The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Robert L. Kirsch of Pittstown passed away on October 10 at the Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington. He enjoyed 84 years.
He was born and raised in New Brunswick, graduating from St. Peter’s High School in New Brunswick in 1958. He met his wife Judy when he was 17 and they moved to Franklin Township to raise their family. He has spent the last 21 years living in Pittstown with his wife, son and daughter-in-law, and grandchildren.
As a young man he worked as an auto mechanic, first for his father’s garage then later for College Tire in North Brunswick. As a career, he was a firefighter for 25 years, achieving the rank of Captain and Training Officer for the New Brunswick Fire Department. He was also a life member of the East Franklin Volunteer Fire Department.
Robert was a sportsman. He spent many years training bird dogs for pheasant hunting. He also enjoyed shotgun sports, such as skeet and sporting clays. He was a member of Lehigh Valley Sporting Clays, Central Jersey Rifle & Pistol Club, Highland Park Field & Stream and the Lenape Rod & Gun Club. He also enjoyed fishing on his boat, the Judy K, down at the Jersey Shore where his family’s shore house is. His love of fishing came from his father who taught him on the Barnegat Bay.
If he was not down the shore, you could find Robert at his upstate New York house enjoying the view of the Fraser firs he planted. If Robert was not outside, you could find him in his chair watching old westerns on repeat. He was also known as a person that could fix just about anything, Robert could often be found tinkering around his house, refinishing furniture, or gluing broken ornaments back together. But most of all, he was a very devoted grandfather, so much so that his four grandchildren had the pleasure of living with him their whole lives. He was there for every small and large moment, watching every milestone and supporting all their individual passions.
Robert was predeceased by his 3-year-old son, Matthew; his parents, Ferdinand and Catherine Kirsch, and his sister, Elaine Brown.
Surviving are his wife of 62 years, Judith A. Kirsch (Lattanzio); son and daughter-in-law, Ferdinand ‘Fred’ and Michelle Kirsch (Karwoski) of Pittstown; grandchildren, Hailey Trimmer and her husband Kyle, Zoe, Hunter and Ryder, and great-grandson, Barrett Trimmer.
Visitation will be held from 4-8 p.m. October 13 at the Gleason Funeral Home, 1360 Hamilton Street, Somerset.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. October 14 at the funeral home, with entombment to follow in St. Peter’s Cemetery, New Brunswick.
Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to the Lehigh Valley Sporting Clays Youth Shooting Club, 2750 Limestone Street, Coplay, Pennsylvania 18037 or email Lori at Lori@lvsclays.com, or to the New Jersey Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association, 1447 Campbell Street, Rahway, New Jersey 07065 or go to www.njmba.org/donate.
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