John J. "Jack" Gallagher, Jr.

Passed away on October 4, 2026. Formerly of Haddonfield, NJ. Jack was the devoted husband of Christine I. (nee Fessler) for 60 years; cherished father of Christine G. (Christopher) Cowan and John J. “Shawn” Gallagher, III; loving grandfather of Marissa L. Stambaugh,  Avery L. Gallagher and Callum J. Gallagher.

Throughout his distinguished career, he was deeply committed to business, public service, education, and his community. He served as CEO of The Gallagher Group and President of Affordable Home Enterprises, Inc., and previously served as Vice Chairman of Covenant Bank. His commitment to public service included two terms in the New Jersey Legislature as Assemblyman for the 6th District from 1974–1977. He was a graduate of Valley Forge Military Academy High School and Junior College, Class of 1965, and later attended the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

His leadership extended to numerous organizations, including the Valley Forge Military Academy & College Board of Trustees, where he served as Chairman of the Board, as well as serving as Past President of Garden State Rotary and the Haddonfield Business Association, and on the Board of Directors of True North Church. He proudly served in the Air Force/Air National Guard at McGuire Air Force Base from 1965–1971.

A respected professional, he held designations as a Registered Health Underwriter and Certified Professional Insurance Agent, and was honored with the Outstanding Alumni Award from Valley Forge Military Academy and the National Management Award from the General Agents & Managers Conference. Outside of his professional and civic commitments, he enjoyed his memberships in the Vintage Sports Car Club of America and the Quinton Sportsmen’s Club. As well as owning a farm in Monroeville, NJ, where he loved to drive his tractor & previously raised sheep, goats & llamas. Beyond his many accomplishments, he will be remembered for the relationships he built, the organizations he served, and the lasting impact he made on those around him, especially with his family.

Jack’s family will receive relatives and friends on Friday, October 16^th from 10-11:45am at Kain-Murphy Funeral Services, 15 West End Ave. Haddonfield, NJ where a brief prayer service will immediately follow at Noon.

Barbara “Bobbie” N. Koontz

(nee Neill) On October 9, 2026, wife of the late Robert C. Koontz, Jr., beloved mother of Jody Cortellessa (John), Michael N. Koontz (Jennifer) and Robert C. Koontz, III (Kristen); Loving grandmother of Anthony Cortellessa, Melanie Dawson (Timothy), Ashley Sturts (Adam), Christy Koontz, Katie Koontz and Bryan Koontz and cherished great grandmother of Oliver & Nora Dawson and Brooke Sturts.

A long time Haddonfield resident, Bobbie went to Haddonfield Memorial High School, and then Dickinson College where she met the love of her life Bob Koontz. Bobbie enjoyed summers in Ocean City, NJ, with her family and friends, and playing tennis and golf. She was a member of Grace Episcopal Church, Tavistock Country Club, The Haddon Fortnightly and was active in the Haddonfield PTA while her children were in school.

Bobbie’s family will receive friends on Thursday, October 15^th, 10-10:45 at Grace Episcopal Church 19 Kings Hwy. East, Haddonfield, NJ; where her Service will follow at 11 AM.  Interment is private.  In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in honor of Bobbie may be made to the Alzheimer’s Assoc. (www.alz.org)

Justin T. Loughry, Esq

Justin T. Loughry, Esq. of Haddonfield, New Jersey died on September 29, 2026, at the age of 71.

Justin was the devoted husband of Leah McGarry Morris; beloved father of Nora Loughry; cherished stepfather to Benjamin and Lindsay Morris; delighted step grandfather of Ellie Tucker – Morris; dear brother of Daniel Loughry and his wife Lois Loughry; dear brother of the late Kevin Loughry and his wife the late Judy Loughry; loving uncle to Kristin and Kevin Loughry; and treasured brother – in – law of Marc McGarry and Susan Goldschied.

