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Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Tue., Nov. 29, 2016 from 4-8 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 10 AM on Wed., Nov. 30, 2016 at the funeral home. Burial will follow at the Laurel Grove Cemetery in Totowa.
A well-known drummer and active in the Northern New Jersey music scene for decades.
Donald G. Hellerman, age 78 of Pompton Lakes died on Friday, Nov. 25, 2016. He was a well-known drummer and active in the Northern New Jersey music scene for decades.
Don was a salesman working in the trucking industry and spent the bulk of his career with APA Trucking. Later, during the late 1990’s, he was the Superintendent at Brookside Heights Condo Association in Wanaque, and then he worked at the Pompton Lakes Recycle Center until retiring just three years ago. He was a very friendly guy and everyone who knew him loved him.
Truth be told, Don never enjoyed his ‘day job’ nearly as much as he loved playing the drums and his cars! He was always performing all around the area. For many years, Don was in the “house band” at venues such as the Friar Tuck, the Holster, Suzanna Jones, the Alpine House, Gaspar’s, Sorenson’s, and many more. It’s estimated that he played thousands of weddings in his time, sometimes two a day. He played drums just recently at Jigg’s Corner in Butler with Lou Pallo. Don had also been the Drum Corps Teacher for the Stardusters and the Hawthorne Caballeros. He also became the Coordinator for the Pompton Lakes High School Marching Band competitions, something he enjoyed thoroughly and did for many years. If there was something that had to do with music, drumming or his cars, Don was there and happy to be a part of. As a member of the Tri-County Cruisers car club, he was the DJ at many of the local car shows around Wayne. Don was also lifetime member of the Elks.
Don loved his family too, especially his three girls. Summer vacations were always memorable at the Jersey Shore, where Don rented the same house eighteen years running in Ortley Beach. He had few boats over the years and typically kept one at the Minisceongo Yacht Club in Stony Point, NY and previously on Greenwood Lake. They would cruise around on the Hudson often and one summer he took his family to the NJ shore on their boat. They lived on their cabin cruiser for the whole trip, which turned out to be quite the adventure! They all have wonderful memories of their dad to cherish throughout their lifetimes.
Don met his wife Sandra at the famous Old Barn Milk Bar in Wayne in the late 1950’s. They were married on January 22, 1961 at the First Reformed Church of Pompton Plains and they embarked on a honeymoon to Atlantic City. They lived in Pompton Plains briefly before settling to Pompton Lakes in 1964 where Don has lived ever since. They enjoyed forty nine years of marriage before Sandra passed in 2010.
Don is survived by his three daughters; Donna Boss of Pompton Lakes, Nancy Ficklin of Wanaque, and Susan Kozak-Manna and her husband Robert of Pompton Plains, three granddaughters; Deena Kozak, Jenna Manna, and Cassandra Ficklin, and by his beloved dog and best friend; Buddy.
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Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Tue., Nov. 29, 2016 from 4-8 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 10 AM on Wed., Nov. 30, 2016 at the funeral home. Burial will follow at the Laurel Grove Cemetery in Totowa.
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Tue., Nov. 29, 2016 from 4-8 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 10 AM on Wed., Nov. 30, 2016 at the funeral home. Burial will follow at the Laurel Grove Cemetery in Totowa.
A well-known drummer and active in the Northern New Jersey music scene for decades.
Donald G. Hellerman, age 78 of Pompton Lakes died on Friday, Nov. 25, 2016. He was a well-known drummer and active in the Northern New Jersey music scene for decades.
Don was a salesman working in the trucking industry and spent the bulk of his career with APA Trucking. Later, during the late 1990’s, he was the Superintendent at Brookside Heights Condo Association in Wanaque, and then he worked at the Pompton Lakes Recycle Center until retiring just three years ago. He was a very friendly guy and everyone who knew him loved him.
Truth be told, Don never enjoyed his ‘day job’ nearly as much as he loved playing the drums and his cars! He was always performing all around the area. For many years, Don was in the “house band” at venues such as the Friar Tuck, the Holster, Suzanna Jones, the Alpine House, Gaspar’s, Sorenson’s, and many more. It’s estimated that he played thousands of weddings in his time, sometimes two a day. He played drums just recently at Jigg’s Corner in Butler with Lou Pallo. Don had also been the Drum Corps Teacher for the Stardusters and the Hawthorne Caballeros. He also became the Coordinator for the Pompton Lakes High School Marching Band competitions, something he enjoyed thoroughly and did for many years. If there was something that had to do with music, drumming or his cars, Don was there and happy to be a part of. As a member of the Tri-County Cruisers car club, he was the DJ at many of the local car shows around Wayne. Don was also lifetime member of the Elks.
Don loved his family too, especially his three girls. Summer vacations were always memorable at the Jersey Shore, where Don rented the same house eighteen years running in Ortley Beach. He had few boats over the years and typically kept one at the Minisceongo Yacht Club in Stony Point, NY and previously on Greenwood Lake. They would cruise around on the Hudson often and one summer he took his family to the NJ shore on their boat. They lived on their cabin cruiser for the whole trip, which turned out to be quite the adventure! They all have wonderful memories of their dad to cherish throughout their lifetimes.
Don met his wife Sandra at the famous Old Barn Milk Bar in Wayne in the late 1950’s. They were married on January 22, 1961 at the First Reformed Church of Pompton Plains and they embarked on a honeymoon to Atlantic City. They lived in Pompton Plains briefly before settling to Pompton Lakes in 1964 where Don has lived ever since. They enjoyed forty nine years of marriage before Sandra passed in 2010.
Don is survived by his three daughters; Donna Boss of Pompton Lakes, Nancy Ficklin of Wanaque, and Susan Kozak-Manna and her husband Robert of Pompton Plains, three granddaughters; Deena Kozak, Jenna Manna, and Cassandra Ficklin, and by his beloved dog and best friend; Buddy.
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