30-year resident remembered
as contributor to community
By linda denicola
Staff Writer
John Mascone
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — Com-munity officials recalled John V. Mascone this week as a person who made a difference in his town over the past three decades.
Mascone, 70, died on Nov. 16 at CentraState Medical Center, West Main Street. He was an active member of the community and of his church.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Mascone lived in Freehold Township for the past 30 years. He served on the Planning Board and the environmental commission for many years. At the time of his death he was the vice chairman of the Planning Board and chairman of the environmental commission.
He was a member of the Freehold Township Republican Club and the Optimist Club of Freehold. In addition, he was a former commissioner of the Freehold Township Little League, a former member of the township’s transportation committee and a former member of the Freehold Industrial Committee.
Mayor Eugene Golub said Mascone will be remembered as "an all-around first rate guy, reliable and trustworthy. He was a friend of mine for 30 years. John was a terrific guy and an absolutely wonderful family man. He served the town well."
Committeewoman Dorothy Avallone, who knew Mascone for 30 years, called him "an all-around good person." A former Planning Board member herself, Avallone said she remembers Mascone as a very effective member of that panel.
"He was always very explicit and well organized," she said.
Deputy Mayor David Salkin said, "I was fortunate to have known John for about 25 years. We were involved in Little League and on the Planning Board together. He was a very good guy who would do anything for you and he worked very hard for the Planning Board."
Mascone, a graduate of Bishop Loughlin High School in Brooklyn, received his bachelor of science degree from the University of Maryland in 1960 and worked as a sales manager with the Eveready Battery Co. in New York City for 30 years before retiring in 1991.
He and his wife of 39 years, Terry Ryan Mascone, raised two sons and a daughter, who are all married. Jack and Tara Mascone live in Irvington, N.Y., and Michael and Tory Mascone live in Red Bank. Daughter Carol and her husband Tim O’Hara live in Ocean Township. In addition to three children, he leaves behind six grandchildren.
"He’s got a great family," Avallone said, adding that she was at a memorial service for Mascone on Nov. 20 at St. Robert Bellarmine Roman Catholic Church, and saw Mascone’s son, Jack.
The family has requested that contributions in Mascone’s memory go to the St. Robert Bellarmine Church Building Fund, 61 Georgia Road, Freehold, 07728.