School board and borough officals remember Mr. Main, who passed away April 7.
By: Leon Tovey
JAMESBURG School board and borough officials said they will remember James Main as a quiet man who was dedicated to the town, his family and the borough’s schools.
Mr. Main, who died April 7 at the age of 75, worked as business administrator and clerk for the Jamesburg Board of Education for 17 years before retiring in 1995. After retiring, he served on the school board briefly, before moving to Clearbrook in 2004.
"You would not find a person more dedicated to the town than Jimmy Main," Borough Mayor Tony LaMantia said April 12. "He was always 100 percent devoted to the town and what he was doing."
Mayor LaMantia said he knew Mr. Main who was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and moved to the borough with his family in 1961 for more than 30 years, during which time Mr. Main served in a number of other positions in borough government. He was a member of the Borough Council, worked for a time as borough clerk and was a part-time police officer.
"He loved Jamesburg," school board member Patrice Faraone said Monday. "He always talked about how he had put five kids through the school system and how he owed it to the town and the schools to give back. He was always grateful, which is a little ironic given how much he did for the schools."
Board member Tom Bodall agreed. Mr. Bodall recalled with a combination of awe and amusement April 13 the skill with which Mr. Main put together school budgets every year without the aid of computers.
"Everything was done longhand then modern computers with the kinds of programs we have now for that stuff, it was just starting to appear when he retired," Mr. Bodall said. "And there was not a lot of money to go around then there still isn’t but with Jim involved, the numbers always added up."
But even with all the time he gave to the borough and the school district, Mr. Main always had time for his family, said Sherry Theinert, a recently retired Board of Education member who grew up with Mr. Main’s daughter Debra.
Mr. Main is survived by his wife, Dolores; two sons, James and Jay, both of Jamesburg; four daughters, Doreen Getty of East Brunswick, Debra Kozar of Monroe, Deena Main of Jamesburg and Dianne Poppe of Chalfont, Pa.; seven grandchildren, Erica and Melissa Getty, Anthony and Conner Kozar, James Berrios, Ashlyn and Devin Poppe; and three great-grandchildren, Nicholas, Taylor and Jonathan Hogan.
Ms. Theinert recalled the family as a tight-knit one, wherein the parents took an active and enthusiastic interest in their children’s lives.
"They were always very involved in what their kids did," Ms. Theinert said April 13 of the Mains.
"And even with their kids’ friends, they were always interested and he was very respectful treated you with respect."
Ms. Faraone agreed. Recalling the time one of Mr. Main’s four daughters (she wouldn’t say which one) hit a deer with her car while out joyriding with friends (herself among them), Ms. Faraone said she was amazed at his reaction.
"I was terrified I thought we were in so much trouble," she said with a laugh.
"But he wasn’t even angry; he just made sure everyone was OK and gave her the keys to his brand new car.
"He was like that," she added. "He could be tough, make sure the line was towed, but he was always calm, would always go with the flow."