Carman Joseph Mania Sr.

Carman Joseph Mania, Sr. age 99 of Wayne passed away peacefully on Monday December 31, 2018 in the presence of and while receiving the loving care of his family.

Carman was born and raised in Paterson, NJ.  He was one of three children to Carmelo and Josephine Mania.  It was after Carman started attending grammar school when he started to learn English.  Italian was his first language.  Carman went home after school every day and would teach his mother English as he learned it in school.  Carman’s father, Carmelo Mania passed away during the Influenza  Epidemic in late 1918 while his mother was pregnant with him.  He attended Eastside High School in Paterson and graduated with the class of 1937.  Subsequent to his graduation, during the latter years of the Great Depression, Carman worked as a Caddy for a local golf club in Montclair among other things.  He did what he could to earn a living and help his mom.  

In 1941, Carman was drafted into the United States Army.  Because Carman was drafted in the service before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he and his Army buddies would mark off X’s on their calendars, counting down the days till they would be sent home.  After the events of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Carman and his fellow GI’s threw away their calendars, knowing it would be some time before they would be going home.  Carman started off in the Communications Department of the US Army but was then transferred to the Supply Department and participated in the Pacific Theater Campaign at New Guinea, the South Philippines, and Luzon.  During the four years that Carman served he reached the Rank of Sergeant and received the Victory Medal, American Defense Ribbon, American Theater Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon, and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon.

Following the War’s end, Carman was honorably discharged from the United States Army and was offered a position at Gencraft where they manufactured Windows and Venetian Blinds.  It was here that he met an attractive young woman named Gloria Beshada.  They started dating and as fate would have it they fell in love and were married on June 16, 1951  at St Johns Cathedral in Paterson.  The couple settled in Paterson after getting married and lived in a three family house with Carman’s mother and sister Ida.  In 1956 Carman would act as a General Contractor and oversaw the building of his own home on Kipp Place, also in Paterson.  Carman and Gloria remained in Paterson for almost fifty years.  They would raise their three children there until moving to Wayne in 1999.

A few years after the war, Carman went to school at Curtis Wright where he would learn the trade of Drafting and Mechanical Engineering.  He worked for Curtis Wright throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s.  He then worked for Avion and other companies including North American Philips Corp.  His career as a Mechanical Engineer spanned nearly thirty-five years until Carman retired in 1984.

Ever since Carman was a young man, he enjoyed racing Homing Pigeons.  He did so competitively for many years and won many competitions.  He was a long time member of the Paterson Homing Pigeon Club.  Carman was also an avid gardener, if it grew from the ground, Carman could grow it.  He enjoyed growing just about anything including vegetables, flowers and fruit trees.  But of all of Carman’s talents and hobbies, his greatest passion was for his family.  Nothing meant more to Carman than providing for and spending time with his family.  He cherished over sixty years of loving and loyal marriage to his wife Gloria until her passing in 2011.  He was a devoted father and grandfather, and as his mother grew older, he took on the responsibility of caring for her as well.  He was a quiet man but witty, so when he spoke it was always something worth listening to.  Carman touched the lives of many people and will be sincerely missed by everyone that knew him.

Carman is survived by his daughter Diane Baskinger-Petrolino and her husband James of Coral Springs, FL, two sons; Michael and his wife Gail of Wayne, and Carman Jr. and his wife Jayne of Lodi, one sister Ida Bavazzano of West Caldwell, six grandchildren; Corey Mania of Burlington, VT, Kelsie Mania of New Rochelle, NY, Matthew Baskinger of Wayne, Jenna Lynn Mania of Lodi, David Mania of Lodi, and Hannah Mania of Lodi, and one niece Barbara Lawrence of West Caldwell. He was predeceased by his wife Gloria Mania in 2011 as well as his infant brother Johnny in 1917.