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TagsBY BOB HOLT
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Republican Assembly leader Alex DeCroce was eulogized as a good friend and a politician who led by example during Decroce’s funeral ceremony of just over two hours Friday at St. Peter the Apostle Church in Parsippany.
Robert Cascone, president of the Pequannock Republican Club, said DeCroce showed him the good one person can do. Cascone said, according to NorthJersey.com, “Someone’s problem may seem trivial … but he taught me that for that person, the problem is the most important thing in the world.”
DeCroce,75, died in the State House Monday night at the end of the legislative session. Over 1,000 people were in attendance at his funeral service, including former governors James Florio and Christine Whitman, Gov. Chris Christie and wife Mary Pat, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, and Senate President Stephen Sweeney.
Christie echoed Cascone’s remarks about DeCroce’s concern for the people of his community. Christie spoke about two constituents who said, “He came to our home one day going door to door and asked for our vote and he's been my friend ever since,” said Governor Christie, according to David Giambusso of the Star-Ledger. “It was in the way he carried himself and treated everyone else.”
Governor Whitman said, “You could disagree with him over certain things but once he was your friend he was always your friend... He respected a difference of opinion.”
Florio said, “He was a very nice man, always a gentleman...He will be missed.”
DeCroces son, Paul Johannesen, praised his father, saying, “He was the greatest man I have ever known. For the last couple of months, I have been trying to get him to slow down, but he said that he needed to keep doing his job because it was important to him. In the end, he passed away doing the job that he loved.”
And DeCroce’s young neighbor of about 11 or 12, Justin Carifi, was overcome emotionally as he spoke about his lost friend.
“I always helped Mr. DeCroce with chores around his house. This is truly the most devastating time in mine and Mrs. DeCroce's life. If I could say one thing to Mr. DeCroce it would be 'you truly are my best friend."
DeCroce was born on June 10, 1936 and died January 9, 2012. My Fox New York reports he is survived by his mother, his wife, four children, and several grandchildren and great grandchildren. DeCroce was laid to rest in East Hanover.
