Obituary of Henry Schleckser

Henry Schleckser, age 74, passed away on Saturday, May 10, 2014 at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville. He was born in Newark, spent his youth in New Jersey and lived in New York and California and has resided in Martinsville for the past 38 years. He holds Bachelors of Science in Chemical from Newark College of Engineering (NJIT), a Masters of Chemical Engineering from University of Rochester and a Masters of Business Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Henry had a long and distinguished professional career as an engineer, manufacturing and business executive, including working for Esso, Xerox, Esso, Memorex, Tenneco, Exxon Ventures and Importers Service Corporation, where he retired in 2001. He has been a communicant at Blessed Sacrament Church for 38 years, a 3rd Degree Knight in the Knights of Columbus in Council 5959 - Our Lady of the Hills, a Eucharistic minister and lector at Blessed Sacrament and Saint Thomas Villanova in Surf City. He is a member of the Surf City Yacht Club where he was Commodore in 2011. He was an avid recreational sailor and competed nationally in the Mariner Class Regattas. He had a diverse set of interests and affiliations. He was a scuba diver, a private pilot, a member of the Martinsville Rescue Squad for 28 years, where he had been an Officer and a Trustee, a member of Surf City Volunteer Fire Company and EMS for 14 years, an educator of CPR and EMT Professionals, a Cub and Boy Scout leader, and an adjunct business professor at Raritan Valley Community College. He loved to travel, old horror movies, summers on his beloved LBI and winter vacations in sunny locations. He was avid reader, a student of the Civil War and a follower of national politics. He loved to work on computers and use them for various applications. His favorite thing, was to spend time with his grandchildren and he loved them dearly. Surviving are his beloved wife, Mary Ellen Schleckser; his children, James Schleckser and his wife Denise, Joseph Schleckser and Lynn Yesalavich and her husband, Jeffrey; his brothers, Allan, William and Raymond Schleckser; and his grandchildren, Matthew, Daniel, Liran, Molly and his step-grandchildren, Sara and Cassidy. Visitation will be held on Wednesday, May 14, 2014 from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. at Higgins Home For Funerals, 752 Mountain Blvd., Watchung. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, May 15 at 9:00 a.m. at the Funeral Home followed by a Mass of Resurrection at 10:00 a.m. at Blessed Sacrament Church, Martinsville. Entombment will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery, Basking Ridge. Memorial Contributions can be made to Surf City Volunteer Fire Company and EMS, 713 North Long Beach Blvd, Surf City, NJ 08008-5254 or Martinsville Rescue Squad ,P.O. Box 296, Bridgewater, NJ 08836.