[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 82 (Monday, June 22, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1192-E1193]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   PRAISE FOR MR. GERRY CALABRESE WHO IS RETIRING AFTER 43 YEARS OF 
           SERVICE TO THE PEOPLE OF BERGEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. STEVE R. ROTHMAN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 22, 1998

  Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a legendary public 
servant in Bergen County, New Jersey, Mr. Gerry Calabrese. Through 
decades of service, Mr. Calabrese has distinguished himself as a 
gentleman who puts the welfare of the people of New Jersey above his 
own.
  Gerry began his career in public service by fighting for the American 
cause of freedom in

[[Page E1193]]

World War II. After returning a hero, Gerry turned to his education and 
entered St. John's University where he was honored as an All-American 
basketball player. Upon graduation, Gerry continued playing on the 
hardwood with the National Basketball Association's Syracuse Nationals. 
However, his true vocation of stewardship to the people of his 
community was just around corner.
  After retiring from the NBA, Mr. Calabrese was elected to the 
Cliffside Park Borough Council in 1955. In 1959 he was elected to his 
first term as the Borough's Mayor. And since 1965, he has served 
continuously as Cliffside Park's chief executive. His final term will 
expire in 1999. During his tenure, he has opened the Mayor's office to 
local men and women empowering them to become active in the political 
process and establishing a level of constituent service previously 
unparalleled in Northern New Jersey. Not stopping there, he also served 
on the Bergen County Board of Freeholders from 1975 to 1985 
(functioning as its chairman in 1984), as Bergen County Democratic 
Chairman from 1991 to 1998, the New Jersey delegation to the National 
Democratic Convention in 1988 and 1992, on the New Jersey Board of 
Public Utilities from 1960 to 1987 (retiring as Director of Water and 
Sewage for the State of New Jersey), and on the 1992 New Jersey 
Congressional Re-Districting Committee.
  A beloved father and grandfather, Gerry Calabrese has earned the 
respect of men and women of all political parties and all walks of 
life. In reflection of his time of service, he has been honored by 
local chapters of UNICO, B'nai B'rith, the Police Benevolent 
Association, the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police, the 
Polish American Democratic Club, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the 
American Legion, the Elks Lodge, and the Amvets. It will be difficult 
to imagine Bergen County without him as one our most revered and 
respected mayors. Cliffside Park's next Mayor will have enormous shoes 
to fill when Mayor Calabrese leaves the office he has held for forty 
years. As this chapter of Gerry's life comes to an end, I wish him, his 
wife Marion, and his children and grandchildren, all the very best for 
a long, happy, and healthy retirement.

                          ____________________