Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 15

ASBURY PARK FRIDAY, AUG. 18,2006 OBITUARIES Additional obituaries son, and Connie and Greg Schettino of Rochester, N.Y.; and her yorkie, Jamie, and cats, Bootsie and Boy. Visiting hours will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at Colonial Funeral Home, 2170 service will be held at 10:30 a.m.

Highway 88, Brick. A funeral Monday at the funeral home. Interment will follow at Greenwood Cemetery, Brielle. MARY MARGARET MILFORD RIFFEL, affectionately known as "Mae" by her family and friends, 100, of MANCHESTER, formerly of Union, passed away on the evening of Monday, Aug. 14, at Kimball Medical Center, Lakewood.

A lifelong resident of New Jersey, Mrs. Riffel was born Oct. 14, 1905, in Newark. In 1930, she moved to Union and lived there until moving to Manchester 37 years ago. Mrs.

Riffel worked for about 15 years at the National Newark and Essex Bank on Broad Street in Newark, where she met her husband, August Riffel. Mrs. Riffel also worked at Hatfield Wire in Hillside, where she was chief telephone operator. She was also very active at Leisure Village in Manchester, where she participated in several social clubs and organizations, especially the card clubs. Mrs Riffel was the wife of the late August Riffel.

She is the cherished mother of Marie Steer and her husband Bill of Franklin Park, former Union Township Fire Captain William Riffel and his wife Dorothy of Mountainside, and former Union Township Deputy Fire Chief Richard Riffel of Florida. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Diane Nixon and her husband James, Thomas and Kevin Steer, William Riffel and his wife Sarah, Michael Riffel, Traci DeAngelis and her husband Charlie, and James Riffel; and great-grandchildren, Luke Steer, Stacey and James Nixon, Alyssa, Chas and Patrick DeAngelis, and Jamie Riffel. A funeral service was held on Thursday, Aug. 17 at noon at Bradley, Haeberle and Barth Funeral Home, 1100 Pine Union. HELEN L.

SLOCUM. 88, of Whiting, MANCHESTER, died Saturday, Aug. 5, at Crestwood Manor Health Care, Whiting. She was a secretary with Union County College, Cranford, and later a teller with Cenlar Bank, Whiting, before retiring in 1987. Mrs.

Slocum was a graduate of Kean University, Union. She was a member of St. Stephens Episcopal Church, Whiting, the E.C.W. of the church, and served as a eucharistic minister. She was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, Pines Chapter 290, Whiting.

Born in Jersey City, she lived in Oceanport, Cranford, and Westfield before moving to Whiting in 1976. She was predeceased by her husband, James H. Slocum in 1998; and a son, James H. Slocum in 2000. Surviving are a daughter, Joan E.

Alder of Mountainside; a son, George F. Slocum of Cranford; a sister, Flora L. Dear of North Fort Myers, six grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Sherlock Hall at Trinity Episcopal Church, Cranford.

Cremation will be private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her name to Holisticare Hospice, 54 E. Main Toms River, NJ 08753. Anderson Campbell Funeral Home, Whiting, is in charge of arrangements. EDWARD G.

SUNDEEN, 78, of Goodyear, formerly of LAKEWOOD, died Monday, Aug. 14, at home. Born in Everett, he was raised in Lakewood, married and moved to Toms River, and back to Lakewood before moving to Arizona in 2005. He was an Army veteran. He retired from Community Medical Center, Toms River.

He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Arlene; a son, Dirk and his partner Michael of Phoenix, a daughter, Kirsten and her husband Andrew Flitton of Toms River; and his two beautiful granddaughters, Jillian and Rachel Flitton. Basilica of Our Lady of Czestochowa. Services will be private. DElia Funeral Home, Lakewood, is in charge of arrangements. MARY A.

