Carl Ferrigno

Carl F. Ferrigno, age 93, of Cedar Crest Village in Pompton Plains, passed Tuesday, July 29, 2025.

He was born in Jersey City to Italian immigrants Paul and Gabrielle Ferrigno.  He was raised in North Bergen and graduated from St Peters College in Jersey City with a Bachelor of Science degree in Management. He continued his education at NYU where he received his MBA in Business Management. Through the years Carl has lived in North Bergen, Fairview, Fort Lee, and for the past eight years lived at the Cedar Crest Village in Pompton Plains.

For twenty years starting in 1955, Carl ran the family business, Blue Point Tavern in Jersey City. For several years he held his Real Estate Agent license and eventually became an elected political official in North Bergen. He served as Police, Fire, and DPW Commissioners in North Bergen and also served as Superintendent of the Hudson County Park (aka James J. Braddock Park). He retired in 1998 as Board Secretary of the Hudson County Vocational School after serving for ten years.

Carl was a quiet, introspective man whose strength and wisdom left a lasting impression on those who knew him. A passionate traveler, he explored the United States, Canada, Italy, and Costa Rica, and took great joy in the more than twenty cruises he embarked upon throughout his life. He had a deep love for the outdoors—whether fishing, strolling through parks, or volunteering at Palisades Interstate Park in Alpine, where he found both purpose and peace. Carl was strong-willed and knowledgeable, the kind of man who could be facing illness without ever uttering a complaint. Though reserved by nature, he was deeply caring and an extraordinary storyteller, with a gift for bringing memories to life. He found quiet companionship in his daughter Lisa’s late yellow Lab, Crash, who would faithfully lie at his feet, a silent testament to the quiet bonds Carl so often formed—with people, places, and the world around him. And in the quiet curl of smoke from his favorite cigar, Carl seemed to find a moment of calm that perfectly reflected his steady, thoughtful spirit.

Carl was the devoted father of Susan Peia of Suffield, CT and her late husband Dennis (d.2025), Michael Ferrigno of Wayne and his late wife Maria (d.2022), and Lisa Russo and her husband Richard of Butler; he was the cherished grandfather of five grandchildren and five great grandchildren; he was loved by his brothers Paul Ferrigno and his wife Barbara of Holmdel, and the late Joseph Ferrigno. He will also be missed by Carl’s daughter Lisa’s first husband Ralph.

In remembrance of his brother Joseph memorial donations to The Big Silence would be greatly appreciated.