The Central New Jersey Home News from New Brunswick, New Jersey • 13

Home News Tribune Call us: For local coverage, Phone (732)565-7257 Fax (732) 565-7208 E-mail hntmetrothnt.com Delivery Questions (800) 777-3455 OCAL On the Web: For news updates throughout the day, go to our Web site at: thnts Thursday, February 10, 2005 INSIDE HIGHLAND PARK: Bank robber makes quick transaction. B2 MIDDLESEX COUNTY: Two doctors to appeal medical-malpractice judgment. B3 CALENDAR B2 POLICE BRIEFS B2 OBITUARIES B3-4 BUSINESS B5 MARKET REPORT B6-7 wisfcta tamps 17th state win by E. Brunswick teams By USA VERNON-SPARKS STAFF WRITER EAST BRUNSWICK: They keep winning and winning and winning. For the 17th time, a team from East Brunswick High School has captured the statewide title in the "We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution" competition.

The 29-member high school senior class from the Institute for Political and Legal Educa- compete for the national title against the top high school teams from the other 49 states. The finals, which take place in April, are three days of mock congressional hearings in which students are required to apply the Constitution and other historical facts to contemporary situations. Team member Allie Palmer, See Civics, Page B2 the 18-year history of the civics competition. "All this talk about dynasty with the (New England) Patriots they won three out of four times. Look at us, we have a better winning percentage than that," team member Eric Walker, 17, said.

"I was confi tion program competed in Trenton yesterday to defend the school's state title against seven high school teams. The competition tests students' applied knowledge of the U.S. Constitution. East Brunswick has taken the state honors every year, except for 2002, in dent going into it. I knew our team had the abUity and now I'm glad we have the chance to show our ability on the national stage." As the state champion, team East Brunswick advances to the finals, which will be held in Washington, D.C.

The team will KIDS REVEL IN JOY OF CHINESE NEW YEAR Ex-councilman admits driving while drunk i 1 v1- By JERRY BARCA STAFF WRITER EDISON: Former Councilman William Kruczak pleaded guilty yesterday to driving while intoxicated and refusing to take a Breathalyzer test. The routine i "VV. i proceeding in Piscataway Municipal Court is the denouement in an episode that created a po-litical whirlwind, and in-eluded an investigation by the state Attorney General's Office and Kruc-zak's resignation from the council. Kruczak will IN BRIEF Hospital hosting wellness retreat PERTH AMBOY: A "Day of Wellness: A Retreat for Mind, Body and Spirit" will be held Saturday at Raritan Bay Medical Center. The event includes a live radio program and lecture by Dr.

Derrick De-Silva on basic nutrients for good health, yoga exercise, lunch and a relaxation session. The program cost is $15. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the hospital, 530 New Brunswick Ave.

Registration is required; call (732) 324-5098. Sharon Waters Watershed group has biofriendly tips MILLTOWN: The Lawrence Brook Watershed Partnership will sponsor a talk by Dr. Charles Bruno at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Mill-town Senior Center, 60 Violet Terrace. Bruno is active in the field of bioremediation technology and environmentally friendly fertilizers, insecticides and household-cleaning products.

The Watershed Partnership will be taking orders for organic fertilizer and biodegradable cleaning products from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays, Feb. 19, 26 and March 5, at its headquarters at 85 Washington Ave. Prepaid orders may also be sent by mail, and order forms will be available online at www.lbwp.org, or by e-mail at contactlbwp.org. For more information, phone (732) 249-LBWP(5297).

Staff report Washington focus of tour on Sunday The third event in the Raritan Millstone Heritage Alliance Sunday Brunch and Tour Series is set for Sunday, beginning with brunch at noon at O'Connors Beef 'N' Ale restaurant at 708 Mountain Watchung, followed by a short stop at Washington Rock State Park in Green Brook. It was during the winter of 1777-78 that Gen. George Washington stood on this outlook to view the activities of the British troops on the plains below. A tour of the Drake House Museum at 602 W. Front Plainfield, begins at 2 p.m.