WHITLEY LEICHT, 84, of LAKEWOOD, formerly of Newark, passed away peacefully Thursday, Aug. 17, at home, with her family at her bedside. She was a World War II veteran. She is the loving wife of Bill Leicht; dear sister of Margaret Coakley, and devoted mother of her children and their spouses, Peg and John Vanore of Suffern, N.Y., Barbara and Dino Romano of To River, Bob and Nancy Leicht of Oak Ridge, Cathy and Glenn Crane of Colonia, Mary and Russ Fenton of Mentor, Ohio, Bill and Yevette Leicht of Bethlehem, Steve Leicht of Rockaway, and Liz Leicht of Scotch Plains. She is also survived by 14 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday and 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the Jacob A. holle Funeral Home, 2122 Millburn Maplewood.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Funeral Mass at 11 a.m. Monday at Sacred Heart Church Vailsburg, 481 Sanford Newark. The interment will take place at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Hanover. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Kessler Institute of Rehabilitation, the The Henry H. Kessler Foundation, 300 Executive Drive, Suite 150, West Orange, NJ 07052.

www.jacobhollefuneralhome.com. DOROTHY F. LOMBARDI, 73, of POINT PLEASANT BEACH, died Thursday, Aug. 17, at her home. Born in Jersey City, she lived in Bayonne before moving to Point Pleasant in 1991.

She was the owner of Lombardi Skylight Lounge, Jersey City, for 20 years before her retirement i in 1991. She was a sergeant-at-arms for American Legion 129 of Toms River, a member of Elks Lodge Chapter 1875 of Toms River, and a communicant of St. Peters Roman Catholic Church, Point Pleasant. She was predeceased by her first husband, James Rowan, in 1964; her second husband, Floyd Lombardi, in 1987; and her brother, Daniel Smith, in 1980. Surviving are a son, James Rowan of Dunellen; two daughters, Diane Biegel of North Bergen, and Christina Barthe of Sparks, and a brother and sister-in-law, Ronald and Catherine Smith of Cape May Courthouse.

Visitation will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday, and 9:30 to 10 a.m. Monday at the CarmonaBolen Home For Funerals, 412 Main Toms River.

A Funeral Mass will be offered at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Peters R.C. Church, Point Pleasant. Entombment will follow at St.

Josephs Cemetery, Toms River. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Childrens Specialized Hospital, 94. Stevens Road, Toms River, NJ 08753, in Dorothys name would be appreciated. MILDRED L. ENGEL BRECHT RANKIN, 82, of BRICK, died Thursday, Aug.

17, at home. She was a homemaker. Mrs. Rankin was a Girl Scout leader in West New York. She was an original auxiliary member of the Riviera Beach Boat Club.

She was a member of the Eastern Star, Amore Chapter 176, Bogota. She was an animal lover of all Gods creatures. Born and raised in Union City, she lived there before moving to Brick 20 years ago. She was predeceased by her husband, John G. Rankin, on Aug.

7, 2006; five brothers, Harold, John, George, Charlie, and Tommy; and a sister, Tootie. Surviving are a daughter, Sharon Rankin of Brick; two sistersin-law and a brother-in-law, Frances Engelbrecht of Pater- Cremation was private. No services are planned. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to the National Alzheimer's Association or a charity of your 2 choice, would be greatly appreciated. OLGA HREBENAK WEBER, a loving wife and mother, of Monterey Beach, formerly of Living.

ston, whose son lives in TOMS RIVER, died Wednesday, Aug. 16. Born in Little Falls, she graduated from Passaic Valley High School and went on to work at Curtiss Wright, the Navy Department in Florida, and New Jersey Bell. Her ambition to become a "good 1958. A large part of Olgas life was spent at Monterey Beach, where she and her husband purchased a home in 1964.

She spent every summer at the beach with her children and she and Hubert "Jim" retired to Monterey Beach, after 25 years in Livingston, where she took up golf. She excelled at the sport and belonged to the Meadow "BelAire Ladies and Spring League. Olga was first generation American. Her parents emigrated from Eastern Europe and came to this country when they were in their teens. Her parents raised seven children in a small farmhouse in Singac.

