Page 18 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • March 21, 2012 Obituaries Bertram F. “Bert” Baumeister of Wyckoff died March 11. He was 75. He was a sales representative with Kohler Distributors of Hawthorne. He was a parishioner of Saint Elizabeth’s R.C. Church in Wyckoff, where he served as an usher. He is survived by his wife Rose, his children David Baumeister of San Diego, California, Cherie Weis of Wyckoff, and Jill Baumeister of Greenwich, Connecticut, four grandchildren, and his sister Elaine Baumeister of Manchester. Arrangements were made by Vander Plaat Funeral Home in Wyckoff. Memorial donations may be made to Saint Joseph’s Regional Medical Center Foundation, 703 Main Street, Paterson, NJ 07503 or the Wyckoff Ambulance Corps, P.O. Box 214, Wyckoff, NJ 07481. Beryl Beyer, nee Metz, of Wyckoff, formerly of Ridgewood and Ho-Ho-Kus, died March 9. She was 83. She attended Passaic Collegiate School and graduated from Rutherford High School and Fairleigh Dickinson. She was a member of Ridgewood Country Club for more than 50 years. She was a tennis player and competed at Ridgewood Country Club, Upper Ridgewood Tennis Club, and the Brant Beach Yacht Club. She sang with The Ridgewood Choral, The Belles, and Pro Arte Chorale. She is survived by her husband Daniel A. Beyer, her children Bruce Beyer of Cape Coral, Florida, Constance Beyer of McLean, Virginia, and Martha Lovett of Wyckoff, four grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and her brother Robert Metz of Raymond, Maine. Memorial donations may be made to The Ridgewood Choral (Beryl Beyer/Scholarship Fund), P.O. Box 208, Ridgewood, NJ 07450. A memorial service will be held at The Unitarian Society of Ridgewood, 113 Cottage Pl. in Ridgewood, on Monday, April 2, at 11 a.m. Bertram, F. Baumeister Raymond R. Frey of Stuart, Florida and Mount Arlington, formerly of Wyckoff, died March 7. He was 86. He was a U. S. Navy veteran of WWII. He retired from PSE&G in Clifton. He is survived by his wife Phyllis Dietch Frey, his children Mary Tappen of Mount Arlington, Jane Pohlmeyer of Hudson, Florida, Ann Frey of Wyckoff, and Raymond R Frey Jr. of Mount Arlington, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Raymond J. Maniaci of Wyckoff died March 10. He was 59. He was a graduate of Paterson Catholic High School where he was well known for playing lead guitar in the band The Crystal Ship. He earned a B.S. degree in business administration from Monmouth College of New Jersey. He was the chairman of Nicholas Markets, Inc., a family business with Foodtown supermarkets in North Haledon and Cedar Grove. He also operated the Grand Opening Liquor store in North Haledon. He was a coach for Torpedoes soccer for several years. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth, his children Cara Behrman and Raymond Nicholas, one grandchild, and his siblings Rosann Rogalski, David Maniaci, and Paul Maniaci. He was predeceased by his parents Nicholas and Anna Maniaci. Arrangements were made by Vander Plaat Funeral Home in Wyckoff. Memorial donations may be made to the Lustgarten Foundation, 1111 Stewart Avenue, Bethpage, NJ 11714. Gloria Rufino of Midland Park, formerly of East Orange and Kearny, died March 9. She was 83. She is survived by her daughters Rosemarie Hung and Gina Karl, three grand- Raymond R. Frey children, and her sister Joanne (Hanna) Payne of Little Egg Harbor. She was predeceased by her husband Nicola Rufino. Arrangements were made by Vander Plaat Funeral Home in Wyckoff. Memorial donations may be made to the Midland Park Ambulance Corps, 42 Pierce Avenue, Midland Park, NJ 07432. George Van Heest of Mahwah, formerly of Franklin Lakes, died March 9. He was 89. He was a U.S. Army Air Corps veteran of WWII. He was a self-employed carpenter and retired from the Valley Hospital in that trade. He was a 50-year member of the Franklin Lakes Volunteer Fire Department, and a member of the Franklin Lakes United Methodist Church since 1943. He is survived by his wife Anna, his sons George Jr. of Mahwah and Garry of Colchester, Connecticut, and four grandchildren. Arrangements were made by Vander Plaat Funeral Home in Wyckoff. Memorial donations may be made to the Franklin Lakes United Methodist Church, 454 Pulis Avenue, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417 or the Valley Hospital Foundation (Hospice), 223 North Van Dien Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450. Paul Robertson Whitney of Midland Park, formerly of Hackettstown and Tenafly, died March 12. He was 96. Before retiring in 1983, he was the national controller for the YMCA in Chicago, Illinois. He is survived by his children James R. Whitney of Closter and Kathleen M. Fossa of Midland Park, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Memorial donations may be made to the Ramapo Bergen Animal Refuge, Inc., 2 Shelter Lane, Oakland, NJ 07432. every action taken concerning the contractual agreements with Saxton. Meier said any monies paid to Saxton, or “in lieu of” days granted, were part of his contractual agreements or based on common past practices of the board. “There was never a time anything was held in secret,” Meier said. “I always asked everyone to be part of it. I always worked with the committee and there was never a time when we passed a contract with Paul that was not open and up front. Any indication by Mr. Belsky that anything was done below the table or in secret is absolutely in error.” Meier emphasized that the reason the board paid Saxton what he was paid was because of his performance in bringing millions of dollars to the district in the Horizon rebuilding project, his leadership in bringing the Franklin Lakes split controversy to a successful conclusion, the establishment of the University Programs, and the creation of the professional development program. “No one ever did what he did,” Meier said of Saxton,” and I would never apologize for him being one of the highest paid superintendents in Bergen County. He earned it.” Madigan described Belsky’s allegation as nonsense and not worthy of a response, but he added, “Anything that was done of a contractual nature with Saxton was done with the full knowledge and approval of the school board.” George Van Heest Raymond J. Maniaci Beryl Beyer Paul Robertson Whitney Gloria Rufino Settlement (continued from page 6) superintendent’s claims. He added, “The real tragedy is that so much money was wasted defending these claims. It could have been better used to educate our students.” Belsky then commented on former board presidents Rick Meier and Thomas Madigan, who signed Saxton’s contracts while he was the school district’s superintendent. “Frankly, I don’t understand why former presidents Meier and Madigan were so supportive of this effort to extract so many hundreds of thousands of dollars from our taxpayers when Mr. Saxton had been the highest paid superintendent in Bergen County.” Belsky claimed Meier and Madigan committed the district to hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation for comp days without telling the board about it and that a resolution was never put before the board to approve payment for comp days for Saxton. He maintains that Saxton has no contractual right to payment for any of those days. Meier and Madigan disagreed with Belsky’s allegations. Both emphasized that the board was 100 percent aware of