Justin was a generous, compassionate, profoundly loving and courageous man. He always tried to see the good in others and to pour his energy into advocating for justice for all, both as a professional and as an individual. Gentle, gallant and witty, he was a moral compass for many.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, after attending Malden Catholic High School (Malden, Massachusetts), where he learned to become a gifted public speaker, he graduated from Williams College (B.A., magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, 1978). During college he spent 3 semesters studying away at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where he lived in a Catholic Worker house that sponsored a soup kitchen, and began his lifelong commitment to helping others. He graduated from New York University Law School (J.D. cum laude,1981), where he was a Root – Tilden Scholar and a member of the Order of the Coif. He then clerked for two years for the Honorable John F. Gerry of the United States District Court of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, a city he grew to champion.

Justin practiced as a litigation associate at Montgomery, McCracken, et al. in Philadelphia, PA, as a New Jersey state public defender in Camden, NJ, and as a litigation associate and eventually as a partner at Tomar, Simonoff, et al. in Haddonfield, NJ.  In 2000, he co-founded Loughry and Lindsay, LLC in Camden, NJ, and in his final years engaged in the sole practice of law.

He regularly appeared in state and federal courts in criminal and civil matters, and before administrative agencies and professional licensing boards. He was a New Jersey Certified Criminal Trial Attorney and was designated for many years as a “Super Lawyer” in criminal defense in New Jersey by the Thomson-Reuters Lawyers Rating Service. He was a President of the Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys of New Jersey (ACDL-NJ), a trustee of the Camden County Bar Association (CCBA), and a member of the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) Panel for the United States District Court of New Jersey. In 2008 he received a New Jersey State Bar Association Professional Lawyer of the Year Award, nominated by both the ACDL-NJ and the CCBA. In 2017, he received the ACDL-NJ’s Lawrence A. Whipple Memorial Award, which honors exemplary professionalism, dedication to and passion for the law.

A consummate advocate on both the trial and appellate levels, he was renowned for his oral and writing skills, as well as his professionalism.   He handled a uniquely wide and varied caseload, and every client was equally significant to him. A highly respected attorney for those in need, he could be fierce and intrepid without offending.

Among his myriad cases, he was counsel in the 2009 New Jersey Supreme Court case of State v. Nunez-Valdez, which established that criminal defense counsel’s failure to give accurate advice on immigration consequences of a guilty plea constituted ineffective assistance of counsel under the New Jersey State Constitution. He was co-counsel in State v. Soto, which proved the existence of a de facto policy of racial profiling on the New Jersey Turnpike.  In 2001, he received an American Civil Liberties Union Award for this work against discrimination. He was co-counsel in the 2014 New Jersey Supreme Court case of Gormley v. Wood El, which first recognized the substantive due process right to be free of state-created dangers. In the United States District Court in Camden, NJ. beginning in 1997 and for a number of years thereafter, he and several colleagues successfully challenged a pattern of excessive use of force during a lockdown at New Jersey’s Bayside State Prison.

He taught as an Adjunct Instructor at Drexel University’s Thomas R. Kline School of Law and Rutgers-Camden Law School in the areas of professional responsibility-legal ethics, and criminal defense litigation strategy. He lectured on criminal practice, ethics, experts, and evidence in various continuing legal education programs. He was also qualified as an expert in civil litigation.

Justin’s personal life was equally important to him. He deeply appreciated friendship and loved literature, poetry, running and biking, music, art, nature, and the Spanish language. He was an extraordinarily loving partner for Leah and an ardently devoted parent to Nora, Ben, and Lindsay. His recipe for rice and beans was legendary, and he was an enthusiastic cheerleader for Philadelphia sports teams.  He relished membership in the Salmon Falls Land Association in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, a small intentional co-housing community of like-minded people. He radiated kindness and grace, had a remarkable gift for finding meaning and connection everywhere, and embraced the paradox of being alive with all its joys and pain.

Justin’s lifelong spiritual journey began with traditional childhood Catholicism and followed a path through Liberation Catholicism to Quakerism and in later years a contemplative framework of mindfulness meditation and contemporary wisdom teachings. He was a member of the Haddonfield Friends Meeting and an enthusiastic member of its Peace and Social Concerns Committee, with particular fondness for its efforts on behalf of prisoners, individuals re-entering society from incarceration, and the refugee community.

