6d209e4f93eecd5fede95a5751198ab4.jpg

SOUTH BRUNSWICK: Activist, Mayor’s wife laid to rest

By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
   Several hundred people paid their respects and said goodbye to Ellen Gambatese last week.
   Ms. Gambatese, a staunch community activist and wife of Mayor Frank Gambatese, died suddenly from an apparent heart attack Nov. 11. She was 76.
   People lined up in the vestibule of St. Augutine’s of Canterbury Roman Catholic Church for calling hours Thursday night and packed the church for a funeral mass on Friday morning.During the service on Friday,
   Family and friends remembered Ms. Gambatese as a tireless volunteer that was always looking out for her fellow man .
   ”She had a great social consciousness and was passionately in love with her state,” Ms. Gambatese brother-in-law, Fr. Robert Gambatese said during the mass. “She died in the midst of her work.”
   Ms. Gambatese, a retired school teacher, moved to South Brunswick with her husband in 1992 and became very active in the community, championing several causes and organizations such as the South Brunswick Public Library, the Hugs For Brady Foundation and the Center for Independent Living.
   ”Ellen served on the Library Board of Trustees since 1999 and was the current president. She was a strong advocate for the Library, for South Brunswick and for humanity,” Library Director Chris Carbone said in a statement following her death. “An inspiration, she was passionate in her beliefs and her desire to make the world a better place. Through her optimism, perseverance and dedication she worked tirelessly to take the impossible and make it probable. She touched the lives of many, and I am grateful to have known her.”
   Ms. Gambatese earned the Library Trustee of the Year Award from Middlesex County in 2010, one of several awards and recognition for her volunteerism, including the Silvio O Conte Award from the Brain Injury Association of New Jersey and the Barry Indik Memorial Award given by the Citizens for Independent Living.
   In a 2010 letter to the editor, businessman Arthur Roedel and his wife Debbie praised Ms. Gambatese for her work in the township caring for her neighbors.
   ”Whether it was marching with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., helping at church or the library, serving a friend, a family member, a neighbor or even a stranger you can count on Ellen,” The letter said. “She is always there.”
   The Roedel’s attended the funeral Friday morning.
   Other attendees included former township manager Matthew Watkins, former township administrator Donato Nieman and many current employees of the township among many others.