Obituaries for the week of Dec. 15

Seymour D. Selzer>/b>




   

Seymour D. Selzer of Lawrence died Dec. 6 in the University Medical Center at Princeton. He was 82.

   Born in Jersey City, Mr. Selzer was a resident of the Trenton area for the past 45 years.

   A graduate of Newark College of Engineering and New York University, Mr. Selzer earned degrees in civil and water resources engineering. During hisemployment with consulting engineering firms he was project engineer for various water supply and waste disposal facilities, including Trenton’s Central Pumping Station. While employed by the New Jersey Division of Water Policy and Supply, he supervised the design of the state’s Round Valley-Spruce Run Reservoir Project. Mr. Selzer was employed by the Delaware River Basin Commission from 1963-68 and led the planning branch until his retirement in 1985. He had a key role in the pollution abatement program for the Delaware River and the development of the comprehensive plan for the basin’s water resources.

   Mr. Selzer was a fellow and life member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He was a licensed professional engineer and a public interest member of the American National Standards Institute’s pipeline code committee.

   He was a member of Har Sinai Temple, Jewish War Veterans, B’nai Brith, American Technion Society and the Nature Conservancy.

   Mr. Selzer was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II and served in the 75th Division. He was awarded the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, three battle stars and the Bronze Star Medal.

   Son of the late Joseph and Rae Selzer and husband of the late Rosamond Garfunkel Selzer, he is survived by two sons and a daughter-in-law, Hal Selzer of East Windsor and Gary Selzer and wife Margaret Targove of Basking Ridge; a daughter and son-in-law, Wilma and Jonathan Nachsin of Evanston, Ill.; three grandchildren, Daniel Selzer, and Jacob and Aaron Nachsin; two sisters, Mildred Kaplowe and Estelle Levine; and mother-in-law Daisy Garfunkel of Ewing.

   The funeral was Friday at Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, Ewing.

   Burial was in Riverside Cemetery, Saddle Brook.

   A period of mourning was observed Saturday and Sunday at the Selzer residence in Lawrence.

   The family requests memorial contributions be offered to the Jewish National Fund, 42 E. 69th St., New York, NY 10021 or to a charity of the donor’s choice.
Rev. Casimir J. Przechacki

   
The Rev. Casimir J. Przechacki of Lawrence died Dec. 6 at the Compassionate Care Hospice, St. Francis Medical Center, Trenton. He was 89.
   Born in Trenton, the Rev. Przechacki served in many parishes in the Trenton and Metuchen dioceses, retiring in 1998 to the Rossmoor community in Monroe, and moving to Lawrence in 2000.
   The Rev. Przechacki was a graduate of St. Mary’s College, Orchard Lake, Mich. He completed his theological studies at Immaculate Conception Seminary in the Darlington section of Mahwah, and was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Trenton in 1944.
   The Rev. Przechacki served as associate pastor of Immaculate Conception Church, Spotswood, St. Joseph’s Church, Keyport, and St. Magdalene DePazzi Church, Flemington. He was pastor of St. Mary Church, Barnegat, St. Rose of Lima Church, Oxford, and from 1983 to his retirement, Holy Trinity Church, Helmetta.
   Brother of the late Frank Przechacki, he is survived by his sister-in-law Stella Przechacki of Lawrence; a nephew, Francis Przechacki of San Diego; a niece, Virginia and her husband Francis Soltis of Lawrence; and two grand-nieces and two grand-nephews.
   Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Saturday. Burial was in Holy Cross Cemetery, Trenton.
   In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Holy Trinity Church, 100 Main St., Helmetta, NJ 08828.
Luigi Scarlata
   
