James S. Lacava, age 78, of Woodland Park, formerly of Wayne, passed Wednesday, September 27, 2017 .

He was born and raised in Paterson having graduated from Seton Hall Prep High School in South Orange. He continued his education at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting. He served an accounting internship at a firm in Paterson and once he received the title of CPA he worked for the Edward T. Boyle Firm in Hackensack. He later opened his own accounting firm on Ward Street in Paterson and eventually secured a position as Comptroller of the City of Hackensack. He served as Comptroller for twenty years and served another fifteen years as the City Manager of Hackensack before retiring in 2005. Although he officially retired in 2005 he was still working for several private clients, family, and friends up until last year. He was a member of several occupation related organizations including the NJ Society of CPA’s, the American Institute of CPA’s and GFOA (Government Finance Officers of America).

When James was fifteen years old he went to a Grammar School graduation party in Paterson where he met a cute thirteen year old name Beatrice McCauley. This chance encounter would lead to several years of dating and a proposal of marriage, after asking Beatrice’s father, at the family home located at 341 Trenton Avenue in Paterson. They married on June 2, 1962 at Saint Brendan’s RC Church in Clifton. After a reception at the Bow & Arrow in West Orange they honeymooned in Bermuda and Nassau in the Bahamas. They have enjoyed a “loving couple” marriage, as characterized by a friend recently, of fifty-five years.

James will be remembered as a loving family man who was strong willed, meticulous to a fault. To help understand his fastidious nature one only has to hear two examples: the first is about how he was fussy regarding the angle of a staple in document as you can’t fold over the pages correctly if the staple is not on a 45 degree angle and how he had business cards printed up with the exact way a bartender should make his Rob Roy cocktail. He was definitely a Type-A personality but there was usually a method to his madness. His family has fond memories of time at the NJ Shore town of Lavallette and over twenty years of spending the month of March at Marco Island in Florida.

He was very active in his community having been a member of the Lions Club, UNICO, and ARC all of Hackensack, the Italian Circle of Paterson, the Do Good House in Totowa, the Moose Lodge 399 of Ortley Beach, and the Packanack ROMEO’s.

James was also very giving of his time when it came to youth sports. He volunteered many hours as a CYO basketball coach at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Wayne, served as an American Legion and Little League baseball coach, and officiated at high school football games for many years. His dedication earned him a listing in the DePaul High School of Wayne’s Hall of Fame and entry into the Amateur Football’s Passaic County Chapter of the National Football Foundation’s Hall of Fame. He was also huge NY Giants fan and has been an original season ticket holder since 1976.

He was a devoted parishioner of Immaculate Heart of Mary RC Church in Wayne for many years.

James was the loving husband of Beatrice (McCauley) Lacava; devoted father of the late James Lacava (2010), Lynn Kahn and her husband Eric of Florham Park, and Beth DeMayo of Lincoln Park; he was the cherished grandfather of Amanda-Marie DeMayo and Nicole and Courtney Kahn; he was also the loved brother of the late Letitia Pellosie (2016), and uncle of Carmine Pellosie III and his wife Jennifer.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations to the James G. Lacava Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o DePaul High School, 1512 Alps Road, Wayne, NJ 07470 would be greatly appreciated.