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November 5, 2010
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Wednesday, November 10, 2010, from 3-7 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 11 AM on Thursday, November 11, 2010, also known as Veterans Day, at the funeral home.
Walter E. Hoerig, age 93 of Pompton Plains, and formerly of the Pines Lake in Wayne, issued his final salute on Friday, November 5, 2010, with his loving family by his side.
Walt was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Bellville, NJ and graduated from the Bloomfield Trade School where he learned his trade as an electrician. He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1937 because he felt it was a great opportunity to get additional training as an electrician. He was stationed aboard the USS Ranger (CV-4), the first U.S. aircraft carrier designed and built from the keel up as an aircraft carrier, and his commanding officer was John S. McCain, Sr., grandfather of Senator John S. McCain III.
He considered himself lucky to have served aboard the Ranger with his brother, Robert, before such situations were prohibited by the Sullivan Act. He loved his time in the Navy and was particularly proud of having crossed the equator twice. He was honorably discharged from his first Navy tour only months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He returned again to the Navy shortly after the war started with a Warrant Officer commission and served until the end of World War II.
After the service, Walt worked as an electrician first with the Little Falls Laundry, then with Watson Flagg, and most of his career with the General Electric Company before retiring in 1983.
In 1941, during the brief time between his two Navy tours, Walt happened to be in a Jersey City candy store when a young woman there was making a purchase. She found herself short a penny and Walt willing provided his penny to the pretty young woman. His ensuing conversation with Margaret Krompasick that day turned into sixty seven years of loving marriage for the two of them. They married in 1943 during a visit to New Orleans. He would probably tell you it was the best penny he ever spent.
Walt and Margaret moved to Pines Lake in 1954. They absolutely loved living there and raised their family for fifty five years in that wonderful community. They moved to Cedar Crest Village, Pompton Plains, in 2009.
Walt was not one to sit still. He was always working on the house, repairing the cars, or landscaping the yard. He and “Mugsie”, as he fondly called Margaret, were both excellent ice skaters and loved to go speed-skating as often as they could. While watching the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics on TV in 1960, Walt thought that downhill skiing looked like a lot of fun, so when he was 43 years old, the whole family began skiing. They would go to New York State, Vermont and New Hampshire on ski weekends and vacations. At age 50, Walt managed to break both of his legs in a skiing accident, and this took him out of work for nearly a year. After that, he became a cross-country skier. He returned to downhill skiing again at age 70 because he missed his time on the slopes with Mugsie and the family. He skied regularly, both downhill and cross-country, right into his early eighties.
In addition to skating and skiing together with family and friends, Walt and Mugsie enjoyed traveling during their retirement. They usually camped with friends and made several cross country trips across both the United States and Canada for weeks at a time. When they were in their mid-70’s, one particular noteworthy trip for just the two of them was an 8 day raft trip down the Colorado River through the rapids and Grand Canyon and then across Lake Powell.
Walt’s children recall their father working tirelessly for the wellbeing of their family. He was a very supportive father who took them with their Mom to their swimming meets and other sporting events often after a long hard day at work. He was a great dad and he’s left them with many fond memories to cherish for years to come.
He is survived by his wife of sixty seven years, Margaret “Mugsie” of Pompton Plains, two children; Jane Hoerig and her husband Ted Garcia of Fairfield, CT, and Dan Hoerig and his wife Kathy Poehnert of Interlaken, NJ, as well as three grandchildren; Cody Hoerig of Interlaken, NJ, Erin Garcia of Fairfield, CT, and Grant Garcia and his wife Natasha of Philadelphia, PA. Walt was predeceased by his brother Robert in 2002.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the Disabled American Veterans, Attention: GIFT PROCESSING, P.O. Box 14301, Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301 or the USO, United Service Organizations, P.O. Box 96322, Washington, DC 20090-6322 would be kindly appreciated.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Wednesday, November 10, 2010, from 3-7 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 11 AM on Thursday, November 11, 2010, also known as Veterans Day, at the funeral home.
