Bernard “Nardie” Hochberg, of Freehold Township, who was the third generation owner and operator of the Millhurst Mills home improvement center in Manalapan, died on Oct. 28.
Millhurst Mills, on Sweetmans Lane, just off Route 33 in the Millhurst section of Manalapan, was a family business established in 1925.
Hochberg’s passing was initially reported by Congregation Agudath Achim, the Freehold Jewish Center, Freehold Borough, where he was a member. He served several terms as president of the synagogue and was a past president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Monmouth County.
In a 2015 News Transcript article about multi-generational businesses in western Monmouth County, Hochberg described how his grandfather, also Bernard, of the Bronx, New York, was looking for a business in a town that would allow him to raise his family and also observe the Jewish religion with others in the community.
In Manalapan, Hochberg’s grandfather purchased the Millhurst Milling Company and the family made their home in a house on the mill property. The hardware and home improvement business has been owned and operated by the Hochberg family ever since – 93 years.
“Millhurst was a good place for my father to settle because he was, above all, a religious Jewish man and here he could be observant for himself and his family and be part of a Jewish community,” Hochberg said of his grandfather. He said the family were members of a synagogue in Englishtown.
Hochberg, who became the sole owner of Milhurst Mills in 1985, said his grandfather had three sons, Samuel, Arthur and Ben.
Hochberg’s grandfather died after being hit by a car in 1929. Following Bernard’s death, Hochberg’s father, Samuel, ran the business with his younger brothers. Samuel and his wife, Rose, were married in 1936 and lived in the family home in Millhurst before moving to Freehold Borough in 1945.
Hochberg was raised in Freehold Borough with his sisters Marilyn and Janet (now deceased) and the family observed their faith at the Freehold Jewish Center. Hochberg later moved to Freehold Township.
“Over the years the Millhurst mill (across from Millhurst Mills), which has been on the site since the early 1700s, has evolved from a flour grist mill. It is one of the finest examples of a specialty rolling flour mill to be preserved,” he said.
Hochberg’s 2012 restoration of the Millhurst mill was recognized by the Manalapan Township Committee and the Monmouth County Historical Commission.
In recent years, Hochberg developed the Mount’s Corner shopping center at Route 537 and Wemrock Road, Freehold Township. He moved the historic Levi Solomon barn from the corner of Route 537 and Wemrock Road farther back on the property and renovated the structure into the present home of the Jewish Heritage Museum of Monmouth County, among other uses.
According to an obituary from the Higgins Memorial Home, Freehold Borough, Hochberg was the Class of 1960 valedictorian of Freehold Regional High School, Freehold Borough. He graduated with honors from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1963 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Hochberg is survived by his wife, Khanna Hochberg; two daughters, Karen Barnes and Robin Mintz; and five grandsons, Jake, Ethan, Eric, Joey and Dylan. Funeral services were held at the Freehold Jewish Center, followed by interment at the Congregation Sons of Israel Cemetery, Manalapan.