A highlight of Olgas life was when she visited Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland with her now deceased brother, Paul Hrebenak. They toured the country, connecting with relatives that they just met. They had an opportunity to see their parents birthplace and to experience a heritage of which they were so proud. Her husband, children, grandchildren, and friends will remember her for her beautiful smile and unadulterated devotion to her family. Olga was the kind of mother and wife of 59 years, whose passion was her love and dedication to her family.

She raised her children to love and respect each other, always and forever, no matter what the circumstances. She instilled on her children a sense of loyalty to one another and to their own families. She will be remembered by her husband as a loving wife and virtuous woman whom he loved all his life. She was predeceased by her brothers, Charles, Paul and Peter Hrebenak. She was the beloved wife of Hubert R.

Weber; devoted mother of Jeffrey of Toms River, Herbert and his wife, Betty of Livingston, Robert "Jim" and Debbie Ray of Andover, and Cathy Weber-Lavorgna and her husband Michael of Tewksbury Township; loving grandmother of Scott, Stacey, Brian, Jimmy, Tommy, Matthew, and Lauren of Livingston, and Jessica and Nicole Lavorgna of Tewksbury Township. She is also survived by her loving brother, John Hrebenak and his wife Joan of Towaco; and her loving sisters, Mary Carter of California, and Julia Walters of Florida. Visiting hours will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. today at Farmer Funeral Home, 45 Roseland Roseland.

A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Russian Orthodox Church, 29 Weaver St. in the Singac section of Little Falls. Burial will be in Laurel Grove Cemetery, Totowa. MIDDLESEX ROBERT WHITEHEAD, 95, of Parlin, SAYREVILLE, died Saturday, Aug.

12, at home. He was a construction worker with Local 156, formerly of New Brunswick. He was a member of Old Ship of Zion Baptist Church, Englishtown, and a member of the Deacon Board. Born in Sylvester, he lived in Jamesburg for 55 years before moving to Parlin three years ago. He was predeceased by his wife, Lessie Whitehead.

Surviv- Flowers Delivered Around the Corner Flowers Soften Floral Dried Silk Arrangements O'Brien's SAME or DAY Around the SERVICE World Fruit Baskets 3 on Orders Received by 3pm Dish Gardens Teleflora FLORIST NURSERY CALL 24 HOURS 7 DAYS A WEEK the Funeral Homes Hospitals Wire Top 500 Service Telefilora Florists "Dedicated to Unique www.obriensofptpleasant.com Style Personalized Design" LORIS 1-800-722ROSE 732-899-3109 (7673) in the Country A14 A15 OCEAN HAROLD W. HARRIGAN 69, of TOMS RIVER, died Thursday, Aug. 17, at Laurelton Village Care Center, Brick. Mr. Harrigan was a truck driver for Anchor Motor Freight of Linden for nine years, retiring in 1996.

He participated in demo derbies and won several trophies driving stock cars at Wall Stadium. Born i in Massachusetts, he lived in Farmingdale and Toms River. Surviving are his wife, Shirley Worth Harrigan; seven children, Cheryl, Debbie, Patrick, Eugene, David, Donald, and Kenneth; a sister, Mabel Patch; 14 grandchildren; and six greatgrandchildren. Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.

Monday at the Kedz Funeral Home, 1123 Hooper Toms River. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the funeral home, followed by interment at Brig. Gen. William C.

Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Arneytown. In lieu of flowers, contributions to the family in his. memory would be appreciated. RYAN M. HUMPHREYS, 18, of Browns Mills, formerly of JACKSON, died Saturday, Aug.

12. Born in Lakewood, Ryan resided in Jackson before moving to Browns Mills in 1989. Ryan was planning to attend auto tech school in 1 Jaunuary. Ryan was an avid sports fan. Ryan's favorites were following the Eagles and the Mets.