While planning the Battle for the Watchungs or Short Hills, Washington often stayed at the Plainfield home of Deacon Nathaniel Drake, a staunch patriot. The 1746 building, oldest in the city, is occupied by the Plainfield and North Plainfield Historical Society. Cost for the brunch and tour is $25. Reservations may be made by calling Elyce Jennings at (732) 463-0767. Patricia Ferrara Kruczak License suspended Photos by JODY SOMERSStaff photographer lose his license and registration for two years and pay a $1,203 fine.

The' court ordered him to perform 30 days community service and undergo 48 hours of See Kruczak, Page B2 -A k. 'v i $102G EMBEZZLED Insurance theft alleged 4 By LISA VERNON-SPARKS STAFF WRITER SOUTH BRUNSWICK: A 53-year-old James-burg man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly embezzling $102,000 worth of insurance- Jff If X. 5 fl 'I claim checks from his employer, authorities said yesterday. Leslie Sperling, a former senior claims adjuster with Risk Enterprise Management, was placed under arrest by detective Sue Rausch following a police investigation and interview at Sperling Charged in insurance scheme 1 Children at James Madison Primary School in Edison celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year yesterday. At top, William Li, 6, wearing a hat, watches the program intently with other children.

Above left, second-graders Ashleigh Anderson, left, and Jacqueline Wen perform the hand drum dance, making a bridge under which other dancers will pass. First-grader Sarah Zhong, above, performs the spring flower dance. At left, Oliver Lee, center, hands off control of the dragoon head to James Wu. the South Brunswick Police Department, detective James Ryan said. The investigation revealed that See Embezzle, Page B2 In-iii innii iii 'Till death do us part': Love stories to live by and to accept the end toinette Minetta.

On Jan. 17 1 met the sons and daughters of Edward and Helen Hendrickson of Railway, who were married in 1940 and died seven days apart. When two of then-daughters went to tell "Talk about the loved one," said deVelder. "In that way you evoke their continuing presence." Of the loss, he said, "You shouldn't not talk about it." My Aunt Muriel survived the death of her first husband, my uncle Bob Doerr. He died of heart failure in 1975.

She remarried and celebrated a second silver anniversary with Uncle George. The one marriage I read about, the Creatures'; the one I wrote about, the Hendricksons'; and the ones I observed, Aunt Muriel's, were, in the end, love stories. RICK MALWITZ Beck, died at the age of 90. Seventeen days later his wife, my Aunt Muriel, died at 88. The death of one spouse followed by the death of the other, is is not uncommon, said The Rev.

John deVelder, chaplain at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. "They just had their world view severed. That was their life and a lot of that is gone." DeVelder's uncle died in September at the age of 92. His aunt died in November. "It was like cutting her in two," he said of his aunt's reaction to her husband's death.

"There's tremendous grief that we don't understand. Unless you've gone through it, you can't explain it," deVelder said. For the past few years my aunt's focus was on caring for my uncle. Then he was gone. "That role is suddenly taken away," said Barbara Ronca, a psychotherapist from Bridgewater who specializes in grief counseling.

"You lose your partner, your best friend. They don't have this kind of history with anyone else." "These are older adults, many of them are frail medically. The death of a loved one is the most stressful thing that can happen," said Nancy Schley, a clinical social worker with the Jewish Family and Volunteer Services of Edison. There is a role adult children can play when an elderly parent loses a spouse. "Stay connected to that person.

Let them feel warmth and love. Be a good listener," said Ronca. Ultimately these turn out to be love stories, though the stories involve death. After a couple is married for a long time, one spouse dies. Within months, weeks, days, hours the other spouse dies.

Donato and Theresa Creaturo were born two days apart, Donato on Dec. 28, 1918, in Jersey City and Theresa on Jan. 1, 1919 in Italy. They met in Jersey City, were married in 1937 and raised a family in Avenel. "You never saw one without the other.

They were very sweet people," neighbor Marie Milano told our reporter Michelle Maskaly. They died at their home Sept. 10, three hours apart. "They left the Earth the same day and will be together forever. What an incredible love story," said their daughter, An- their mother the news, Helen, whose speech was affected by Alzheimer's disease, said clearly, "Daddy's gone." How did she know? "My mother and father were very connected.

I guess that's how she knew," their daughter, Ellen Haus, said at the funeral home. The next day my uncle, George Rick Malwitz's column appears Sundays and Thursdays. (732) 565-7291; email.