Page 18 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • September 28, 2011 Obituaries John W. Munster of Midland Park died Sept. 21. He was 79. He is survived by his wife Doris (nee Kievit), his children William Munster of Ramsey and Joanne Krupinski and Kelly Munster, both of Mahwah. He is also survived by grandson Eddie Gordon, and his brothers Robert and Henry Munster. Arrangements were made by Van EmburghSneider-Pernice Funeral Home in Ramsey. Anthony G. Pontier Jr. of Jackson, Louisiana, formerly of Wyckoff and Goshen, New York, died Sept. 20. He was 90. He was a U.S. Army Air Corps veteran of WWII. Before retiring in 1986, he was employed with the U.S. Postal Service for 25 years. He was the proprietor of Featherland Farms in Wyckoff. He was a member of the Goshen Christian Reformed Church and a former member of the Calvin Christian Reformed Church in Wyckoff where he served as elder. He is survived by his children Ruth Husselman of Kennesaw, Georgia, Lorraine White of Monterey, Virginia, Virginia Kuilema of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Bruce Pontier of Lacombe, Louisiana, 14 grandchildren, and 15 great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his first wife Margaret, his second wife Jeanette, and his brother Rev. Arthur Pontier. Arrangements were made by Vander Plaat Funeral Home in Wyckoff. Memorial donations may be made to the Eastern Christian School Association, 20 Oakwood Avenue, North Haledon, NJ 07508 or the Christian or the Christian Health Care Center, 301 Sicomac Avenue, Wyckoff, NJ 07481. Anna Mae Siss, nee Korzinek, of Wyckoff died Sept. 20. She was 89. She was a graduate of Ramsey High School’s Class of 1940, and was a planner of her class reunions. She was a graduate of Paterson General Hospital School of Nursing’s Class of 1943 and served as the president of the nurses’ alumni group for four years. She was a member of Advent Lutheran Church in Wyckoff. She is survived by her husband Alfred A. Siss, MD, her children Alfred A. Siss Jr. of Hoboken, Eric K. Siss of Santa Monica, California, and Christine S. Keeler of Wyckoff, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her daughter Marianne R. Siss. Arrangements were made by Vander Plaat Funeral Home in Wyckoff. Memorial donations may be made to the Advent Lutheran Church, 777 Wyckoff Avenue, Wyckoff, NJ 07481 or a charity of choice. Bernard John “B.J.” Steinke of Saddle River died Sept. 15. He was 94. He was a U.S. Navy veteran of WWII. He was a graduate of Saint Cecilia High School in Englewood. He received a degree in mechanical engineering from New York University in 1942 and was involved in graduate studies there until 1945. He was also a member of the honor society Pi Tau Sigma. He had been a design engineer for John W. Munster Anthony G. Pontier Jr. the U.S. Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York and a marine engineer for George G. Sharp naval architects in New York City. He later worked for the U.S. Rubber Company in Naugatuck, Connecticut (1945-48) and the contractor B.H. Steinke, Inc. in Englewood. In 1950, he became a founding partner of Dwight Engineering Associates, an electrical and mechanical engineering firm in Englewood and later Woodcliff Lake. He is survived by his children Bernard “B.P.,” Thomas, Sheila, Linda, Maria, Colette, Peter, and Andrew, 21 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife Lillian May (nee Schroeder), and his son Jerome. Arrangements were made by Van Emburgh-Sneider-Pernice Funeral Home in Ramsey. Salvatore Venti of Palm Coast, Florida, formerly of Wyckoff, died Sept. 18. He was 90. He was a U.S. Army Air Force veteran of WWII. He studied art at the Commercial Illustration Studio Art School and Pratt Institute and Salvatore Venti then embarked on a 40-year career in advertising. Initially, he was employed as an art director at Parents magazine. He then owned his own graphic design studio for 12 years, followed by 26 years working for top New York advertising agencies. He retired in 1987. He is survived by his wife Anita (Tammy), his children Linda Camille Venti of Lexington, Massachusetts, Steven of Hanover, New Hampshire, Michael of Liverpool, New York, and Lisa Overholts of Zionsville, Pennsylvania, and nine grandchildren. He is also survived by his sisters Anna Parinello of Leesburg, Florida, and Lucy Cottone of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and his step-brother Frank Ventimiglia of Oxnard, California. He was predeceased by his first wife Eleanor Camille. Arrangements were made by Vander Plaat Funeral Home in Wyckoff. Memorial donations may be made to the James A. McFaul Environmental Center, 150 Crescent Avenue, Wyckoff, NJ 07481. Please make checks payable to County of Bergen and include Environmental Center Trust Fund in the memo line. Rambaut Lake neighbors (continued from page 8) “One of the biggest barriers to getting a consensus among those willing to consider a new association was the inability to determine with any accuracy the cost of the project,” Immerman said. “We only had an old estimate. No one was willing to make an open ended commitment. Furthermore, the cost of dredging, the suitability of the soil for resale and/or the possibility of contamination were considered. It was my understanding that the town was willing to help us investigate and refine these costs so we could be better prepared to make a case to the landowners.” “Why is the town making an effort to put the blame on a few residents?” Charles Lieberman asked the township committee. Lieberman criticized the fact that Kip Scripps, a resident who lives near the dam, was served with papers (by a police officer) telling him to take some sort of action when the Rambaut Dam became subject to major overflow during Hurricane Irene. Mayor Kevin Rooney has contacted the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection – which had previously indicated that no state action was appropriate – and asked for a new look at the dam. “I do not understand the urgent tone raised by the letter from Mayor Rooney to the DEP,” Lieberman said. “The DEP did not regard the dam as being at particular risk because of the recent storm, but in response to the town’s letter to the DEP, they will inspect the dam and respond to the town’s letter, although they expressed the opinion they do not consider our dam an emergency situation. As a homeowner who lives on the lake, I examined the dam during the storm, although it should be noted that I am neither a structural engineer nor a civil engineer. I can report that the water level exceeded the top of the dam, as it does during every major storm.” Lieberman said the water receded in a reasonable amount of time, but expressed dismay at the idea that the DEP might simply take down the dam and eliminate the lake. He also reiterated his view that all the residents of Wyckoff should assume some of the financial responsibility for repairing the dam, sharing the cost with the 21 neighbor families, and urged that this question be put on a town-wide referendum. Mayor Rooney and Township Committeeman DePhillips accepted the earlier background on the defunct Beekmere Corporation as factual, but disagreed with some later events. They asked what had become of the group of residents who had stated last year that they would defray the costs of a new dam and attempt to rally people from outside the neighborhood to help. At meetings last year, the township committee told residents that Wyckoff as a whole would not be taxed to pay for improvements that benefitted one neighborhood more than the rest of the town. The township committee also offered municipal space for the residents to meet and charter a neighborhood group, and offered to co-sign a loan so the neighbors could pay for the damn reconstruction in reasonable increments – but according to township committee members, no Rambaut Lake neighborhood group stepped forward. The project was not active until Hurricane Irene was seen as a threat to Wyckoff and downhill portions of Midland Park, at which point Mayor Rooney contacted the DEP and asked for a new look at the problem. “(The dam) is on borrowed time,” DePhillips said. “This dam is going to fail sooner or later.” Mayor Rooney, who also personally observed the dam at the height of the storm, said spill-over around the sides was a serious problem to everyone who lived downhill. Buda and Lieberman said they want all the people of Wyckoff to vote on the question, and the township committee took this under advisement but made no decision. J. KOSTER Anna Mae Siss Bernard John Steinke