He was the grandson of the late Carol Forse. He is survived by his beloved family, his mother, Nancy Humphreys; father, Douglas Humphreys; a sister, Jessica Humphreys of Browns Mills; his grandparents, Elizabeth and James Humphreys of Whiting, Manchester, and William Forse of Toms River; three aunts, four uncles, and 16 cousins. A memorial service will 1 be conducted at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, 649 Lakehurst Road, Browns Mills. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the charity of your choice, or to the Worldwide Work of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Moore Funeral Home, Browns Mills, is in charge of arrangements. MARJORIE M. KASALKA, 85, of Bayville, BERKELEY, died Wednesday, Aug. 16, at Community Medical Center, Toms River. She was an insurance underwriter for the Prudential Insurance Newark, for several years.

She was a U.S. Navy veteran during World War II in the Seabees. She was a member of the American Legion 129, Toms River; the WAVES National USA; the Jersey Shore WAVES Unit 68, Toms River; and the Historical Foundation of Seabees, Gulfport, Miss. She was predeceased by her husband, Raymond, in 1994; and a brother, Robert Schaaf, in 2006. Surviving are three nieces, Patricia Rekemeier, Virginia Hummer, and Kathleen Haskell, all of Bayville; a nephew, Thomas Popola of Lincroft, Middletown; a great-niece, Jennifer Richmond of Iowa; and many dear friends and neighbors.

Viewing hours will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. today, with services at 8 p.m. at the Mastapeter Funeral Home, 270 Route 9, Bayville. Interment will be Saturday at Graceland Memorial Park, Kenilworth.

LAKEWOOD, died Wednesday, Aug. 16, at Kimball Medical Center, Lakewood. He was born and raised in Warsaw, Poland. During the war, he took part in the Warsaw Polish uprising in 1944 and ordered barel battle medals. In 1960, he moved to AustraliaAdelaide and in 1968 to the United States in Maplewood.

For 20 years, he was employed by Killam Associates Environmental and Hydraulic Engineers, Millburn as a civil engineer and than vice president. In 1990, he retired with his surviving wife Halina in Lakewood in Lions Head Woods. Interment will be in the Polish War Veterans section of the STEFAN KRZEMINSKI, 80, of ing are six sons, eight daughters, two sisters, 39 grandchildren, 44 great grandchildren; nine great-great-grandchildren; and three great-great-greatgrandchildren. The viewing will be from 10 a.m. Saturday until the funeral service at noon at Mt.

Ararat Missionary Baptist Church, Oakwood Terrace, Monroe Township. Burial will be in Maplewood Cemetery, Freehold. Anderson Funeral Service, New Brunswick, is in charge of arrangements. ELSEWHERE KATHLEEN DAMATO, 47, of WAYNE, died Wednesday, Aug. 16, at her home.

Born in Paterson, she lived most of her life in Wyckoff before moving to Hawthorne and then Wayne two years ago. Kathleen was an office manager with Joseph Damato Paperstock Paterson. She was a supporter of Friends of Wayne Animal Shelter and the A.S.P.C.A. She is survived by her loving parents, Philip and Margaret "Peg" Damato of Franklin Lakes; her brother, Joseph P. of Little Ferry; and her husband, Dio.

Friends may visit the family from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at Vander Plaat Funeral Home, 257 Godwin Wyckoff. A Funeral Mass will be offered at 10 a.m. Monday at St.

Elizabeth's R.C. Church, 700 Wyckoff Wyckoff. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to St. John's Cathedral, 381 Grand Paterson, NJ 07505, or St. Elizabeth's R.C.

Church, 700 Wyckoff Wyckoff, NJ 07481, would be appreciated. www.vanderplaatfuneralhome.com. MICHAEL HARTNACK, a veteran Associated Press reporter who chronicled Zimbabwe's rise to black rule and its struggles since, was honored at a memorial service Monday by family and friends. Hartnack, 60, died last Wednesday, Aug. 2, after suffering a stroke.

