John A. Cammarata

John A. Cammarata, age 72 of Hightstown, NJ for the past twelve years, formerly a Wayne resident for thirty-two years, passed on Monday, May 27, 2019.

He was born in Newark and raised in East Orange. John graduated from Clifford J. Scott High School in East Orange with the Class of 1964.  He had many fond memories of playing baseball for the Clifford J. Scott – Scotties. He continued his education at the Paterson State Teachers College in Wayne where he received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education with the Class of 1968.

He worked as a teacher with the Ramsey Board of Education where he worked for thirty-two years before retiring. During his tenure with the Ramsey Board of Education, he coached the Ramsey High School girls and boys soccer teams.

John will be lovingly remembered as a generous, unselfish man who was easy going, never complained and easy to like. He was generous with his time having volunteered with fire departments in Wanaque, Pompton Lakes and Wayne Fire Company #3.  Most recently, he was a volunteer for the local soup kitchen in Hightstown.

He loved collecting Lionel trains and instead of a guest room in his home he had a train room.  He didn’t let his grandkids operate the trains but, the train whistle was never off limits to them.  This earned him the nickname “grandpa-beep.”  He also loved Christmas time and if Sherry didn’t hold him back he would have had a Clark Griswold Christmas display. He loved to eat traditional Italian foods and meatballs, eggplant parmesan and Italian sausage were some of his favorites. John was a car guy and had three Corvettes throughout his years. He was always waxing, polishing, and even using Q-Tips to clean his cars.  He always enjoyed the simpler things in life and loved trips to Lake Saint Catherine in Vermont.

While out to dinner with friends at the King George Diner in Wayne, John met Sherry Falato.  Their first official date was going out for Chinese food and when Sherry cleaned her plate John realized this was the girl for him. He was so head over heels in love that he sold his 1970 Red Corvette so they could afford a wedding.  After asking and receiving the blessing of Sherry’s father they married at St. Gerard’s Church in Paterson. The two shared a reception at The Brownstone House in Paterson, and honeymooned at Lake George in New York.  They drove to Lake George in Sherry’s Lemans Blue 1968 Camaro.  It was so cold there that they had to wait for the sun to shine on the car in order to get it started.  John and Sherry have enjoyed a loving marriage for over forty years.

He was the loving husband of Sherry Cammarata, devoted father of Thomas John Cammarata and his wife Michele of Butler, Lora Mussina and her husband David of West Milford, and Thomas Bruno Cammarata and his wife Jacque of East Windsor; he was the cherished grandpa of T.J., Becca, Jordan, Mia, Rocco, Mateo, Armoni, Santino, Nico, Luca, Hailey, Bella, and Sophie; he was the much loved brother of Donna Pintos and her husband Jorgé.