Charles “Andy” Jantzen, age 62, of Wayne passed peacefully at home on Wednesday, September 20, 2017.

He was born in Jersey City to the late Charles and Marjorie Jantzen. He was raised in Clifton and when he was seven the family moved to Wayne. Andy attended Holy Cross School in Wayne and Don Bosco Technical High School in Paterson. He continued his education at Seton Hall University and later Farleigh Dickinson University, where he discontinued school needing only two classes to complete his degree. As a young boy, he worked at a candy store in the Mountain View section of Wayne and later worked at the AeroLift Company in Fairfield. As a young adult, Andy worked in customer relations and sales at both Schneider Lenses in Hackensack and later the Kinotone Projector Company in Paterson. Andy then joined the family owned business of Photographic Analysis Company in Wayne, where they used film-based high-speed imaging technology to solve complex motion analysis problems. As the digital photography age came to be, he co-founded the company of Vision Research. His company received an Emmy Award and he personally received an Oscar for his work in high-speed imaging. Their Phantom Cameras are used for super slow-motion imaging in military applications, sports broadcasting, medical applications, fluid dynamics, crash testing, advertising, and feature films. Andy worked at Vision Research as CEO and then Director of New Product Development until retiring in April of 2013. He considered all his employees family, and was extremely proud of how they changed the world.

Andy will be remembered as a creative, generous, and considerate man. He was always fixing something for someone and lived by the motto “if you want to do it bad enough, you can accomplish anything you want.” He found great satisfaction in woodworking having made two canoes, one Adirondack Guide Boat, and a kayak. He also loved to visit Yellowstone National Park and Cody, Wyoming, where he ran the first cellular company permitted in the park. If there was one thing in the world Andy considered a challenge, it was people telling him “it’s not possible, you can’t do that.” He would work twice as hard to find a means to an end.

Andy met his future wife, Linda Bonadies, while working at Schneider Lenses. Their first official date, after they figured out they didn’t dislike each other, was on Christmas Eve (his birthday) at Linda’s brother Artie’s home. Linda had even gotten a birthday cake for him. They fell in love, got engaged six months later, and were married a year after that on July 30, 1977 at Blessed Sacrament Church in Paterson. After a reception at the Brownstone House in Paterson, they honeymooned as they drove all along the California coastline.

Andy was the loving husband of forty years to Linda Jantzen; he was the devoted father of Phillip Jantzen (Meghan) of Boonton Township, Daniel Jantzen (Carrie) of Boonton Township, Stephanie Sigman (Stephen) of Lansdale, PA, Clare Edwards (TJ) of Greentown, PA, and considered a second father to others; he was the cherished grandfather of Elizabeth Jantzen, Charlie Jantzen, and Harper Edwards, his pride and joys; he was the loved brother of Art Jantzen (Ileana) of Wayne, Joseph Jantzen (Jeanne) of Trenton, ME, Connie Jantzen (Ray) Stuart, FL, Julie Sauciuc (Walt) of Monroe, NC, and the late Donald Jantzen.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations to Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memorial Processing, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959 www.stjude.org or Habitat for Humanity, 274 South Salem St., Randolph, NJ 07869 www.morrishabitat.org would be greatly appreciated