Goodbye to a mayor and gentleman
Pelzman's faith and fortitude carried him through his brief illness
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER & JAY BODAS
Staff Writers

FILE PHOTO The late Woodbridge Mayor Frank G. Pelzman takes a moment to clear his glasses and thoughts, seconds before his State of the Township Address. Pelzman, 71, died of acute melanoma at his Avenel home on June 28.

It was less than a month ago when Woodbridge Mayor Frank G. Pelzman, 71, gathered his staff and said he had something to tell them.

The mayor leaned back in his chair at town hall, and told his department heads he had just been diagnosed with cancer and would begin treatment immediately.

"From the moment he told us he was sick, he told us he felt great," said Marta Lefsky, the township's planning and development director. "He came to work every day. He had the same great attitude about his work he always had. I had a meeting with him at the end of last week. He had the same attitude, the same vigor."

So the staff at town hall were stunned to learn that Pelzman died in the early morning hours of June 29, she said.

"We were all pretty much shocked," Lefsky said. "I guess that comes from the way he handled his illness."

Pelzman died of acute melanoma. He died in his bedroom in the Avenel home he grew up in, surrounded by Dorothy, his wife of 48 years, his three children and grandchildren.

The mayor discussed his cancer diagnosis in an interview with the Sentinel on June 12. But he declined to release the exact nature of his illness.

"I feel great," he said then.

He began both radiation and oral chemotherapy right after he was diagnosed, but continued to work, his wife side.

"He never had one single symptom of being sick," Dorothy said. "He'd wake up every morning and say, 'I feel great.' "

Pelzman would work from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., then head off to his treatments.

But he was tired on the morning of June 26. He asked Donna Jago, his chief of staff, to bring some work to his home.

He sat at the kitchen table and worked for awhile. He told his wife he was tired. Very tired. He told her he was going to bed. He slept quietly and never got up again.

"There was no moaning, no pain," Dorothy said. "He just stopped breathing. God was very merciful. He even died with dignity."

Frank and Dottie Pelzman would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in September 2007.

"We had 48 wonderful years," she said. "He was such a gentle person, a man of such great integrity. He was a perfect gentleman. He never had a bad word to say about anybody. He found the good in every person."

The Pelzmans had no idea he was even sick until June 2. Pelzman was in a meeting with Jago at town hall.

"She said, 'You don't look too good,' " Dorothy said. "He joked, 'Well, neither do you.' ''

The mayor went into the restroom, and saw his mouth and one eye were drooping. He thought he'd had a stroke, his wife said.

It wasn't a stroke. Pelzman was diagnosed with a fast-moving melanoma, Dorothy said.

His strong Roman Catholic faith carried him through, she said.

"He had no fear of dying," his wife said.

His wake and funeral were held in St. Andrew's R.C. Church in Avenel, where Pelzman had served as a Eucharistic minister for 30 years.

The parishioners of St. Andrews R.C. Church in Avenel started to pray for the mayor several weeks ago at the masses, said the Rev. David Kosmoski, the church's pastor.

"I've known him for 16 years," he said. "He was always a real gentleman, very respectful, friendly, just an all-around guy. He was the classic definition of a gentleman. One lady in our parish said he was even like that before he was a politician."

Pelzman had served as mayor since January 2002, when he was appointed to serve the unexpired term of James E. McGreevey, who was elected governor.

McGreevey and Pelzman went back about 25 years, before McGreevey was even an assemblyman, the former governor said.

"Frank was a councilman in the third ward and he was among the most decent gentlemen I ever met," McGreevey said. "He is from the bygone era of civility and decency. He treated every person, regardless of station and background and influence, with the same level of respect and dignity. It was the quiet, decent acts. When I was governor he would call for state aid, doing his job, protecting Woodbridge's interest, and Frank was an advocate for Woodbridge."

Longtime friend and Planning Board Chairman Andrew Nagy, who had been friends with since they were boys, said he was "devastated' to hear that Pelzman had died.

"I spoke to his wife around noontime and she told me he had died in his sleep last night," Nagy said. "I knew Frank was ill, but I didn't know how ill he really was."

Nagy saw Pelzman for the last time the week before he died.

"We parted with a hug," Nagy said. "It was difficult. He didn't look well, but his spirits were sky-high and he was full of hope and determination. He was looking to beat this thing. I thought he might; but it wasn't to be."

In addition to his wife, the mayor is survived by a son, Frank A. Pelzman, Avenel, daughters and sons-in-law Anne and Frank Longenhagen, Colonia, and Patti and Jim Mulrooney, Avenel; seven grandchildren, Christine and Elizabeth Longenhagen, and Jimmy, Kayla, Jennifer, Casey and Kelli Mulrooney; and many nieces and nephews.