OBITUARIES

James M. ‘Jimmy’ MEYER

James Michael “Jimmy” Meyer, 43, of Hillsdale, passed into the afterlife to the arms of the Lord on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. Devoted grandson to Leona; son to Marilyn and Jim Sr.; brother to Christal; and nephew, cousin, and friend to many, many more.

Jimmy was a self-employed electrician with a passion for people, fun, adventure, country music, and the outdoors. He was loved by all who knew him and will be sorely missed. RIP. Cremation held privately with memorial services to be announced.

Please share fond memories and condolences at Becker-Funeralhome.com.

Evelyn HAWKEN

Evelyn Hawken, 95, passed away peacefully on Aug. 29, 2022. Evelyn was born to the late Fred and Ethel Acker of North Bergen on July 10, 1927 and graduated from Park Ridge High School in 1944. She married the late Fred Hawken, Jr. in 1944 and raised their family in Hillsdale. She later moved to Westwood, where she lived for the past 30 years.

Evelyn is survived by two of her children, Robert Hawken of Punta Gorda, Fla. and Ted Hawken of Montvale.

She is also survived by seven grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren. She was predeceased by Fred in 1989 and her eldest son, John, in 2020.

Evelyn loved the outdoors and all types of sports. She was an avid gardener, fisherwoman, bowler, golfer and a diehard New York Giants baseball fan — until they moved West in 1957 and the New York Mets became her team.

The gardens at the complex where she lived in Westwood were her domain and the beauty she created was enjoyed by the residents.

Evelyn was a legend on the streams of Bergen County, Vermont, and Michigan, where she and Fred fished often. She was a champion bowler and an accomplished golfer and enjoyed these sports into her mid-eighties.

But Evelynʼs greatest love was for her family and her church. She was a pillar of strength for her family and seldom missed an activity or sports event that her children or grandchildren participated in.

Evelyn was an active member of the Holy Trinity Episcopal church in Hillsdale for 80-plus years. She was their bookkeeper for many years, and handled the churchʼs food gift card program for the parishioners.

A memorial service will be held at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Hillsdale on Oct. 1 at 10 a.m. Interment is at George Washington Memorial Park at 11:45. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Friends of the Pascack Brook, P.O. Box 84, Hillsdale, NJ 07642-0084.

Robert J.

PURCELL JR.

Robert J. Purcell Jr., 49, of Piermont, N.Y. and formerly of Montvale passed away suddenly on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. Most beloved son of Rita and Robert and loving brother of Reyna. Robert is predeceased by his wife, Stephanie Bozak Purcell, and was godfather of Jacob Moskowitz.

Robert was co-owner of Barell Associates in Moonachie and Carlstadt. He was dedicated to rescuing animals and contributed to many pet charities. His infectious smile and personality live on with everyone he has touched. Bob is loved by all who know him — his charming personality and childlike spirit lit up the room. He was always there for his family and friends, whether called on or not.

And you can tell everybody this is your song, it may be quite simple, but now that itʼs done, hope you donʼt mind, hope you donʼt mind, that I put down in words, how wonderful life is while youʼre in the world. — Sir Elton John

In lieu of flowers, please donate in memory of Bob to Hi Tor Animal Care Center, Inc., 65 Firemenʼs Memorial Drive, Pomona, NY 10870, 845-354-7900.

Visitation was 3 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 8 at Robert Spearing Funeral Home, Inc., 155 Kinderkamack Road, Park Ridge, NJ. rsfhi.com. Funeral service was 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 9 at Ascension Cemetery Chapel. Entombment followed. Nancy L. GARITO

Nancy L. Garito (née Good), 70, of Whiting, and formerly of Westwood and Ramsey, and Bloomington, Ind., passed away peacefully at home on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. Nancy was a graduate of Ramsey High School. Before retiring, she was a nurseʼs aide, dental assistant, office manager, and dental research assistant for TKL in Paramus.

Nancy was a Girl Scout leader and enjoyed camping with her family and friends, shopping, attending country music concerts and relaxing in Lancaster, Penn. She also enjoyed cruises with friends to Alaska, Hawaii, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean.

Nancy was predeceased by her first grandson, Anthony. She is survived by her beloved husband of 50 years, Jim; her son Jim, Jr. and his wife Kristy; her daughter Christina and her husband, Tom; her sister Molly and her husband, Danny; and the pride of her life, her four grandchildren, Matthew, Zachary, Michael and Skylar; and her nephews, Kiel and Jarod.

