E.B. officials recognize service of late volunteer

BY VINCENT TODARO Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK — The Township Council has honored Robert Mahler, a longtime resident and business owner who served the township on various boards and agencies.

Mahler, 72, passed away in July due to a form of leukemia, according to his wife, Ethel.

Mayor William Neary noted Mahler’s dedication to the Democratic Party, as well as his avid interest in photography. Mahler, who owned and operated Creative Energy Associates for 30 years, documented many local events with his photos, Neary said.

East Brunswick Democratic Party Chairman Shawn Taylor said Mahler’s involvement with the party goes back more than 30 years, and Ethel has also volunteered her time with the party. He said that Mahler served for years on the organization’s executive board, including time as a recording secretary. Ethel has long served as treasurer.

“They were wonderfully active in the Democratic Party dating back to the mid- 1970s,” Taylor said.

Mahler was a gifted photographer who never missed an opportunity to shoot an important occasion, such as a visit from the governor, Taylor said.

Ethel said the couple moved to East Brunswick in January 1968, and had three children.

They became involved with the party in 1972.

Mahler served as head of the East Brunswick Traffic Advisory Board, and as a member of the Middlesex County Transportation Coordinating Committee.

He played a role in helping the township create its bike paths. He was on a committee to plan the pathways and helped secure the grants that paid for their construction, Ethel said.

His photography work began as soon as he graduated college, she said.

“It was his first love,” Ethel said. “He was at every Democratic function taking pictures.”

In addition to his wife, Mahler is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Richard and Carole of the Basking Ridge section of Bernards; two daughters and sons-in-law, Nancy and Dan of Belmont, Mass., and Stephanie and Robert of New York City; two sisters, Doris and Lee; and two grandchildren.

Ethel was at the Nov. 10 council meeting when the council honored her husband with a proclamation.

Taylor described Mahler as “an incredible grassroots Democrat, who rolled up his sleeves and did it.

“When no one else envisioned bike paths in East Brunswick, he did, and he fought hard to get funding for them,” Taylor said.

Ethel said her husband died from myeloblastic leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow that can be deadly within one week of diagnosis. She said the disease, which is fairly rare, hits people “like an automobile accident.”

“Basically, he was my life. We did everything together,” she said. “He was a great husband and a great father.”

Despite his job in photography and involvement with the township, Mahler still found time to coach his children’s sports teams, she said.

“Everyone has been wonderful since he died, and I am thankful for their support,” she said.

The family has asked that memorial contributions be made to the American Cancer Society-Eastern Division, 6725 Lyons St., P.O. Box 7, East Syracuse, NY 13057.