WOODBRIDGE – Family and friends – some wearing T-shirts, clutching photos, and holding signs – stood as their loved one’s name was read.
They were fathers, mothers, grandparents, uncles, aunts, the list goes on and on.
Township officials held a 90-minute solemn ceremony to honor the memories of residents who have passed away in the last six months to COVID-19 and/or other complications without proper wakes, funerals or burials at the concert field behind Woodbridge High School on Sept. 20.
Following the ceremony, township officials honored township department, police, fire, first aid employees and volunteers and health care workers who risked their lives during the pandemic.
Rev. Neva Lawson, pastor at First Baptist Church of Woodbridge in Sewaren, provided reflection and a prayer service. He said as a pastor he has had to officiate funerals with only 10 people. He said with many family members in lockdown because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, they could not attend.
“More than a week ago, I had to go out of state and officiate a funeral for my own aunt,” he said. “Upon seeing some of my cousins and having a chance to see some of their children I could not embrace them. We couldn’t go out and eat at our favorite buffet. This tiny organism, this virus, smaller than your typical bacteria turned this world upside down. The tiny organism has deprived people of rituals that allow us to process pain, this tiny organism has caused hospitalizations without family visitation, patients separated from familiar voices, burials without funerals, grief without hugs, sorrow without comfort.”
Lawson said he prays there will be a new consciousness that begins to develop for everyone.
“We will remember that the best things in life are free … it’s still important that we pursue life, liberty and pursuit of happiness,” he said.
Rev. Bob Louer, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Avenel, urged family members and friends to honor and celebrate the lives of their loved ones.
“Be kind to yourselves … allow yourselves to feel pain, don’t stuff it down … allow yourself to remember stories … allow for time and patience,” he said.
Members of the American Legion T. Nulty Post No. 471 and the North Jersey Young Marines – Colonia High School Detachment presented the colors at the ceremony.
Mayor John E. McCormac and members of the Township Council read the names and biographies of the number of residents who passed away.
Some of the residents who passed away included Richard T. Gould, 81, of Woodbridge, who passed away on March 29. He was a member of the Woodbridge Fire Company No. 1 for 48 years.
John C. Careccia, 74, of Fords, was serving as chief of the Woodbridge Township Ambulance and Rescue Squad when he passed away on April 17.
Former Woodbridge Mayor Joseph DeMarino, of Port Reading, passed away at the age of 85 on May 31.
Oritt and Aida Everett of Iselin passed away at the age of 92. Oritt passed on April 9 and his wife Aida passed on April 20. There was only a total of 18 days when one was alive and not the other.
The Woodbridge High School Choir, led by Lisa Romero, performed musical numbers including “We Shall Overcome” and “Amazing Grace.” Paul DeLeo, the township bagpiper, performed “Amazing Grace” with the choir along with “Taps” and “Bells of Dunblane” during the ceremony.
Kayla’s Love Doves released doves during the ceremony as DeLeo performed “Bells of Dunblane.”
Rev. John Gloss, pastor of St. John Vianney Parish in Colonia provided the invocation and prayer service. Deacon Peter Barcellona of St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church provided a psalm reading.
McCormac recognized everyone who helped put the events together including township Communications Director John Hagerty, his assistant Megan Kushpa, Brianne Ludlow from the Recreation Department, and Gerry Mazurek from the mayor’s office, along with the Parks Department employees and the TV-35 camera crew.