A Memorial Service for Justin Loughry open to all will be held on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at 1:30 PM at the Haddonfield Friends Meeting House, 47 Friends Ave. Haddonfield, NJ.

In lieu of flowers, charitable donations in Justin’s name may be made to the Haddonfield Friends Meeting earmarked for the Refugee Assistance Fund of its Peace and Social Concerns Committee, or to any other organization that supports social justice.

Eugene H. Kain, Jr.

Gene Kain, a longtime Haddonfield resident, funeral director, educator, coach, and devoted community servant, passed away on October 7, 2026, at the age of 79. He was the beloved husband of Myra Kain for 57 years; loving father of Dr. Michael Kain (Dr. Lois Choi-Kain) and Rachel Downie (Patrick); cherished grandfather of Emma and Abigail Kain and Lindsay Downie; dear brother of Patricia Kain (Bill Evans), Robert Kain (Rosalynn Sumners), and Stephen Kain (Carole); and treasured uncle and cousin.

The son of Dr. Eugene H. Kain and Janet Kain of Haddonfield, Gene was a valued member of the community he loved and served. He graduated from Haddonfield Memorial High School in 1965. A distinguished varsity wrestler, he won the New Jersey state wrestling championship in 1964 as a junior and remains the last state champion wrestler from Haddonfield.

He attended Gettysburg College, graduating in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts in health and physical education. He continued his wrestling career there as both a wrestler and a coach. While at Gettysburg, he met his wife, Myra, beginning a partnership that would remain central to his life.

Following college, Gene returned to Haddonfield, where he began his career as a teacher and coach. He also coached wrestling, track, and cross-country, sharing with generations of young people the discipline, teamwork, and perseverance he had learned through athletics. He also started Haddonfield’s youth wrestling program.

In September 1975, Gene graduated from the American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service in New York City. He was valedictorian of his graduating class and received two distinguished honors: the Dr. Thomas M. Quinn Award, presented to the student who contributed the most to his class, and the Silvio J. Failla Achievement Award, recognizing the outstanding member of the graduating class.

After serving as a licensed funeral director in Collingswood, Gene returned to Haddonfield and, in 1979, became owner of Stretch, Evans & Kain Funeral Home, Inc. which later operated as Kain Funeral Home, Holl-Murphy Funeral Home, and ultimately Kain-Murphy Funeral Services. For decades, Gene guided families through some of life’s most difficult moments, providing compassionate and dignified service to the Haddonfield community and surrounding South Jersey.

Beginning in 1996, he served as a medical investigator for the Camden County Medical Examiner’s Office. He also served as mayor of Haddonfield from 1997 to 2001, following many years of civic involvement.

Among his many commitments, he served on the boards of Interfaith Caregivers, the Haddonfield Ambulance Association, the Haddonfield Civic Association, the Camden County Chapter of the American Red Cross, and the Haddonfield Library Board, where he was instrumental in the renovation of the Haddonfield Public Library. Gene received the Governor Alfred E. Driscoll Community Service Award from the Haddonfield Civic Association in 2003 and was named Citizen of the Year by the Haddonfield Lions Club in 2015. He was also a member of the Haddonfield Rotary Club and the Haddonfield Y’s Men’s Club, serving as president of the latter in 1982.

Wrestling remained a lifelong passion. After being inducted into the South Jersey Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1982, he continued his involvement with the organization as treasurer and later as president. His passion for athletics and competition extended beyond the mat to road races, marathons, triathlons, biathlons, and open-water swims, culminating in his participation as a senior in the 2012 World Triathlon Games in London.

