By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
A longtime Princeton municipal employee was remembered this week as a dedicated public servant whose sudden death inside Borough Hall on Saturday stunned friends and coworkers.
Charles F. Harding Jr., employed in the Sewer Operating Committee for close to 30 years, died of a massive heart attack, said Bob Hough, his friend and director of infrastructure and operations for the town.
He was 54.
Services were scheduled for Thursday. Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert this week called Mr. Harding’s death “a tragic loss.”
Mr. Harding, a resident of Woodbury in Gloucester County, was a “great guy” and a “great friend” who was a “tireless worker,” Mr. Hough said.
He said that Mr. Harding had climbed the ladder to become the supervisor of construction and operations with the department.
Away from work, Mr. Harding was an outdoorsman who liked to fish, play golf and ride his motor cycle. A photo released of him shows him standing next to a motorcycle.
He had come to work Saturday to oversee a repair job, when the heart attack happened inside Borough Hall, Mr. Hough said.
He left behind his wife, Nadine, daughters Krystall and Jackalyn, three grandchildren and other family members. He was predeceased by his parents, Charles and Florence.
The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Gloucester County Animal Shelter, located on 1200 N. Delsea Drive, Clayton, N.J. 08312.

