Garrick Stoldt of North Brunswick has been named Father of the Year by the Father’s Day Council of New Jersey. He is pictured, from left, with his daughter Gwendolyn, wife Deborah, son Timothy and daughter Elizabeth. READER-SUBMITTED PHOTO NORTH BRUNSWICK — Balancing his professional life with his personal life has not always been easy, but Garrick Stoldt found a way to manage both — and has thus been named the 2015 Father of the Year.
Stoldt, the chief financial officer at Saint Peter’s Healthcare System, will be honored in June by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and Father’s Day Council volunteers who annually select and honor individuals who are exemplary businessmen, community leaders and, most importantly, dads.
The 58-year-old North Brunswick resident is the proud father of 23-year-old twins Gwendolyn, a history and English graduate from Hillsdale College in Michigan, and Timothy, a history and political science graduate from Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City; and 19-year-old Elizabeth, a freshman at Rider University in Lawrence Township.
“I made sure I found ways to carve out time to go to a Little League game or to go to dance practice with my girls,” Stoldt said, admitting that balancing fatherhood with a career is “tough.”
Stoldt’s fondest memories with his children involve road trips to historical sites such as Gettsyburg, Valley Forge and Manhattan.
“We gain material items all our lives, but it’s the memories … that are invaluable,” Stoldt said.
Overall, Stoldt said he is “blessed with three great children” who did well in school, received their degrees and stayed out of trouble. “It’s nice to see your kids stayed on the straight and narrow, and think it’s because you stayed close to what they do,” Stoldt said.
He said he believes setting children up with the right ideals “pays off” in their formative years.
“My kids mean everything to me. They always had,” he said.
Stoldt gave much credit to his wife, Deborah, who gave up a career at Merrill Lynch to take care of their children.
“Thank God she was home to be there with them all the time,” he said. “I found ways to readjust my schedule. … I made sure I was there, too, so it was not all her burden.”
Besides his professional accomplishments, Stoldt was also part of the board for the Federal Credit Union for 11 years, is on the board of health for the First Medicaid HMO, is involved with St. Augustine of Canterbury church in Kendall Park, and was on the board for the Patriots’ Path Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
Stoldt said his own parents were instrumental in his love of the Scouts program. His father, Phillip, passed away in 2004, but he remembers his father always helping out with the troops he was in.
“I think it was critical to my development,” the Eagle Scout said, noting that the skills learned helped him with public speaking and even saving the lives of a person who was drowning and a person who had a severe cut on the wrist.
The dinner honoring Stoldt will be held June 10 at the Newark Club in Newark. Proceeds will benefit the ADA.
Stoldt believes he was considered for the award because he has participated in a fundraising walk for the ADA for the past five years, during which he has been a member of one of the top two highest fundraising teams from St. Peter’s.
However, he also believes this should be considered a parenting award, since “both parents need to take responsibility.”
“I wouldn’t be able to do it without my wife sacrificing her career. I can’t negate that,” he said.
To purchase tickets to the dinner, visit www.diabetes.org/njfoty.