New Hampshire was an important part of Kain family life, and that connection began with Camp Tecumseh. Gene was a camper and counselor there in the 1960s and later served on its Board of Trustees as a term trustee from 1989 to 1995. Focused on making boys better, the camp embodied participation, effort, and trying new things. As a trip crew counselor, Gene was introduced to—and developed a lifelong love of—the White Mountains. New Hampshire and the camp experience inspired many family vacations and adventures, as well as later challenges, including an attempt to climb Mount Rainier. He loved the challenge.

He was also a longtime member of Tavistock Country Club.

Gene devoted his life to people and community—on the wrestling mat, at the funeral home, and in municipal government. He believed in showing up, lending a hand, and giving his time to others. His influence can be seen in the generations of students and athletes he taught, the families he served, and the community he worked tirelessly to strengthen.

Above all, he will be remembered as a husband, family man, friend, mentor, and neighbor whose roots in Haddonfield ran deep. His legacy is reflected in the many lives he touched throughout a lifetime of service.

Gene’s family will receive friends and relatives on Monday evening, October 12, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Kain-Murphy Funeral Services, 15 West End Ave., Haddonfield, NJ 08033. All are invited to his Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, October 13, at Christ the King Roman Catholic Church, 200 Windsor Ave., Haddonfield, NJ 08033. Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Gene’s honor may be made to Interfaith Caregivers, P.O. Box 186, Haddonfield, NJ 08033 (www.giftofalift.org).

***PARKING IS AVAILABLE AT THE HADDONFIELD UNITED METHODIST CHURCH PARKING LOT. YOU ARE WELCOME TO WALK FROM THERE OR WE WILL BE SHUTTLING FOLKS VIA MINIVAN FROM THE PARKING LOT TO THE FUNERAL HOME DURING THE VISITATION.***

Margaret Marie "Margie" Benson

Margaret Marie Benson passed away on October 7,2026, at the age of 77, with family and loved ones by her side.

Margie was a resident of Haddonfield, New Jersey. She loved tending to her flower and herb gardens. She was happiest in her kitchen, where she expressed her creativity through cooking.

Margie is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Eleanor and Ted Powell; her nephew, Justin Powell, his wife, Carolyn; and their sons, Conner and Ethan. Margie is also survived by James Evans, Jr., her loving and longtime partner. She was preceded in death by her parents, Edward and Eleanor Dawes.

A private family gathering will be held at a later date to honor her memory.

In lieu of flowers, Margie requested that donations be made to Animal Orphanage, 419 Cooper Road Voorhees, NJ 08043. (https://www.aonj.org/support/donate/ )

Kathryn "Kathy" L. McGeorge

Passed away on September 11, 2026. Kathy was the loving daughter of Chauncey K. McGeorge, M.D. and Marilyn A. McGeorge; cherished sister of Leslie McGeorge of Washington Crossing, PA, and Shelley McGeorge, of Columbia, SC; devoted aunt of Leslie’s children, Devon Hastie and Darren Lauer; and great aunt of Parker, Riley, Thomas, Elizabeth and Charlotte. Kathy was a very gentle, wise and caring soul, who practiced gratitude throughout her life.  She was an excellent listener and cared deeply for her family and friends.

Kathy held a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Delaware, and a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Harvard University. She worked as an experimental preschool teacher.  Kathy loved: teaching young children (including her beloved niece and nephew); animals of all kinds, including cats, dogs and birds, (particularly doves); caring for her many plants; vegetarian cooking and eating; natural healing techniques (including Reiki); and mid-century modern design. A memorial and burial service for her will be held privately by the family.

Memorial donations in Kathy’s name may be made to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation ( https://give.bcrf.org/ )

Condolences may be expressed electronically to the McGeorge family on the condolence tab at www.KainMuphy.com.

Nancy L. Bowman

Nancy Levering Bowman, 94, former longtime resident of Haddonfield, NJ, passed away peacefully on September 16, 2026, at Medford Leas in Medford, NJ.

Born Nancy Weir Levering in Camden, NJ, on August 15, 1932, to Mildred and Frederick Weir Levering, she was known warmly as Nance, Mimi, and Gram to friends and family. Smart, creative, and quietly wry, Nancy had a way of tending to the world around her so that everything became more beautiful, well-grounded, and woven into something unforgettable.