November 5, 2010
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Wednesday, November 10, 2010, from 3-7 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 11 AM on Thursday, November 11, 2010, also known as Veterans Day, at the funeral home.
Walter E. Hoerig, age 93 of Pompton Plains, and formerly of the Pines Lake in Wayne, issued his final salute on Friday, November 5, 2010, with his loving family by his side.
Walt was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Bellville, NJ and graduated from the Bloomfield Trade School where he learned his trade as an electrician. He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1937 because he felt it was a great opportunity to get additional training as an electrician. He was stationed aboard the USS Ranger (CV-4), the first U.S. aircraft carrier designed and built from the keel up as an aircraft carrier, and his commanding officer was John S. McCain, Sr., grandfather of Senator John S. McCain III.
He considered himself lucky to have served aboard the Ranger with his brother, Robert, before such situations were prohibited by the Sullivan Act. He loved his time in the Navy and was particularly proud of having crossed the equator twice. He was honorably discharged from his first Navy tour only months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He returned again to the Navy shortly after the war started with a Warrant Officer commission and served until the end of World War II.
After the service, Walt worked as an electrician first with the Little Falls Laundry, then with Watson Flagg, and most of his career with the General Electric Company before retiring in 1983.
In 1941, during the brief time between his two Navy tours, Walt happened to be in a Jersey City candy store when a young woman there was making a purchase. She found herself short a penny and Walt willing provided his penny to the pretty young woman. His ensuing conversation with Margaret Krompasick that day turned into sixty seven years of loving marriage for the two of them. They married in 1943 during a visit to New Orleans. He would probably tell you it was the best penny he ever spent.
Walt and Margaret moved to Pines Lake in 1954. They absolutely loved living there and raised their family for fifty five years in that wonderful community. They moved to Cedar Crest Village, Pompton Plains, in 2009.
Walt was not one to sit still. He was always working on the house, repairing the cars, or landscaping the yard. He and “Mugsie”, as he fondly called Margaret, were both excellent ice skaters and loved to go speed-skating as often as they could. While watching the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics on TV in 1960, Walt thought that downhill skiing looked like a lot of fun, so when he was 43 years old, the whole family began skiing. They would go to New York State, Vermont and New Hampshire on ski weekends and vacations. At age 50, Walt managed to break both of his legs in a skiing accident, and this took him out of work for nearly a year. After that, he became a cross-country skier. He returned to downhill skiing again at age 70 because he missed his time on the slopes with Mugsie and the family. He skied regularly, both downhill and cross-country, right into his early eighties.
In addition to skating and skiing together with family and friends, Walt and Mugsie enjoyed traveling during their retirement. They usually camped with friends and made several cross country trips across both the United States and Canada for weeks at a time. When they were in their mid-70’s, one particular noteworthy trip for just the two of them was an 8 day raft trip down the Colorado River through the rapids and Grand Canyon and then across Lake Powell.
Walt’s children recall their father working tirelessly for the wellbeing of their family. He was a very supportive father who took them with their Mom to their swimming meets and other sporting events often after a long hard day at work. He was a great dad and he’s left them with many fond memories to cherish for years to come.
He is survived by his wife of sixty seven years, Margaret “Mugsie” of Pompton Plains, two children; Jane Hoerig and her husband Ted Garcia of Fairfield, CT, and Dan Hoerig and his wife Kathy Poehnert of Interlaken, NJ, as well as three grandchildren; Cody Hoerig of Interlaken, NJ, Erin Garcia of Fairfield, CT, and Grant Garcia and his wife Natasha of Philadelphia, PA. Walt was predeceased by his brother Robert in 2002.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the Disabled American Veterans, Attention: GIFT PROCESSING, P.O. Box 14301, Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301 or the USO, United Service Organizations, P.O. Box 96322, Washington, DC 20090-6322 would be kindly appreciated.
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