Julia Rodrigues
Julia Rodrigues died July 30, 2025.
She was 80.
Born in Arcos de Valedevez, Portugal, she lived in Newark before moving to Kearny 45 years ago.
Visiting was at the Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home, Kearny. Mass was celebrated at St. Stephen’s Church, Kearny. Entombment was in Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington.
Julia was the beloved wife of Joaquim and loving mother of Maria Labrincha (her husband Joseph) and Sara Ribeiro (her husband Ralph). Sister of the late Emilia Carneiro. She is also survived by her cherished grandchildren Tifanie Pereira (her husband Michael), Alexis Spadaro (her husband John), Brittany Labrincha, Kyle Labrincha (his wife Victoria) and Ethan Ribeiro along with her great-grandchildren Liam, Lucas, Juliana, Amelia, Elliana and Grayson.
In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Kevin F. Whittles
Kevin F. Whittles of Kearny died July 21, 2025.
He was 70.
Memorial visitation will be Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025 starting 1 p.m. and it will conclude at 5 p.m. at the Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home, 596 Belgrove Drive, Kearny.
Kevin was an operating engineer with Local No. 825 and had worked at Lafarge Cement in Bayonne. He was a member of the Eagles.
Son of the late Joseph and Patricia (nee Blazier) Whittles, he is survived by his brothers and sisters Joseph Whittles (Donna), Michael Whittles (the late Martha), William Whittles (Jill), Patti Thompson (Gary), Mary Ellen Whittles, Maureen Whittles and Thomas Whittles (Debra). He was also the loving uncle to many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.