Her love story with her late husband, Bob Bowman, began in elementary school with neighborhood warfare when Bob threw dirt bombs at her from the “trenches” across the street. Bob’s persistence clearly paid off; after crossing paths again following college, Nancy married “the boy across the street” in 1958.

Nancy graduated from Wellesley College in 1953 with a degree in botany. She attended Columbia School of Nursing but ultimately decided nursing was not her calling and chose instead to teach second grade in Cherry Hill until she and Bob started their family. Recognizing early on that local grade schools lacked dedicated libraries, Nancy later stepped in to help establish the library at Elizabeth Haddon Elementary School in Haddonfield, serving as librarian, curating classroom book collections, and inviting authors in to inspire students.

Nancy devoured the newspaper cover to cover each morning, carefully saving articles (lots of them!) she thought her family would enjoy. She loved writing and held language in high regard. She published a poetry collection, On the North Side, when she was 19; penned her own Winnie-the-Pooh tales;  and wielded a legendary red pen over her children’s school papers. She was also known for her dry wit and lightening-fast one-liners. She once invited neighbors over for a “pot party”—causing immediate scandal until attendees realized they were meant to bring a one-pot meal to the hippie-themed dinner party.

Animals naturally found their way to Nancy, and she had a heart rivaling Dr. Dolittle. Her childhood home housed everything from Great Danes and a duck to pet white mice and a baby goat. Her own home bustled with four cats, a dog, rabbits, a catfish, and pet mice over the years. Whenever a wild animal was hurt, Nancy stepped in, whether to nurse a hurt turtle or rehabilitate an injured crow the family affectionately named “Johnny Crow.” In her later years, her beloved grey cat Smokey was her constant companion.

To many who knew her, Nancy was first and foremost a passionate, deeply knowledgeable gardener. Her affinity for plants blossomed when her family moved to Cricket Call Farm in Cherry Hill, where she developed an enduring love for herbs, vegetables, and wildflowers. Along with a close friend, Nancy co-founded “The Plant Ladies,” a venture that held seasonal herb sales offering fresh plants and homemade herb specialties. She later completed the Barnes Arboretum Horticulture Program, deepening her command of botanical science and garden design. She remained an active member of the Herb Society of America, Pennsylvania Horticulture Society, and the Haddonfield Garden Club, occasionally giving lectures and visiting local schools to share her expertise.

Above all, Nancy poured tremendous imagination and love into family celebrations and everyday gatherings, creating memories and traditions that will last for generations. Her children’s birthday celebrations always included homemade invitations, themed games, and amazing birthday cakes. Halloween brought bowls of cold spaghetti “brains” and meticulously carved pumpkins, while Christmas was filled with caroling parties, huge gingerbread men, and handmade decorations. We will always remember her lifelong love of singing and music, particularly the day she ran down a hill in Vermont singing “The hills are alive with the sound of music…” at the top of her lungs, and the laughter of Medford Leas staff as she recited cheers from her high school cheerleading days.

Nancy was preceded in death by her husband Bob, her parents, and her sisters Jean and Millie. She is survived by her four children, Carolyn (Ben) Ragusa, Peter (Julie) Bowman, Jonathan (Christi) Bowman, and Jennifer (Glover) Lawrence; 12 grandchildren; and a menagerie of six grand-dogs and three grand-cats.

The family is planning a celebration of Nancy’s life for springtime, when the flowers are in full bloom. In honor of her lifelong love for all living things, memorial donations may be made to the World Wildlife Fund (https://www.worldwildlife.org/ ) or the ASPCA ( https://www.aspca.org/ ).

Eric Otto Hartmann

Eric Otto Hartmann of Berlin, New Jersey, died on September 19, 2026, at the age of 90. He was a Haddonfield boy, a Phillies man, a husband of sixty-six years, and, by his own accounting when asked to name his greatest talent, someone who cared about people.

