Obituary of Howard R. Bertschy

Howard R. Bertschy, 94, of Madison, N.J., formerly of Maplewood, N.J., died on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015, at Sunrise Assisted Living in Madison. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the funeral service at the Jacob A. Holle Funeral Home, 2122 Millburn Ave., Maplewood, on Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, at 11 a.m. Interment is in Hollywood Memorial Park, Union, N.J. Visiting hours are on Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. Born in Paterson, N.J., Mr. Bertschy lived in Maplewood for more than 60 years and in Hawthorne, N.J., before moving to Madison two years ago. A World War II veteran, he served in the Navy as a radioman on the destroyer USS Taylor in the Pacific that earned 15 battle stars and escorted General MacArthur to the signing of the Treaty of Tokyo. He was certified by RCA Institutes and first worked at Lavoie Labs as a junior engineer before joining Bell Labs as a technical engineer, where he worked on military defense projects, including Nike Zeus and Safeguard for 35 years. He retired from Telcordia in 1985. Mr. Bertschy was a member of the (Telephone) Pioneers and the United States Bowling Congress, and was also an avid bridge player. He was a member and quartermaster for the Maplewood VFW Post 10120 in the 1980s. Mr. Bertschy was the beloved husband of the late June E. Stevens Bertschy; devoted father of Barbara Bertschy and her husband, Leon Goldstein, and Steven Bertschy and his wife, Maryanne; and the loving grandfather of David and Carrie Ann Bertschy. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Wounded Warrior Project (www.woundedwarriorproject.org) would be appreciated. For more information or to send condolences, please visit jacobhollefuneralhome.com.