Obituaries for 1 March 2017

Bonnie B. Martone

Bonnie B. Martone, 67, of West Milford, formerly of Kearny, died Feb. 19.

Visiting was at the Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home, Kearny. Services were at the funeral home. Cremation was private.

Born in Kearny, Bonnie grew up in North Arlington and lived in Kearny before moving to West Milford 14 years ago.

She was an executive assistant with Bunge Corporation, White Plains, N.Y., retiring two years ago.

She was the beloved wife of Bob Martone, mother of Erica (Steven) Rocha, grandmother of Sofia and Madelyn and the aunt of Dana and Lori. She was predeceased by her parents, John and Henrietta (Hank) Faust Bauerlein and her brother Peter Bauerlein.

Bonnie was an avid gardener. She loved to feed the birds and squirrels in her backyard.  She enjoyed sitting by a warm fire and was passionate about reading a good book in her “big chair”. She always looked forward to having her granddaughters for the weekend and especially for summer camp.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation (PKD) (www.pkdcure.org) 1001 E. 101 Terrace, Suite 220, Kansas City, Mo. 64131, would be appreciated.

Breda Smyth

Breda Smyth (nee McGonigal), 84, of North Arlington, died Feb. 23.

A funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Anthony of Padua Church, West Orange, on Monday, Feb. 27. Interment was in Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington. Visitation was at the Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home, 596 Belgrove Drive, Kearny.

Breda was the beloved wife of the late Stephen; loving mother of Eileen Smyth, Kathleen Patterson and her husband Al, Breda Drury and her husband David, Stephen Smyth and his wife Mary and Sean Smyth and his wife Margarita.

She is also survived by her grandchildren Mark, Maureen, Jianing, Shannon, Brendan and Logan.

Eleanor J. McGuill

Eleanor J. McGuill (nee Blain), formerly Eleanor Papa, died Jan. 6.

She was 78.

Memorial visitation will be Saturday, March 4, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home, 596 Belgrove Drive, Kearny, where a service will take place at 3:30 p.m.

To leave online condolence, visit www.armitagewiggins.com.

Eleanor lived in Kearny and Point Pleasant before moving to New Hampshire 10 years ago.

Wife of the late Thomas Papa and Larry McGuill, she is survived by her children and their spouses Thomas and Ann Papa and Lynore and Ed Wagner. Sister of Carol Dick, Robert Blain and Beverly Bizzaco, she is also survived by her grandchildren Emily, Olivia, Thomas, Allison and Jessica.

In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a donation to www.worldimpact.org.

Joan Bannon 

Joan Bannon, 85, of Hackettstown, formerly of Kearny, died Feb. 22.

Visiting was at the Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home, 596 Belgrove Drive, on Friday, Feb. 24. A service was held at the funeral home on Saturday, Feb. 25. Interment was in Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington.

Mrs. Bannon worked in the admissions office at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, before her retirement.

She was the beloved wife of the late John Bannon.  The dear mother of Jack (Debbie) and Tommy (Dana) Bannon and Joanne (Bob) Trillo and Lori (Wayne) Bokunwicz, she was the sister of the late William Tompkins.  She was also had eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Anna C. McShane

Anna C. McShane (nee Booth), died Feb. 21.

She was 92.

Born in Belleville, she lived many years in Kearny and Toms River before moving to her son Larry’s home in Indiana two years ago.

Visiting was Sunday, Feb. 26, at the Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home, Kearny. Mass was Monday, Feb. 27, at St. Stephen’s Church, Kearny. Burial was in Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington.

Anna was an active member of Birth Right and a trustee at St. Maximilian Kolbe Church in Toms River. She had also been a member of St. Cecilia Rosary Society. Wife of the late Lawrence J. McShane, Jr., she was the mother of Ann Marie Bonaccoroso (Joseph), Lawrence McShane, III (Joan), Catherine Myers (George), Joseph McShane (Diane), Daniel McShane (Chris), Theresa Gaffney (Joe), Maureen Kroog (Fred) and the late Michael, Patrick and John McShane. Also surviving her are her daughters-in-law Gina and Lynn, 23 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren along with “two on the way.” In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a donation to Birth Right at www.birthright.org.


Stephen Peterson

Stephen Peterson died Feb. 21.

He was 63.

Born in Kearny, he lived there before moving to Belleville 38 years ago.

Visiting was at the Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home, Kearny. A service took place at the First Lutheran Church, Kearny. Cremation was private.

Stephen was a civil engineer for PSE&G and belonged to the utility’s retirement club.

He was the husband of Cathy (nee Bartholomew), father of Daniel (Gigi), Craig and Laura Peterson, and brother of Judy (David) London, Billy (Amy) Peterson and the late Walter and Don Peterson. He is also survived by his sisters-in-law Joann and Carol Peterson, many loving nieces, nephews and in-laws.

In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a donation to the American Diabetes Research Foundation.

James W. Rue

James W. Rue, of North Arlington, formerly of Kearny, died Feb. 23.

He was 79.

Private arrangements were by the Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home, Kearny. To leave online condolence, visit www.armitagewiggins.com.

Jimmy was a retired supervisor of the Kearny Department of Public Works. He served in the U.S. Navy and was member of the VFW Post 1302 in Kearny.

The husband of Dorothy (nee LeVan), he is survived by his son Thomas, his grandchildren Justin, Amanda, Shane and Hailey and his sister Joan Bartsch. He was predeceased by his son James T. Rue in 1998.

In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a donation to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Chunziu Zhu

Chunziu Zhu died Feb. 2.

She was 63.

Born in Shanghai, China, she was a resident of East Newark.

She was the daughter of Changfu Zhu and Changying Sun.

Arrangements were conducted by her son, Gavin Guo, with the Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home, Kearny. A lovely gathering of friends and family took place at the funeral home – and cremation was private.

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