John Kooreman

John Kooreman, age 93, of Wayne passed Thursday, March 5, 2020. John will be lovingly remembered as a selfless, caring, quiet man who was dedicated to both his family and community.

He was born in the family home at 254 North 12th Street in Prospect Park to Frederick and Josie Kooreman.  He graduated from Hawthorne High School with the Class of 1944. Just out of high school John got a job as a draftsman with the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company in Paterson where he worked his entire career before retiring in 1988 as a switchman.

John and Beverly met at the NJ Bell Telephone Company, and it was love at first sight for him. John was engaged to be married when he first set eyes on Beverly, but he knew she was the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. They courted for three years, and the night John made plans to ask Beverly for her hand in marriage turned out to be the Blizzard of 1947.  John and Beverly took a walk in the storm and wandered into the Cedar Lawn Cemetery in Paterson.  It was in the cemetery, during the blizzard and in front of the tomb of Vice President Garret Hobart that John proposed marriage to Beverly. Coincidently, Garret Hobart was a founding member of the Preakness Volunteer Fire Company #4 in Wayne where John would join about ten years after their engagement.  John and Beverly married on June 19, 1948 at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church in Paterson.  They honeymooned in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania and their marriage was blessed with three children: Kathy, Kenneth and Scott.  For many years John and Beverly enjoyed traveling across the country and into Canada and Mexico with their pop-up trailer which they upgraded later to a Holiday Rambler travel trailer. A favorite destination was Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where Beverly said were it not for her children she would move there in an instant.  John and Beverly’s children recall how they were inseparable during the later years of their marriage. They had almost 62 years of a “terrific”  loving marriage together before Beverly’s passing on February 26, 2010.

John has served as a New Jersey Fireman for over seventy five years. When he graduated from high school most of the local boys of age were going into the military to fight in WWII.  John was not able to serve in the military for medical reasons and was asked by some high school friends to join the Hawthorne Fire Department.  At the time they lowered the age from 21 to 18 because so many men were at war, and they needed firemen.  They were called “wartime firemen.” So when he was just eighteen years old John went for a visit to the firehouse and was bitten by the fireman bug.  He was with Hawthorne Fire Company #4 from 1944 through 1952. When John and Beverly married they first lived with Beverly’s parents for a few years, then moved to the Wortendyke section of Midland Park (which had so many Hollanders it was like being in the Netherlands). After a short time the young couple moved again to Barbour Street in Haledon.  John joined the Haledon Fire Company #2, and upon moving to Wayne he joined the Preakness Volunteer Fire Company #4 in 1959. John served as Chief of Company #4 from 1968 through 1969. He was appointed as Fire Commissioner for Wayne Township from 1969 through 1970 and again from 1979 through 1980. He is one of only two firemen in Wayne Township to ever serve as Fire Commissioner twice.  For thirty years John served as President of the Passaic County Fireman’s Association which is comprised of sixteen fire companies in Passaic County.  He was very proud of being awarded Fireman of the Year by the Wayne Elks Lodge in 1998.

Another of John’s favorite pastimes was fishing.  He was strictly a stream fisherman, nothing fancy but opening day was a sacred holiday.  His daughter’s wedding day in 1972 was moved ahead a week as the original chosen date interfered with opening day.  John was an avid bowler for most of his life, and played in many leagues over the years.  He experienced every bowler’s dream of a perfect 300 game at Hawthorne Lanes sometime in the 80s.

He was also a member of the Telephone Pioneers and the Wayne Elks Lodge #2181 since 1959.

John was the loving husband of sixty-two years to the late Beverly E. Kooreman (d. 2010); devoted father of Kathy Ferrara of Wayne, Kenneth Kooreman of Warwick, and Scott Kooreman and his wife Betty of Wayne; cherished grandfather of Jennifer Ferrara, Amy Sherwood (Scot), Jason Kooreman (Amber), Jonathan Ferrara, and Kimberly Kooreman (fiancé Adam Smith); loving and devoted great-grandfather of Tyler Lopresti, Alexis Lopresti, Karen and Bethany Kooreman, Freddy Sherwood and Steele Sherwood.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations to St Judes Children's Research Hospital, Memphis Tennessee would be greatly appreciated.