TRENTON — Luigi Scarlata died Friday at Capital Health System at Fuld. He was 64.
   Born in Villalba, Sicily, he resided in the Trenton area for the past 50 years.
   Mr. Scarlata retired in 2005 after more than 15 years from Super "G" Supermarket, Olden Ave., Ewing. He was formerly employed at Shop Rite Supermarket, Ewing, and Trenton Pipe and Nipple Company, Trenton. He was a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1360 AFL-CIO, Mount Laurel.
   Son of the late Alfonso and Josephine Scarlata, he is survived by two brothers and a sister-in-law, Joseph and Julia Scarlata of Trenton and Salvatore Scarlata of Lawrence; a sister, Josephine Vasta of Newtown, Pa.; eight nieces and nephews and their spouses, Alfonso and Dora Scarlata, Robert Scarlata, Josephine and Gaetano DeAngelo, Rita and Michael Walsh, Lisa and James Cottone, Rence and Able Gutierrez, Joseph and Judy Vasta, and Nancy and Michael Reynolds; and many great-nieces and great-nephews.
   Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Monday at Saint James Church, Trenton. Burial was in Saint Mary’s Mausoleum, Hamilton.
   In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in his name to Saint James Church, 29 East Paul Ave., Trenton, NJ 08638.
   Arrangements are under the direction of Brenna Funeral Home, Trenton.
Dawn M. Reinke
   
EWING — Dawn M. Reinke died Sunday in Care One at Ewing. She was 69.
   Born in Trenton, she was an area resident most of her life.
   She graduated from Trenton High School, attended St. Joseph’s School of Nursing in Lancaster, Pa. and Mercer County Community College.
   Ms. Reinke retired in 1996 after 28 years of service with the Division of Aging in the Department of Community Affairs, State of New Jersey where she was employed as a program development specialist. She was also employed as secretary to the director of nursing services and admission officer at St. Francis Medical Center; supervisor of the stenographic pool, Department of Human Services; student assistant, Registrar’s Office at Rider College; community program analyst, Division on Aging and a legislative aide for the Division on Aging.
   Daughter of the late Frederick and Ann Catana Reinke, she is survived by a sister, Mildred R. Wills; four nephews, Richard K. Wills, Frederick L. Wills, Jeffrey T. Wills and his wife Debra, and Thomas E. Wills and his wife Virginia; three great-nephews, Jeffrey M. Wills, Dylan A. Wills, and Shea W. L. Wills; and several aunts and cousins.
   Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 11 a.m. today at the Church of St. Ann, 1253 Lawrence Road. Burial will be in Our Lady of Lourdes Cemetery, Hamilton.
   Friends may call from 10 to 11 a.m. at the church.
   In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the St. Vincent De Paul Society at the Church of St. Ann, 1253 Lawrence Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648.
   Arrangements are under the direction of Poulson & Van Hise Funeral Directors, Lawrence.
Robert G. Mills
   
PENNINGTON — Robert G. Mills died Dec. 5. He was 81.
   
   Born in Effingham, Ill., he moved with his parents to Princeton in 1928 and graduated from Princeton High School in 1941. He was a longtime Princeton resident before moving to Pennington.
   A fusion power research scientist, Mr. Mills spent much of his career at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory before taking a teaching position at Princeton University.
   He attended Princeton University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering as a member of the Class of 1945. Like many of the wartime generation, he graduated early, in 1944, in order to enter military service. He was a chief petty officer in the Navy Reserve from 1944 to 1946, largely at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington.
   Following the war, he earned a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Michigan in 1947 and a doctorate in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1952.
   While a graduate student, he was involved in the upper atmosphere research program, putting instrumentation on captured V-2 rockets at White Sands, N.M. During this time he met his future wife, who was also working at White Sands, and they were married in Princeton in 1947.
   In 1952 he, his wife, and two children moved to Switzerland where he did post-graduate research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.
   On return from Switzerland in 1954 he became one of the first scientists to join the world’s initial research program in fusion power, Project Matterhorn. The project developed into the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
   He was involved in the design of a number of Stellarators and Tokamaks — experimental fusion reactors — and other research machines at PPPL. He led the engineering division at PPPL for 20 years.
   After retirement from PPPL, he was a lecturer with rank of professor in Princeton University’s chemical engineering department and established an interdepartmental program in plasma science and fusion technology.
   He was a fellow of the IEEE, the American Nuclear Society, the American Physics Society, and a member of other academic societies.
   His hobbies included flying airplanes and sailplanes, photography, bowling, hiking, and reading mysteries.
   Son of the late Gail A. Mills and Helen June Taylor Mills, husband of the late Mary Addie Steer Mills, he is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Susan M. and James Kifuthu; son and daughter-in-law Robert W. and Pamela Ann Martin Mills; and grandchildren Christopher Kifuthu and wife Anna Pajarillo Kifuthu, John Mills, David Mills, Andrew Kifuthu, Steven Mills, and Sarah Mills.
   A memorial service was held Sunday at Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.