Visitation was Thursday, Sept. 8 from 1 to 5 p.m. at Anderson & Campbell Funeral Home, 115 Lacey Road, Whiting. Funeral services were at 4:30 p.m. at the funeral home.

To post a tribute, visit andersoncampbellwhiting.com.

MEDIA SALES ASSOCIATE

Join our ever growing sales team as as Sales Associate for the Pascack Press, Northern Valley Press North and South and near future publications. Applicants should be self-starters with drive to succeed. In this position, you will sell advertising space to new and existing accounts into our weekly newspapers and various other publications as well as digital media. Responsibilities will also include cold calling, outside sales and excellent customer service.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 201-664-2105

Margaret T.

DRAGOTTA

Margaret T. Dragotta, 91, of Manahawkin, formerly of Oakland and the Township of Washington, passed away on Friday, Aug. 26, 2022. Margaret is survived by her son Gene Dragotta and daughter Danielle Oelkers and siblings Ann Gaffney and Anthony Zampino. She is predeceased by her husband, Charles; and brothers John, Joseph, and Salvatore Zampino.

Marge was former owner of Cards and More in Midland Park for nine years, a place in which she expressed her creativity and imagination.

She started APlace For Us, the first caregivers' group for cancer patients at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, in memory of Charles Dragotta. Margaret also spoke on behalf of caregivers at the National Celebration Of Cancer Survivors. She and her grandchildren, Anisa and Billy, made the cover of the National Cancer Survivors publication that year.

Margaret also created “The Outlook," the first newsletter for the Perry’s Lake community in Manahawkin. She loved to write; it was her gift and contribution to her community. Marge strongly believed life is for sharing. She will be sorely missed.

The family will receive guests at Becker Funeral Home, Westwood, on Friday, Sept. 2 from 10 a.m. to noon. Acelebration of Margaret’s life and faith starts at noon. Interment is at Ponds Reformed Church Cemetery in Oakland, N.J.

Memorial contributions can be made in Margaret’s name to the Alzheimer's Association.

James C.

MUELLER SR.

James Calvin Mueller Sr., husband, father, grandfather, stepfather, brother-in-law, uncle, great-uncle, dog-daddy, and a friend to many, passed away suddenly on Aug. 5, 2022. James, known to most as Jim, and to some as Jimmy, was born in 1942. He was the son of the late Jacob Mueller and Evelyn Westervelt Mueller of Old Tappan. He was recently predeceased by Susan B. Whitley-Mueller, his caring wife of 41 years.

Jim graduated from Northern Valley Regional High School in Demarest in 1959.

After serving in the U.S. Air Force, Jim pursued his lifeʼs work by joining the Jersey City Fire Department. He served the city for the rest of his career, becoming a battalion chief, training officer, and lead fire inspector instructor. Being a firefighter and first responder embodied who Jim was. He viewed himself as an aid to those in need.

Asked about this dangerous work, he said, “Iʼve always wanted to help others. I put that first. I donʼt know any other way.”

While working shifts, Jim attended Jersey City State College, obtaining bachelorʼs degrees in fire safety and fire prevention and safety technology. He then taught prospective firefighters at the Bergen County Fire Academy in Mahwah. A resident of Westwood for more than 25 years, Jim served on committees related to fire prevention, and volunteered for Rotary. His favorite activity was to go into the schools and teach children how to respond in case of fire. He particularly loved to encourage them to Stop! Drop! And Roll!, enjoying how vigorously they took to this fun yet lifesaving drill.

His pleasures, which he took very seriously, were loyalty to the New York Rangers and the New York Giants.

Jim loved his dogs, his Labrador retrievers, Cheyenne, Maverick, and Jake. Nothing pleased him more than driving his truck with a dog at his side.

After retiring from the fire department, he and Susan settled in Pawleys Island, S.C. Here he finally had the time to putter around the house, tinker in his garden, do some woodworking, and watch old Westerns into the night.

He joined the Pawleys Island Rotary Club and availed himself again to teach fire safety.

He loved and cherished his time with his family and sadly — but with wonderful memories — leaves a son, James C. Mueller Jr.; a nephew, Jimmy Kelly and his wife, Nicole of Portland, Conn.; a dear niece, Elizabeth Kelly of Bristol, Conn.; a stepson, Douglas Lemberg and his wife, Cheryl, of Toms River; a dear niece, Aurora Stolz and her husband Justin, of Atlanta, Ga.; a sister-in-law, Priscilla WhitleyMatthews of Atlanta, and two grandchildren and three greatnieces and -nephews. His only sister, Karen Kelly, whom he loved deeply, also is deceased.