Eric was born in 1936 and raised in Haddonfield, New Jersey, in a middle-class neighborhood he never stopped loving. He was the younger son of Joseph R. Hartmann, a printer who owned the Colonial Printing Company of Haddonfield, and Martha B. Hartmann, who, Eric said, never once spoke an unkind word about another person.

His entrepreneurial life began at a young age, when his father built him a cart to hitch to the back of his bicycle. Eric bought a block of ice for fifteen cents each night, hand-scraped snowballs in six homemade flavors, and sold them for a nickel apiece. He kept that ice scraper for the rest of his life.

He graduated from Haddonfield High School in 1954, where he played baseball for legendary coach Russ Spicer, sang in the choir, and served on the senior prom committee. He held a school record he liked to mention: a 10⅓-inning complete game against Merchantville, pitched on about 150 pitches, wearing a borrowed jersey because he was the sixteenth man on a fifteen-uniform squad.

Eric entered the United States Army on March 22, 1959, completed basic training at Fort Dix, and then trained on Nike Ajax missiles in El Paso, Texas. What he remembered most about Texas was the letters. Sandy wrote to him nearly every other day. He served three years, including time in the New Jersey National Guard.

On June 25, 1960, he married Sandra Finley at Martin Luther Chapel in Pennsauken, New Jersey, with a reception at Sherros restaurant. He knew she was the one the moment he saw her at a dance hall in Oaklyn. Sixty-six years later, he still called it the best choice he ever made.

His working life took him from Sun Oil Company to the job he had dreamed about since childhood: in 1969, he joined the Philadelphia Phillies as assistant treasurer. He later became the club’s head accountant, traveling with the team and attending spring training for more than a decade. Richie Ashburn was always his favorite Phillie. He later opened a Donuts Galore franchise in Marlton, raced standardbreds out of Garden State Park, and spent his final ten working years running the sales and use tax department at Automatic Data Processing. Alongside it all, for three decades he sold tickets at the Spectrum, the CoreStates Center (now Xfinity Mobile Arena), and Veterans Stadium as a member of IATSE Local 752.

He gave his time freely. He led a YMCA group in Haddonfield called the Rebels and designed their jackets himself. He served as president of the Voorhees Township Jaycees, raising money for families in need. Above all, he loved coaching youth baseball. In 1962, he coached the Haddonfield Babe Ruth 15-year-olds to the New Jersey state finals, and over the years he coached in the Gibbsboro-Voorhees Little League, in Babe Ruth ball, and for the beloved Mud Hens of the Tri-County Baseball League.

He loved spring, and the garden, and getting out on the lawn where he could talk baseball with the neighbors. He was still at it this spring, out edging the sidewalk at his daughter’s house at eighty-nine. He loved Christmas most of all: the late nights he and Sandy spent wrapping presents until three in the morning, and the sight of three children coming down the stairs.

His convictions were simple and firmly held: that all people are created equal, that there is no room for prejudice, that you help those less fortunate than you, and that you never forget to say thank you. Asked what advice he would leave future generations, he wrote: Treat people with kindness and respect all people.

He is survived by his wife of sixty-six years, Sandra (Finley) Hartmann; his son Jeff Hartmann and his wife, Marisa; his daughters Linda Santangelo and Jill Hartmann; six grandchildren, Emma Hartmann, Lily Hartmann, Brett Hartmann, Quinn Hartmann, Kyle Santangelo, and Luke Santangelo; and two great-grandchildren, Saoirse and Callum. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Margaret Hartmann; his nephews Ed Hartmann and his wife, Teresa, and George Finley and his wife, Carleen; and his nieces Kim Lindemuth and Meg Swartz and her husband, Dan. He was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph R. Hartmann and Martha B. Hartmann of Haddonfield, New Jersey; his brother, Joseph B. Hartmann of Gibbsboro, New Jersey; his nephew, Joseph H. Hartmann; and his niece, Sharon Finley.  He is also survived by his longtime friend, Bruce Ogden of Cinnaminson, NJ.

