as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of CCMP Capital Advisors. Previously, Marc was the Chief Financial Officer of UBS Capital Americas. He began his career with Ernst and Young.

The first snowstorm of the season was a nor’easter that dropped a lot less snow than the one to two feet expected. The storm, which hit New Jersey late Wednesday afternoon, December 16, ended up dropping 8¹/₂ inches of the white stuff on Livingston, noted Chris Atworth, assistant superintendent of the township’s Department of Public Works (DPW).

“All in all, this was not too bad for our first storm of the season,” said Atworth. “We had a few breakdowns, but nothing major.”

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Building relationships with students, incorporating social emotional learning in the classroom; andproviding professional development are a few of the dozens of recommendations to enhance student mental health contained in a report presented to the Board of Education and Township Council on Wednesday, December 16. The joint “five on five” meeting was held virtually on Zoom and can be viewed on the Livingston Public Schools Facebook page.

“Building a Foundation of Hope,” a look at mental health services in schools, was presented by Vince De Lucia, an educator with the New Jersey School Boards Association.

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The Livingston Board of Education and Township Council, at their joint meeting on Wednesday, December 16, took time to honor Charles “Buddy” August upon his retirement from the Board of Education.

“It’s hard to believe this is your last meeting,” said Board president Ronnie Konner, calling him “the ultimate Livingston volunteer.”

August served as a member of the Board of Education from April, 1985 to April, 1994, from April, 1996 through April, 1999, and from January, 2015 through December, 2020, and the Board presented him with a plaque and other “Livingston swag” in appreciation of his 18 years on the Board.

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