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Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 from 4-8 PM.
Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 9:00 AM from the funeral home, then to Our Lady of Consolation Church, 1799 Hamburg Turnpike, Wayne, where at 10:00 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered. Interment will follow at Christ the King Cemetery, Franklin Lakes.
Wayne Thomas Kasper, Sr., age 65, an almost life-long resident of Wayne, NJ, passed peacefully, with his family who adored him, by his side, on Sunday, April 17, 2016.
Wayne was fittingly born in the township of Wayne and spent the earlier years of his childhood on Briggs Avenue - a street off of Berdan Ave which no longer is traveled. One of four homes - Wayne’s mother’s family – four sisters and their husbands – together built their homes after World War II. This was the start of an incredible relationship between families setting an example of love and commitment. The homes on Briggs were bought out by the government under the eminent domain laws so that a reservoir could be put there to supply water for the growing Wayne population. As a result, Wayne’s parents moved the family across town to Jackson Ave.
After graduating from Wayne Hills High School with the class of 1970, Wayne began taking college courses at Atlantic County Community College and there too, he excelled at soccer. Unfortunately, during his second year, his father Henry took ill and quickly passed away. Suddenly his mom needed Wayne to put his college plans aside so he could get a job to help the family with financial support. The Kasper family was extremely close-knit so, while he didn’t want to leave school, he didn’t hesitate to do the right thing! He was given the opportunity to work for Golten Marine Company on Van Brunt Street in Brooklyn. This was a family business owned by his sister-in-law Carol’s family. He loved his work there and stayed for a many years before taking on other pursuits.
Wayne met Arlene Majka and the two later married in September 1977. They settled for a short time into a second-floor apartment in Rutherford and were soon blessed with the births of their first two children – Tara and Wayne. This growing family of four eventually moved into their first home which was purchased from a long-long friend - in Pompton Lakes. Here they welcomed another sweet little baby girl which they named Kaitlin. Wayne would move heaven and earth to be together with his three children. One could debate who was blessed more – Wayne or his children – as he enthusiastically taught all three of them from a very young age how to ski, and to play golf, soccer, baseball and softball. As a coach in the organized Pompton Lakes youth-league sports that they all participated in, Wayne was always patient and encouraging and, as a result, his children, their team mates and Wayne’s nephews and nieces really gravitated towards him.
After divorcing in 1989, Wayne started driving eighteen wheelers and, over the span of twenty-plus years drove for various companies – most recently for Grocery Haulers of Woodbridge, until cancer forced him to retire in 2013. He only hauled short distance delivery runs because long-distance trucking would have kept him on the road for days at a time and that would have separated him from his family.
When his daughters and son entered their high school years, they continued to participate and excel in sports. Wayne worked the night-shift so that he literally never had to miss even one of their afternoon games – even Wayne, Jr’s bowling matches. Highly devoted to their welfare and happiness, Wayne always made sure to provide the kids with good positive experiences growing up. There were trips to Niagara Falls and marathon one-day ski trips to Mount Snow in Vermont.
There were also many trips to Little High Point in Wanaque where he was proud to tell them that as Boy Scouts, he and his brother Henry and his father helped build some of the very hiking trails they were hiking on. His last hike was just last summer – this time with three generations as his little granddaughter Kayla joined them.
Speaking of little Kayla, Wayne did what any proud adoring grandfather would do for his granddaughter – he spoiled her. Just a little bit. In addition to feeding Kayla ice cream for breakfast, he fed her knowledge by reading books to her, pushing her on the swing and taking her to the park.
While Wayne did enjoy a little dabbling in the world of penny stocks, by now it’s probably abundantly clear that his biggest interest was spending time with his family. He enjoyed a long-standing tradition of hanging out with his brother and sisters and their spouses. On Friday nights they would all go out or stay in for dinner together, then play board or card games. A strong sense of family love and closeness was modelled to Wayne and his siblings by their parents. They passed it on to their children. As a result, Wayne’s children remain extremely close to their cousins to this very day. In fact, when Wayne’s extended family first learned of his admission into hospice, those who lived far away immediately flew home to be with Wayne.
Wayne fought an oftentimes painful battle with cancer that lasted almost three years. Throughout his ordeal, he never gave up the fight and he always fought with a smile on his face. He never complained and when asked how he was doing he would typically reply, “It could be worse”. His children, siblings, nieces and nephews counted it a privilege and honor to be by his side, night and day encouraging and helping him through. Ironically, in many ways, Wayne helped them through too and they will be forever grateful for his example.
Surviving is one granddaughter Kayla and her parents Tara and John Dechert; his second daughter Kaitlin Kasper of Harrisburg, PA; one son: Wayne T. Kasper, Jr. and husband Harry Musto of Rockaway, NJ; four siblings: Henry Kasper and wife Carol of Wayne, Kathy Warfield and husband Brad of Lake Hopatcong, Debra Kutcher and husband Robert of Wayne, and Darlene Uber and husband Gregory of Milford, PA; and numerous nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in Wayne’s name are asked to consider Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, PO Box 27106, New York, NY 10087-7106, or Compassionate Care Hospice 1373 Broad Street, Suite 309, Clifton, NJ 07013.
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, April 20, 2016 from 4-8 PM.
Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 9:00 AM from the funeral home, then to Our Lady of Consolation Church, 1799 Hamburg Turnpike, Wayne, where at 10:00 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered. Interment will follow at Christ the King Cemetery, Franklin Lakes.
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 from 4-8 PM.
Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 9:00 AM from the funeral home, then to Our Lady of Consolation Church, 1799 Hamburg Turnpike, Wayne, where at 10:00 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered. Interment will follow at Christ the King Cemetery, Franklin Lakes.
Wayne Thomas Kasper, Sr., age 65, an almost life-long resident of Wayne, NJ, passed peacefully, with his family who adored him, by his side, on Sunday, April 17, 2016.
Wayne was fittingly born in the township of Wayne and spent the earlier years of his childhood on Briggs Avenue - a street off of Berdan Ave which no longer is traveled. One of four homes - Wayne’s mother’s family – four sisters and their husbands – together built their homes after World War II. This was the start of an incredible relationship between families setting an example of love and commitment. The homes on Briggs were bought out by the government under the eminent domain laws so that a reservoir could be put there to supply water for the growing Wayne population. As a result, Wayne’s parents moved the family across town to Jackson Ave.
After graduating from Wayne Hills High School with the class of 1970, Wayne began taking college courses at Atlantic County Community College and there too, he excelled at soccer. Unfortunately, during his second year, his father Henry took ill and quickly passed away. Suddenly his mom needed Wayne to put his college plans aside so he could get a job to help the family with financial support. The Kasper family was extremely close-knit so, while he didn’t want to leave school, he didn’t hesitate to do the right thing! He was given the opportunity to work for Golten Marine Company on Van Brunt Street in Brooklyn. This was a family business owned by his sister-in-law Carol’s family. He loved his work there and stayed for a many years before taking on other pursuits.
Wayne met Arlene Majka and the two later married in September 1977. They settled for a short time into a second-floor apartment in Rutherford and were soon blessed with the births of their first two children – Tara and Wayne. This growing family of four eventually moved into their first home which was purchased from a long-long friend - in Pompton Lakes. Here they welcomed another sweet little baby girl which they named Kaitlin. Wayne would move heaven and earth to be together with his three children. One could debate who was blessed more – Wayne or his children – as he enthusiastically taught all three of them from a very young age how to ski, and to play golf, soccer, baseball and softball. As a coach in the organized Pompton Lakes youth-league sports that they all participated in, Wayne was always patient and encouraging and, as a result, his children, their team mates and Wayne’s nephews and nieces really gravitated towards him.
After divorcing in 1989, Wayne started driving eighteen wheelers and, over the span of twenty-plus years drove for various companies – most recently for Grocery Haulers of Woodbridge, until cancer forced him to retire in 2013. He only hauled short distance delivery runs because long-distance trucking would have kept him on the road for days at a time and that would have separated him from his family.
When his daughters and son entered their high school years, they continued to participate and excel in sports. Wayne worked the night-shift so that he literally never had to miss even one of their afternoon games – even Wayne, Jr’s bowling matches. Highly devoted to their welfare and happiness, Wayne always made sure to provide the kids with good positive experiences growing up. There were trips to Niagara Falls and marathon one-day ski trips to Mount Snow in Vermont.
There were also many trips to Little High Point in Wanaque where he was proud to tell them that as Boy Scouts, he and his brother Henry and his father helped build some of the very hiking trails they were hiking on. His last hike was just last summer – this time with three generations as his little granddaughter Kayla joined them.
Speaking of little Kayla, Wayne did what any proud adoring grandfather would do for his granddaughter – he spoiled her. Just a little bit. In addition to feeding Kayla ice cream for breakfast, he fed her knowledge by reading books to her, pushing her on the swing and taking her to the park.
While Wayne did enjoy a little dabbling in the world of penny stocks, by now it’s probably abundantly clear that his biggest interest was spending time with his family. He enjoyed a long-standing tradition of hanging out with his brother and sisters and their spouses. On Friday nights they would all go out or stay in for dinner together, then play board or card games. A strong sense of family love and closeness was modelled to Wayne and his siblings by their parents. They passed it on to their children. As a result, Wayne’s children remain extremely close to their cousins to this very day. In fact, when Wayne’s extended family first learned of his admission into hospice, those who lived far away immediately flew home to be with Wayne.
Wayne fought an oftentimes painful battle with cancer that lasted almost three years. Throughout his ordeal, he never gave up the fight and he always fought with a smile on his face. He never complained and when asked how he was doing he would typically reply, “It could be worse”. His children, siblings, nieces and nephews counted it a privilege and honor to be by his side, night and day encouraging and helping him through. Ironically, in many ways, Wayne helped them through too and they will be forever grateful for his example.
Surviving is one granddaughter Kayla and her parents Tara and John Dechert; his second daughter Kaitlin Kasper of Harrisburg, PA; one son: Wayne T. Kasper, Jr. and husband Harry Musto of Rockaway, NJ; four siblings: Henry Kasper and wife Carol of Wayne, Kathy Warfield and husband Brad of Lake Hopatcong, Debra Kutcher and husband Robert of Wayne, and Darlene Uber and husband Gregory of Milford, PA; and numerous nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in Wayne’s name are asked to consider Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, PO Box 27106, New York, NY 10087-7106, or Compassionate Care Hospice 1373 Broad Street, Suite 309, Clifton, NJ 07013.
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