Obituaries

Dolores V. DeFelice of Highland Beach, Florida, formally of Seaside Park, NJ met her awaited eternal reward on April 16, 2022, one month after celebrating her 90th birthday surrounded by her loving family. 

JoAnne White Blair, age 89, of New York City, Winter Haven, FL, and Shreveport, LA passed away peacefully at home on April 9, 2022. Born in Mingo Junction, OH on Feb 14, 1933, she was the daughter of Irene and James White.

On March 29, 2022, Sheila Carey Bryan passed away at the age of 68. Born in Westerly, RI, she grew up in Rumson, New Jersey and Montreal, Canada before attending Northeastern University and the University of California, Santa Barbara. She loved living in beautiful places including Sun Valley and Boise, Idaho for many years as well as Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Meadows of Dan, Virginia, and Nantucket, Massachusetts before relocating back to New Jersey where she was living at the time of her death.

Her creativity was legendary. She worked primarily in interior design, where her hallmark was the ability to create interesting but highly functional interiors, always with whimsical elements. She hated pretense and would never allow a client to pursue a beautiful design that would not withstand the onslaught of kids, dogs, and normal life. A lifelong animal lover, she always had a menagerie of cats and dogs, and may be the only human being ever to teach a cat to fetch.

Robin Doris Mahns (nee Heggie) of Shrewsbury, NJ passed away unexpectedly on 4.7.22.  She was born in Long Branch, NJ in 1966 and grew up in New Shrewsbury, now Tinton Falls, NJ.  Robin’s father passed away when she was very young.  Robin’s maternal grandmother (and extended family) helped to raise her, her four sisters and brother so her mother could work several jobs to support them.  This instilled an intense respect for the importance of familial support which permeated her life.  She maintained many friendships with classmates stretching back to kindergarten.  During her childhood, Robin was actively involved in Girl Scouts achieving the Gold Award.  A family friend asked Robin to consider participating in the Tinton Falls Country Fair Queen pageant in 1982, which she reluctantly agreed to do, and won the crown.

Tum J. Lee passed away peacefully in the presence of family on April 4, 2022. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and great-uncle. He especially adored his grandchildren.

He was an avid photographer and videographer, creating numerous photo books and DVDs for family. He cherished his children's piano playing skills by proudly attending every recital and performance. He attended MIT, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics as well as a master's degree in Electrical Engineering. He was employed at Bell Labs in Holmdel and then worked at AT&T in Middletown until his retirement. While at AT&T, he was granted patents.

Jeanne Marie (Ferdon) Bergeron, incredible wife, mother, grandmother and friend to so many, passed away on March 8, 2022, after a 17-month battle with ovarian cancer. Jeanne’s life exemplified a wonderful balance of family, travel, intellectual engagement, life-long friendships and a love for teaching in her later years. Jeanne’s family was by far her greatest achievement and always brought her so much pride and joy.

Jeanne was born in 1946, in New York City to Frances Adeline (Milosky) Ferdon and Elliott Archer Ferdon, the second of two children. A quintessential baby boomer, Jeanne’s parents had both served during World War II; Elliott as a career US Army Air Force officer who was stationed in the Pacific theatre and Frances as a ‘Rosie the Riveter’ employee of Sperry Gyroscope on Long Island.

Jeanne grew up mostly in New York where she graduated in 1964, second in her High School class, from Woodhull Preparatory School. From there, she attended George Washington University in Washington D.C., graduating with a B.A. in Economics in 1968. Following College, Jeanne returned to her native New York and accepted a Business Analytics position at Morgan Bank. She always maintained that she accepted the position because Morgan was one of the first companies that did not ask her ‘how many words per minute she typed.

James H. Atkins Jr., 81, (Ex-Chief KFD) beloved son of Hazel I. (Thomas) Atkins and James H. Atkins Sr. passed away on Sunday, April 3, 2022, at The NJ Firemen's Home in Boonton, NJ.

He is survived by his love, June (Miller) Atkins, sons and spouses, James H. & Melissa Atkins III, David R. & Deana Atkins, grandchildren and spouses Karolann & Michael (Atkins) Bourret, Terre & Amber Atkins, James H. & Elizabeth Atkins IV, and great-grandchildren Phoenix and Penelope Bourret.

Jim was a graduate of Keyport High School and Monmouth University, earning a BA in Psychology & a BA in Arts. Throughout his life, he had achieved many accomplishments/accolades and was a member of numerous organizations including, Master Mason of the Caesarea Lodge No 64 of Keyport, the Civil Air Patrol, Keyport Board of Health, Emergency Management Coordinator, Monmouth County Police & Fire Academy, and received the first issued Firefighter Level I certificate in the State of NJ.

Barbara Friberg, 85, passed away peacefully on April 4, 2022. Born in NY, she and her husband Robert raised 4 children residing on Staten Island for 50 years. They enjoyed traveling and attending the activities of their children. Barbara’s hobbies included her natural talent of painting on canvas. And, as her friends would attest, a natural talent for shopping.

Edna M. Pratt,101, passed away on March 31 at Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank. She was born in Mineola, NY but had lived in Shrewsbury for over 70 years. 

Growing up, Edna earned the Golden Eaglet from Girl Scouts. Upon graduating from Hofstra University, she went to work as an engineer for the Army Signal Corp. During World War 2, she was part of a team that was responsible for testing a microwave network from Washington, DC to Norfolk, VA and prepared components for integrated circuits.  

Dr. Robert W. Lucky, “Bob”, age 86, passed away in his home with his children and loyal dog at his side on March 10, 2022.  Born to Arthur and Grace Lucky, he was raised in Mt Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, PA where he met his sweetheart, Joan Jackson.  Bob attended Purdue University, where he received a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering in 1957, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in 1959 and 1961, respectively. After graduation, Dr Lucky married Joan Jackson and joined AT&T Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey, where, initially, he was involved in studying ways of sending digital information over telephone lines. The best known outcome of this work was his invention of the adaptive equalizer, the key enabler for all high-speed modems today. The textbook on data communications which he co-authored became the most cited reference in the communications field over the period of a decade.

At Bell Labs, Dr. Lucky moved through a number of levels to become Executive Director of the Communications Sciences Research Division in 1982, where he was responsible for research on the methods and technologies for future communication systems. In 1992, he left Bell Labs to assume the position of Corporate Vice-President of Applied Research at Bellcore, Red Bank, New Jersey.