Obituary of Henry E. Niemitz

Henry E. Niemitz of Maplewood, NJ died on February 28th at the age of 94. A memorial service for family and friends will be held at Winchester Gardens, 333 Elmwood Ave, Maplewood on Sat, April 29th at 1:30 PM Hank was born in Newark but lived in Maplewood his whole life, most recently at Winchester Gardens. He was a graduate of Columbia High School and Williams College. During college, he was called to active duty and served in North Africa with the Army Air Corps and at Air Force Headquarters in Vienna. After graduating from Williams in 1946, he completed a year of graduate studies in business at Babson College and joined New Jersey Bell where he spent 35 years in management and marketing lastly, on the new cellular mobile service development team. His real passion was serving as a community volunteer and civic leader. As a 51 year member of the Maplewood Civic Association, he participated in or chaired numerous events and was involved with Boy Scouts, Maplewood Schools, the Durand Hedden House, YMCA and was President of the Maplewood Rent Leveling Board. For his tremendous contributions, he was awarded the Maple Leaf Award by the Maplewood Civic Association in 2003. He was a member of Morrow Memorial Church for 83 years, serving on the Administrative Board for 58 years and as President of the Board of Trustees. It was as President of Morrow's Young Adults Club that he met his loving wife of 67 years, Carolyn. After his retirement, they traveled the world documenting their experiences on film and sharing them with friends and neighbors of all ages. They also spent 50 wonderful summers at Crystal Lake (PA) with lifelong friends, their children and grandchildren. Hank was a life-long learner who wrote poetry, studied the financial markets, read widely and engaged you in active and interesting conversations. His family gave him great joy and he will be missed for his wise advice, encouragement and support. In addition to Carolyn, he is survived by his three children, Jeffrey Niemitz (Tricia), Peter Niemitz (Paul Gaucher) and Gail Fritzinger (Peter); six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren; his sister, Catherine Walker and niece, Susan Walker. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Winchester Gardens Residents Association Scholarship Fund or the Niemitz Scholarship Fund at Morrow Memorial Church.