Burial is be private at the peaceful Eckerson Farm Cemetery in Old Tappan alongside his wife, sister, and parents, who, he loved, as they too, loved him dearly.

Linda Anne SMITH

Linda Anne Smith, 67, of Westwood, passed away on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. Linda is survived by her dear husband, Gordon; her beloved son Alexander; and her mother, Irma Miraglia. She is predeceased by her father, Leonard Miraglia Sr. She also is survived by siblings Laura Green, Leonard Miraglia Jr. and his wife Jeanne, and Lisa Ranoff and her husband, Jay, as well as her niece, nephews, goddaughter, and extended family and dear friends.

She was director of the Disability Resource Center at Montclair State University until her retirement. She had served as president of the board of directors of the Holmstead School. Her passions included her beloved New York Mets, vacationing in Stone Harbor, and her three cats, which she considered members of her family.

The family will receive guests for a memorial visitation at Becker Funeral Home, Westwood on Monday, Aug. 22 from 4 to 8 p.m. Memorial contributions can be made in Linda's name to the Holmstead School at 14 Hope St., Ridgewood, NJ 07450.

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FROM PAGE 1

She was ready to give up, but her mom convinced her to work harder and try again. When she did, not only did she earn the prestigious award, but she also secured a placement at Picatinny, where she had been dreaming of working.

“Picatinny, through robotics, has been a part of my life since high school,” Epstein said. “Itʼs crazy that now I get to work for them and do exactly what I said I was going to do since I was 16 years old.”

When she enrolled at UD, she was on the fence about pursuing chemical or mechanical engineering, but ultimately chose the latter. She said she fell in love with mechanical work during her time on the robotics team in high school when she had to fill in for the carpentry subdivision. Now, sheʼs helping out at UDʼs machine shop as a teaching assistant, supporting her love of power tools. [During her junior and senior years at Pascack Valley High School, Epstein was PVʼs CEO of the world champion Pascack Pioneers (FRC Team 1676). — Ed.]

“Hannah has a strong sense of community, always helping peers around her,” said Jenni Buckley, an associate professor of mechanical engineering who has worked closely with Epstein. “We are lucky to have her represent the mechanical engineering department.”

In addition to her engineering studies, with a focus on automotive engineering, Epstein also is pursuing minors in entrepreneurship and English.

“Nothing is more valuable than an engineer who can write well,” Epstein said, noting that her love of writing and literature had her toying with the idea of pursuing a career in journalism at one point. English has always been her first love, but she also wanted to do something businessrelated with her collegiate studies.

Beyond her classes, sheʼs also the programming director for the Alpha Xi Delta sorority and recruitment chair of Alpha Kappa Psi, a business-focused fraternity. When sheʼs not busy with classes or extracurriculars, she can be found consuming lots of coffee, spending time in the Morris Library or doing homework in the labs at Spencer.

But her experiences on the robotics team in high school sealed the deal for her future in engineering.

That experience is also what exposed her to the Picatinny Arsenal and what it would be like working as a female engineer for the military. She remembers attending a career fair for women interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) at the start of her senior year, right before the COVID pandemic hit, and seeing some of the coolest tech sheʼd ever seen in her life — guns and bullets and radar technology.

After speaking to several of the female professionals, she decided they had “the coolest job on the face of the planet,” and thatʼs exactly what she wanted to do.

So they told her to look into the DoD SMART Scholarship. The idea stuck.

Her work with the robotics team in high school started out in electrical engineering and then shifted to mechanical engineering, and competitions included fully uniformed high-ranking officers in attendance. She chose UD because of its highly ranked Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and also because her father is an alumnus who helped her fall in love with UDairy at a young age.

“Delaware also had the most of that hands-on engineering aspect, by comparison to a lot of other schools,” she said. “Every semester you get to build a different project. I fell in love with the idea that every semester I could do something hands-on.”

During summer 2022, Epstein got to work for a different military branch through an internship with the U.S. Navy at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division in Virginia. There, she served as a member of the B53 branch, which specializes in the integrated top-side design of Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard ships.

“Basically, anything that goes on top of a warship, we get to work on,” she said. “Itʼs a lot of design strategy and working with different technologies.”