Among his happiest memories was his 80th birthday in 2016, when the entire family spent a week in a house on the beach in Ocean City, New Jersey, with the front deck sliding doors opening straight onto the ocean view. He was not much of a beach guy. He thought it was wonderful anyway.

Mr. Hartmann’s family will receive relatives & friends on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 from 9-10:15 AM at Kain-Murphy Funeral Services, 15 West End Ave., Haddonfield, NJ; where his Service will follow at 10:30 AM. All are invited to his interment at Locustwood Memorial Park in Cherry Hill, NJ.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in his memory to Fans for the Cure (www.fansforthecure.org) or the Food Bank of South Jersey (www.foodbanksj.org).

Michael Thomas Landis

On September 15, 2026, husband of Elizabeth Kimball, father of Emily Landis, Sarah Landis (Josh Kail), & Peter Landis, grandfather of Eleanor Kail & Dylan Warwick, and brother of Nancy Landis. Beloved son of Thomas and Angelina Landis of Barrington, NJ who have already passed away.

Mike was a graduate of Rutgers University Camden (class of 1983) where he studied history and edited the student newspaper The Gleaner. In his early career, he was a manager for the Gimbels department stores. He then served as an executive at SMS (now Siemens) in Malvern, PA, Campbell’s Soup Company in Camden, and Diageo in Stamford, CT, as well as in consulting in strategic human resources. He mentored numerous young professionals and helped many more find the right fit in their organizations.

His true life’s work was serving the Neighborhood Center in Camden, NJ. Founded in 1915, Neighborhood Center is one of the few remaining original settlement houses in the United States. Starting in the 1980s as a volunteer through Haddonfield United Methodist Church, Mike was volunteer, then board member, and since 2012, Executive Director. Under Mike’s leadership, the Center brought its original mission of the “four-fold life” –cultivating mind, body, spirit, and community –to create a modern, fully inclusive organization with an Early Development Childcare Center, programs for school age children that wrap around the school day and year, a community garden that grows over 1200 pounds of produce each year, a teen program, and a daily lunch available to all. He raised funds to renovate the historic campus, cultivating donors through the Center’s roots in the United Methodist Church in New Jersey while also pursuing significant private and public funding sources, with the help of a diverse and dedicated board and staff.

Mike was an avid student of history. At Rutgers, he wrote a thesis on George Kennan drawing from archives at Princeton University.  He especially admired Franklin Delano Roosevelt and strove to follow his philosophy to always try to “do something” so that everyone can live with freedom from fear and freedom from want. He also served with pride on the vestry of historic Christ Church, Philadelphia.

Nothing gave Mike more joy than creating family by feeding people delicious and abundant meals. In over 40 years, he never missed a Thanksgiving food giveaway event at Neighborhood Center, ultimately transforming the food distribution to a community wide “flash grocery store” that allowed people to independently choose the foods that they wished. In part, his love of family meals drew from his pride in being the grandson of Italian immigrants Libro and Rita Testa and his memories of large family gatherings in Vineland, NJ. But he also possessed his own gift for making family, in the one he made with his daughters Emily and Sarah and their stepmom Liz before welcoming their son Peter, his adopted grandparents Rev. David and Esther Wilson, the Kimball and Dodds families in his marriage to Liz, his long-time friend Michael Arnas, and with the staff of the Neighborhood Center, especially Tess Holley and Valerie Cooke with whom he shared leadership. He loved watching Neighborhood Center kids grow up and flourish. Most of all, Mike loved his children Emily, Sarah, and Peter, and was a loving and devoted husband to Liz for 26 happy years.

All are invited to Mike’s Memorial Service on Saturday, September 26, 2026 at 10 AM at Christ Church, 20 N. American St. (2^nd and Market Streets), Philadelphia, PA 19106. Following the service, all are encouraged to stay for a reception to greet the family and enjoy the fellowship of Mike’s community. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Neighborhood Center (www.neighborhoodrising.org).

