Richard W. DeKorte

Richard W. DeKorte

Richard W. DeKorte (1936 – March 16 1975) was a New Jersey Republican member of the New Jersey General Assembly.

Born in Paterson, New Jersey to John I. and Henrietta DeKorte, Richard W. DeKorte was educated at Amherst College and the University of Chicago Law School. DeKorte specialized in Estate Law at the Paterson law firm of Jeffer, Walter, Tierney, DeKorte, Hopkinson & Vogel. He served as a mayor and councilman in his hometown of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.

DeKorte was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1967 and later elected majority leader with Thomas Kean as speaker. In 1970, DeKorte was appointed counsel to Governor of New Jersey William T. Cahill

When Cahill lost his bid for re-election as Governor (due to the Watergate scandal's nation-wide impact on Republicans), there were "Transition Meetings" where DeKorte assisted in bringing the governor-elect, Brendan Byrne up to speed. It is said that Byrne was so impressed with the DeKorte during those meetings he made DeKorte Head of the New Jersey State Energy Office (or "Energy Czar" as he was called). DeKorte chaired the NJ Bicentennial Commission.

On March 16 1975, DeKorte died of cancer at his home in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. During the time between DeKorte being diagnosed, and the time of his death he was visited by former-Governor Cahill, Governor Byrne, (via helicopter landing on nearby McBride Field, amazing neighborhood children) and many other respected members of the New Jersey political community.

The funeral in the gymnasium at the Most Blessed Sacrament School in Franklin Lakes drew an enormous crowd. (Please note that although his funeral was held at Most Blessed Sacrament School he was not Roman Catholic) In addition to the state police escorting former Governor William Cahill and Governor Byrne, the Franklin Lakes Police Department was called to handle the colossal crowd.

DeKorte's widow Paulette Ramsey (She has remarried, but at the time of the funeral she was still Paulette DeKorte. She now serves on the Franklin Lakes Borough Council) received an overwhelming number of sympathy cards, flowers, and boxes full of letters from people she never even met.

After DeKorte's death in 1975, the headquarters of the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission (renamed as the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission in 2000), which DeKorte created by sponsoring a piece of legislation, was named Richard W. DeKorte Park in his honor.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Meadowlands Environment Center — Entrance to DeKorte Park, Lyndhurst NJ The Meadowlands Environment Center (formerly the Hackensack Meadowlands Environmental Center) is an educational facility in the New Jersey Meadowlands in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. It is currently operated by… …   Wikipedia

  • New Jersey Meadowlands — This article is about the wetlands. For the sports complex, see Meadowlands Sports Complex. For other uses, see Meadowland (disambiguation). Meadowlands seen from Route 7, showing at least four different species of waterfowl …   Wikipedia

  • New Jersey Meadowlands Commission — Agency overview Formed 1969 Jurisdiction New Jersey Meadowlands Headquarters 1 DeKorte Park Plaza, Lyndhurst, NJ 07071 Agency executives …   Wikipedia

  • Franklin Lakes, New Jersey — Infobox Settlement official name = Borough of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey nickname = motto = imagesize = image caption = image imagesize = image caption = image mapsize = 250x200px map caption = Map highlighting Franklin Lakes s location within… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Amherst College people — This is a list of some notable people affiliated with Amherst College.Notable alumniCollege founders and presidents*Edward Jones 1826, Principal of forerunner of Fourah Bay College (the predecessor of the University of Sierra Leone) (Africa)… …   Wikipedia

  • March 16 — << March 2011 >> Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 …   Wikipedia

  • 1975 — This article is about the year 1975. Millennium: 2nd millennium Centuries: 19th century – 20th century – 21st century Decades: 1940s  1950s  1960s  – 1970s –  1980s   …   Wikipedia

  • Casper's First Christmas — Infobox Film name = Casper s First Christmas image size = caption = director = Carl Urbano producer = Alex Lovy starring = Julie McWhirter Daws Butler Don Messick John Stephenson special appearance = music = director of photography = editing =… …   Wikipedia

  • Challenge of the GoBots — Format Animated series Starring Lou Richards Arthur Burghardt Frank Welker Bernard Erhard Bob Holt …   Wikipedia

  • CB Bears — Infobox Television show name = CB Bears caption = genre = Animation camera = picture format = audio format = runtime = 60 minutes creator = director = Charles A. Nichols executive producer = William Hanna Joseph Barbera starring = voices = Daws… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”