Boarding an assault ship at the Norfolk Naval Station through that internship is probably the coolest thing sheʼs ever done in her life, she said, but itʼs also been a wild experience to hear war stories and soak up the experience of decades-long members of the military as she works alongside them.

“I feel like Iʼve grown up a lot this summer in terms of engineering skills, real-world skills and what itʼs like to be an engineer for the Department of Defense,” she said while still in Virginia.

She added, “Itʼs been so cool. The whole message down here — and you can truly feel it because everyone works with purpose — is that our job is to protect the war fighter. Our job is to bring people home. Itʼs emulated so strongly in the work everyone does and in the attitudes of everyone. It gives it such a deeper meaning.”

After she graduates from UD in 2024, Epstein will head to Picatinny Arsenal in Wharton, New Jersey, where she will work for at least two years in the Munitions Engineering and Technology Center.

“When you think of the military, you think of a very rigid structure,” she said. “But actually thereʼs so much room for creativity and design within that structure. Iʼm so excited for Picatinny and am excited to hear about those experiences from a completely different branch of the military.”

According to the Department of Defense, the Scholarship-forService Program is a combined educational and workforce development opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to gain technical skills in critical STEM fields and support the

Hannah Epstein helped lead Pascack Valley High School’s Pascack Pi-oneers (FRC Team 1676),and now is a junior in the University of Delaware’s Department of Mechanical Engineering,recently meeting her goal of being awarded the DoD SMART Scholarship. UDaily photo

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welcomes news and feature leads, alumni updates,spot photos,and letters to the editor from all towns in the Pascack Valley. Write to pascackpress@thepressgroup.net

EMERSON

Emerson Community School new courses

Registration for the Emerson Community School is open! New and updated classes are available for children and adults. Classes begin the week of Oct. 10.

Popular childrensʼ classes include childrenʼs baking and art, robotics and gamemakers.

Adult classes range from health and recreation to cooking, languages, computers, and more.

Registration is open and fills up quickly, so donʼt miss out. If you would prefer to register in person, come out on Monday, Sept. 19 from 7 to 8 p.m. at Emerson High School (131 Main St.) and meet the two new directors.

For the brochure, visit emersonschools.org, click the Departments tab, then click on the Community School tab.

■ Editor’s note: This feature originally appeared as “A SMARTScholar” in the University of Delaware’s UDaily on Aug. 25. We’re reprinting it with permission.

national security mission of the Department of Defense.

The DoD is the largest employer of federal scientists and engineers in the nation, with nearly 150,000 civilian STEM employees working across the Department. For over a decade, SMART has trained a highly skilled STEM workforce that competes with the evolving trends of industry to support the next generation of science and technology for our nation.

For more information on the SMART Program or to learn how students can apply, visit smartscholarship.org. Applications are open annually August–December.

For more information on the world-champion Pascack Pi-oneers (FRC Team 1676) visit team1676.com.

Hills Class of 1977 reunion Oct. 7–9

Courtesy Renee Sall

Pre-prom party! There are nearly 400 students in Pascack Hills High School’s Class of 1977.Their 45th reunion is set for Oct.7–9.Spread the word!

MONTVALE

The reunion committee for Pascack Hills High School Class of 1977 has announced its 45th reunion schedule. Many events are planned throughout the weekend. •Friday, Oct. 7 — The Saloon Rooftop bar in Pearl River. Food and drinks, a la carte. • Saturday, Oct. 8 at 6 p.m. — Haworth Country Club, Haworth. Tickets: Organizers request that tickets be purchased by Sept. 24 ($100 each). This includes appetizers, a buffet dinner, dessert, open bar and dancing to ʼ70s tunes. Tickets can be purchased by check, Zelle or Venmo. • Sunday, Oct. 9 – Daveyʼs Locker, Montvale. Brunch, a la carte.

Please refer to the PHHS Class of ʼ77 Facebook page for details and/or change of schedule.

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Courtyard Marriott on Chestnut Ridge Road.

The Class of ʼ77ʼs song was “Old Days” by Chicago. Although, ironically, most of the class voted for The Whoʼs “Teenage Wasteland” (Baba OʼRiley). Perhaps the “powers that be” chose the right song all along. The Class of ʼ77ʼs high school years were always “good times they remember and fun days filled with simple pleasures.”

Please pass this information on to classmates (or parents of) who moved out of the area and are not on social media.

For more information or to purchase tickets, feel free to email Renee@maximumexposurepr.com.