Paul J. Smith

Paul J. Smith, 88, of Brick, passed away, Tuesday, June 30, 2015, at Ocean County Medical Center, Brick.  He was born in 1926 and grew up in North Newark. 

He enrolled in St. Michael’s Grammar School in 1931 and he graduated from St. Michael’s High School in 1943.  He admired all the priests and nuns at St. Michael’s School and Church.  Many of the students during those years, became lifetime friends and still got together for lunch or dinner (80 years later)…

It was during World War II, when Paul graduated and he immediately enlisted in the U.S. Navy and left for boot training in Great Lakes one month later.  He was discharged three years later in 1946. 

In 1948, he married, Peggy Harris and in 1956, they bought a house in Union Beach to raise their children and eventually they had six children.

He was elected to the Union Beach Borough Council in 1960 and was the leading councilman to trying to obtain approval for a Union Beach wastewater treatment plan.  He continued to pursue it.  The NJ State Department of Health issued an approval in two years for a Union Beach sewage treatment plant.  While the mayor and council were arranging the funding, the State of New Jersey, unexpectedly passed a new master sewage plan that ordered all adjoining towns to join together and build regional treatment plants.  This New Jersey new master plan provided the most efficient standards on effluent quality.  Any towns that applied for an approval to build a “one-town only,” treatment plant, would not be eligible for State financial aid.  The adjoining towns of Hazlet, Holmdel and Union Beach appointed members to review the new state plan.  The Union Beach Borough Council appointed Councilman Paul to review the new state plan.  The state also informed them, that as soon as they form a regional sewage authority, they could apply for a Federal Loan to determine the actual drainage flows in the Bayshore region,  Hazlet, Holmdel and Union Beach formed, “the Bayshore Regional Sewage Authority,” with two members from each town.

The Borough of Union Beach officially appointed Councilman Smith as one of the members of the new Bayshore Regional Authority.  The new Authority then applied for a Federal feasibility study loan, to determine the actual number of towns in the region, their boundaries and the direction of each towns drainage flows. 

The feasibility study would also determine the number of gravity pipelines and the number of force mains and pumping stations needed.  The results of that feasibility study determined that Union Beach Borough, Hazlet Township, parts of Holmdel Township, Keyport Borough, Matawan Borough, Keansburg Borough, parts of Matawan Township, were all in the same drainage flows area.  The members of the newly formed Regional Authority unanimously appointed Councilman Smith the authority, “Executive Director.”

He stayed on as the Executive Director for seven years, until all the towns were treating effluent in this new regional treatment plant.  He then returned to the business world.  He was a licensed real estate broker and also a licensed mortgage broker and he reopened his agency in Belmar.  He also held a real estate license in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Governor of New Jersey appointed Paul to serve as a Commissioner of Monmouth County Board of Elections and he served as a Commissioner for six years (two years as chairman).

While he was Borough Councilman in Union Beach in the sixties, he was a chairman of the Water Utility Committee and one of his sub-committees was chairman of the Building and Grounds Committee.  He often envisioned a nice park somewhere in Union Beach, but there was not enough money allocated to the Building and Grounds Committee.  He decided to select a nice park site and prepare that site for a future park that all residents could enjoy.  He selected a five acre low-land area in the center of Union Beach.  The site would need removal of discarded household debris and necessary ground preparation and then a tremendous amount of landfill.

He held a meeting with the Superintendent, the foreman and all the Water and Street Department employees, to determine what it could cost to prepare that site.  They all like the idea of starting a park site and immediately volunteered to do all the site preparation work and do all that work on their days off (not on their regular working days for the Borough).

Paul was really pleased and immediately pledged that he would raise the money needed for preparing the site, the purchasing of the fill dirt and the purchasing of the top soil and grass seed and gave his permission to start the park site right away.  It would not cost the Borough of Union Beach any money to prepare that park site.

He asked the Borough volunteers to prepare a regulation softball field, a senior citizens site and a play area for see-saws and swings, etc. for the youngsters.

He introduced a resolution at the Borough Council meeting to name the future park after former mayor, Joseph A. Scholer.  At the dedication ceremony on September 26, 1965, Councilman Smith publicly thanked the superintendent, the foreman and all the Public Works Borough employees and said because of their generosity and hard work, Union Beach will eventually have a sorely needed park and this ball field, senior citizens section and youngsters play area is a perfect start.  Future Mayors and Council have greatly expanded this park site into the modern beautiful park that it is today.

Paul was president of the Library Board of Trustees at the dedication of the newly enlarged library.  He was quoted as saying to the residents, “until a student reaches the third grade, he must learn to read, after that, he must read to learn.”

Union Beach students attended Keyport High School and Paul was appointed a Union Beach member of the Keyport High School Adult Education Committee.

Paul was also very active in assisting Jim Howard obtain the nomination for the United States Congress and he managed the campaign office for all of Congressman James J. Howard’s re-election campaigns.  Jim Howard served as a United States Congressman for 24 years.

Paul enjoyed long walks on the boardwalk early every morning.

He was a candidate for New Jersey State Senate in 1967. When he was asked by anyone about how he did in the election, he always said, “I didn’t do bad, I came in second.”

He was also a Charter Member of the Friendly Sons of the Shillelagh Club of Old Bridge.

He was predeceased by his father and mother, John and Ellen Smith; his beloved wife, Peggy; his two brothers, Jack and Joseph Smith; his sister, Elaine Hicks; his son, Mark; his daughter, Maureen Konopko; and infant son, James; his brother-in-law, Russell Hicks; his son-in-law, Pete Konopko; his sister-in-law, Lucille Smith; his granddaughter, Dawn Lauro and nephew, Paul M. Hicks.  He is survived by one brother, Robert Smith and his sister-in-law, Millie Smith; his two sons, Mayor Paul J. Smith, Jr. of Union Beach and John Smith of Keyport; two daughters, Patricia Smith and Ellen Smith of Bricktown; two daughters-in-law, Sharon Smith of Union Beach and Gail Smith of Keyport; six grandchildren, Michele Lawson and Marilyn Rusignulo of Middletown; Michael Konopko of San Francisco; and Desiree Durkin and Dawn Durkin of Union Beach; six great grandsons, Luke, Kyle and Peter Lawson; Drew, Daniel and Jacob Rusignuolo, all of Middletown and one great granddaughter, Alexia Ortiz of Union Beach; and several nieces and nephews.

Family and friends are invited Monday, July 6, 2015, from 2-4 & 7-9PM, at Day Funeral Home, 361 Maple Place, Keyport, NJ  07735; Tuesday, July 7, 2015, 8:30AM at the funeral home, with a 9:30AM Mass of Christian Burial at Holy Family RC Church, Union Beach.  Interment will follow at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, East Orange, NJ.  To post an online condolence to the family or for directions to the funeral home, please visit wwwdayfuneralhome.com.