During the service at a suburban Harare Presbyterian church, he was remembered as a reporter who defied numerous obstacles to write about a troubled nation where journalists are constantly harassed. "He was one of the very best, courageous and brimming with integrity," said Maureen Johnson, a retired foreign correspondent and fellow Zimbabwean who worked for the AP. Hartnack was born in Barotseland, in what was then Northern Rhodesia, before moving to Southern Rhodesia, where he worked for The Rhodesia Herald and the Zimbabwe InterAfrican News Agency and then contributed to several foreign media, including The Times of London and Deutsche Welle. He joined the AP in 1984. He covered the country's rise to black rule to become Zimbabwe in 1980, and then the country's decline as longtime President Robert Mugabe embarked on reforms that forced out white farmers and brought agricultural and economic disaster.

Hartnack's stories on the changes were widely used in newspapers across South Africa, Zimbabwe's neighbor, and prompted Rhodes University of Grahamstown, South Africa, to award him a doctorate in literature in 2003. At the memorial, his eldest son, Richard, recalled his father saying "he never felt alive anywhere else" but Zimbabwe. Then he read a quote his father had slipped into a leatherbound Bible: "I realize that patriotism isn't enough; I must have no hatred or bitterness toward anyone." Hartnack is survived by his widow, Anne, two sons and a daughter. The Associated Press BOB MILLER, a defensive tackle on the Detroit Lions' powerhouse teams that won three NFL titles in the 1950s, has died. He was 76.

Miller, who had a long bout with cancer, died Monday, Aug. 7, said an official from Lewis E. Wint Funeral Home in Michigan. The Lions drafted Miller in the fifth round out of Virginia in 1952. He played seven seasons in Detroit and was on NFL championship teams in 1952, '53 and '57.

He retired after the 1958 season. Miller also was a big winner and prominent official in thoroughbred racing, The Detroit News reported. He got involved in racing in 1980, obtaining a trainer's license at the old Detroit Race Course in Livonia. He and his wife, Delphine, formed the DelRob Stables. The Millers had 870 winners out of 4,790 starts, including 59 stakes winners.

The Associated Press SAYED ABDULLO NURI, the Tajik Islamic leader who led his political party through a civil war against the former Soviet republic's secular government in the 1990s, died of cancer Wednesday, Aug. 9, a party deputy said. He was 59. Nuri died at his home in the capital of Dushanbe, said Muhiddin Kabiri, deputy chairman of the Islamic Renaissance Party, The IRP is the only officially recognized Islamic political organization in predominantly Muslim Central Asia, where authoritarian governments tightly control religious institutions, fearing Islamic radicalism. After years of playing an influential role in Tajikistan's turbulent politics, Nuri dropped out of the public eye due to illness.

The party has since been losing influence as President Emomali Rakhmonov has tightened his grip on power, jailing both former loyalists and wartime opposition leaders on various criminal charges. Nuri, an Islamic theologian secretly taught by his father during Soviet times, helped create the IRP in 1990, seeking a greater role for Islamic ideas and traditions in society. In 1992, a group of party activists proclaimed a region in central Tajikistan to be an Islamic state. An official ban ensued and many party leaders fled to Afghanistan and Iran, from where they commanded their forces during the civil war. The war took about 100,000 lives before the party and the Moscow-backed government signed a peace deal in 1997, ending five years of fighting that left Tajikistan one of the poorest countries in the world.

Nuri was detained at least twice by the KGB. In 1987, he served about a sentence in a labor camp in the Russian Far East. The Associated Press ANDREE RUELLAN, of KINGSTON, N.Y. a painter who painted some of her most memorable work from visits to the Depression-era South, died Saturday, July 15, her friend Daniel Gelfand said. She was 101.

Ruellan's work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and other museums. She first exhibited her work at age 9. In later years, her work drew on what she saw in everyday life, both in New York and on her travels. Ruellan started selling her work to support herself and her mother after her father was killed in an accident. She then won a scholarship to the Art Students League of New York.

She lived in Paris in the 1920s and then married and moved to upstate New York, where she and her husband, painter John Taylor, joined the Woodstock artists colony. Ruellan's visits to the South during the Depression resulted in paintings showing black Americans in their everyday lives. One, "Crap Game" in 1936, became one of her best-known works. She continued her work into her 80s. The Associated Press.