Obituaries

Earl N. Reid, Sr., of Somerset passed away on November 17 at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. He was 75. Born and raised in Concord, North Carolina, he lived in various towns throughout New Jersey before moving to Somerset in 2004. He worked as a Supervisor of Transportation at the VA Hospital in Lyons until his …

William J. Barkley Jr., of Somerset passed away on November 8 at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank. He was 84 years old. He was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Shortly after graduating high school, he enlisted in the US Army and valiantly served his country. He retired from AT&T at which time he started his own consulting firm. …

Jean Elguicze of Somerset passed away on November 11 at the McAuley Hall Health Care Center in Watchung. She was 85. Born in Somerville, she grew up in Elizabeth until the age of nine. She moved to Poland in 1948 and lived there until the age of 26. In 1965, she returned to the United States. Jean married her husband …

William Ciampa passed away on November 5 at St. Peter’s Medical Center in New Brunswick at the age of 65.  Bill was born in Raritan and raised in Franklin Township and graduated from Alma Prep School.    He lived in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania for a time where he owned and operated Abe’s Antiques.   He was a knowledgeable man and recognized historian.  …

Richard Perrotta, 83, of Somerset, passed away peacefully at his home on November 4. Richard was born on February 15, 1941, in Brooklyn to the late John and Vera (Guarino) Perrotta. Raised in Brooklyn, he married the love of his life, Patricia, and the couple began their life together in Great Kills, Staten Island. Later, they moved to West Brighton, …

Roger Bernard Griffin Sr, 64, of Somerset, closed his eyes on October 27. Roger, also known as “Record Playing Roger” was born on October 23, 1960, to Willie James Griffin and Eva Mae Griffin (Tellis), in New Brunswick. After graduating from Franklin High School, he went on to work for Northern Telecom as a traveling technician. He graduated from DeVry …

Eleni H. Bourodimos, 87, passed away peacefully at her home in Somerset on October 25. Born in Athens, Greece, on January 9, 1937, Eleni Mantzouranis Bourodimos was the daughter of late Dionisios H. Mantzouranis and the late Angeliki Stavropoulos Mantzouranis. She was the youngest of three siblings. She was deeply proud of her Greek heritage. Eleni had the wealth of …

Florence Kessel, 91, of Somerset, passed away peacefully on October 26 at Overlook Hospital in Summit. Born in Brooklyn, New York, she later settled in Somerset, where she raised her family and became an active community member. Florence attended New York Uuniversity and Montclair State College, where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in history with a minor in music. She …

Karl Manger, 70, passed away in the garden that he so dearly loved on October 23 at his home. Born on December 2, 1953, in Orange to the late Anton and Mary (Heinis) Manger, Karl was a lifelong resident of Somerset. Karl earned a Masters Degree at Rutgers University where he was also a member of the Glee Club during …

John S. Kotlarz of Somerset died October 16th at RWJUH at New Brunswick.  He was 71. Born in Brooklyn, NY Mr. Kotlarz resided in Somerset for the past 47 years. Prior to his retirement in 2014, he worked for AT&T as a Building Mechanic for 35 years at the Piscataway Facility. John played Baseball well into his 50s; he coached …