Margaret C. (“Marge”) Prendergast

(nee Walsh) On September 12, 2026, wife of the late John J. Prendergast; beloved mother of John T. Prendergast (Carole Bernstein), Margo Prendergast Weber, Winnie Branton (John) and Bernadette McPherson (David); loving Grammy of 12; cherished great grandmother of 13, and dear sister of the late Mary Elizabeth (“Betty”) Carr.

Marge Prendergast (“Margaret is my mother,” she would say) was born on October 8, 1928, and baptized January 29th, 1929, at St. Charles Borromeo Church at 21st and Christian streets in South Philadelphia. As a child, she lived in rented houses off Point Breeze Avenue, with her parents, an aunt and uncle, and two cousins, in a closeknit, multi-ethnic neighborhood where what held everybody together “was in the beginning, everybody, black, white, green, yellow, everyone was poor,” she wrote in a recent memoir, Shirley, Mickey, and Me.

She studied dancing from the age of two, first at a school in her neighborhood and later at Philadelphia’s Massey Dancing School, which was a formative experience. She always said her training—and the experience of singing and dancing before other children between shows at local movie theaters (“If you can do that in front of that audience, you can do anything in front of any audience in the world”)—taught her confidence in public speaking and many other areas later in life. She continued to dance well into her ninth decade at weddings, birthdays, and other gatherings, earning her the nickname “Dancing Queen.”

She loved to shop for clothes and rarely appeared in public in anything other than an artfully color-coordinated outfit accessorized with earrings and other jewelry from an extensive stock of such items. For many more years than was good for her, she refused any footwear but pumps.

Some of those earrings featured the logos of her beloved Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies, whose fortunes she followed avidly throughout her life. (While briefly dating Phillies pitcher Bubba Church in 1950, she attended the team’s two home losses in a four-game sweep by the Yankees in the World Series; more recently, a full-size cutout of current Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts featured at family parties and other events she organized.)

Marge attended St. Aloysius grade school and West Catholic Girls high school, graduating in 1946. There she was active in student government; her school paper, The Reaper; and the student World Affairs Council, among other groups, many related to the War effort. She later compiled credits to earn an associate degree at Peirce Junior College, but immediately after high school she went to work at a variety of jobs, including in the business office of a distillery; for the freight forwarding company National Carloading; at an advertising agency; and an export-import firm. In 1954 she was voted Citizen of the Year at the Passyunk Homes, where she was then living with her family and ran a community newsletter and dancing school.

On Thanksgiving Day in 1955 she married John Prendergast following a courtship of several months. After they settled in Most Blessed Sacrament parish, she became a volunteer leader there, involved in organizing fashion shows, student variety shows, and other extra-curricular activities and fundraising initiatives.

She was widowed when John died suddenly in 1971. At the time, he was assistant treasurer of the Girard Trust Bank and manager of its 19th and Spring Garden branch. After a stint working at MBS to be near her children, Marge embarked on her own successful career with Girard (later Mellon), rising from bank teller to District Customer Sales and Service Manager before retiring. A natural talent at marketing, she helped promote the bank’s early ATM, dubbed “George,” inventing “George Bingo” as a way to popularize the service with the community. She also won multiple awards for public speaking from the American Institute of Banking (AIB) during her career.

After moving to Haddonfield, NJ, in 2000, she embarked on a third career as a volunteer leader with the Haddon Fortnightly and Virtua Health. She served as the longtime treasurer and is a past president of the WJ Virtua Women’s Auxiliary, fundraising for and promoting Virtua’s Eatwell Initiative serving Camden County, in particular its Mobile Grocery Store, for which she spearheaded an ongoing effort known as “Bingo for the Bus.”

Marge’s family will receive relatives and friends on Monday, September 21, 2026, 9-10:45 AM, at Christ the King RC Church, 200 Windsor Ave., Haddonfield, NJ; where her Funeral Mass will follow at 11 AM.  Interment, private.  In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Marge’s honor may be made to the WJ Virtua Auxiliary at https://givetovirtua.org/initiatives/eat-well/