January 30, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 15 Area Wyckoff remembers Galenkamp, five-time mayor by John Koster Harold J. Galenkamp Jr., who served an unprecedented five terms as mayor of Wyckoff, has died at the age of 72. “He lived in Wyckoff all his life and he gave 47 years of his life to service on the volunteer fire department, as a member of the township committee, and other volunteer groups,” said Mayor Rudy Boonstra, who is Galenkamp’s brother-in-law. “The fact that he served five terms as mayor in four separate decades, I think, speaks for itself. I don’t believe his record is in any danger. He was also a man you could always go to for advice.” Mayor Boonstra said one of Galenkamp’s proudest achievements was the role he played in convincing other long-term residents to donate substantial areas of property to the township. Galenkamp was a member of the volunteer Wyckoff Community Park Committee that built the 18-acre Wyckoff Community Park that opened in 1995. The land was given to the township by the board of education for recreational purposes. He was reportedly proud of the township’s receipt of the Larkin House in 1999. The house is used for community meetings, and the property provides five acres of open space. Galenkamp also favored the Brackett family’s 1994 donation of the Gardens at Wyckoff, a 12-acre site. Galenkamp had also noted that Wyckoff had instituted many regionalized service programs before interlocal programs became popular. Such programs include the agreement in which Wyckoff provides dispatching services for Midland Park, and the agreement with the board of education to improve baseball and softball fields. Another of Galemkamp’s proud moments came when he was part of the seated Wyckoff Township Committee that authorized a legal appeal against the American Civil Libraries Union after Wyckoff was ordered to remove a Nativity Scene from the front lawn of Wyckoff Town Hall. The courts affirmed that communities have the right to display Nativity Scenes if other religions are also represented. Wyckoff maintained the Nativity Scene, a menorah, and secular yuletide figures on the town hall lawn and have to this day, sparking a revival of Christmas displays all over New Jersey. Galenkamp was one of the strongest backers of Wyckoff’s legal action. Galenkamp managed and owned a family dairy on Sicomac Avenue for many years and later served as an aide to State Senator Henry McNamara. Christopher De Phillips, 2012 mayor of Wyckoff, said Galenkamp had been an inspiration to him. Wyckoff Township Committeeman Kevin Rooney said Galenkamp was a true asset to the township. “By his loss, everyone who knew him has lost a highly intelligent, vibrant human being with a rare kindliness and intimate knowledge of Wyckoff, represented by decades of service and leadership to our community,” Rooney said. “Harold was a genuinely warm and wonderful man, one I will miss greatly. It was an honor and privilege to know him.” Galenkamp opted not to seek election in 2008, saying he wanted to spent more time with his five grandchildren and other relatives. He served as Wyckoff’s mayor in 1974, 1981, 1996, 2002, and 2005, and his two long bouts of service on the township committee were interrupted by a break of some years. He was never defeated in an electoral bid, and he was widely respected for his forthright honesty and good nature and for his hard work on behalf of the community. A member of the Cornerstone Christian Church, formerly the Wyckoff Baptist Church, Galenkamp is survived by his wife of 47 years, Jeannine (nee Murray), his daughters Heidi and her husband Stephen Misovic, and Heather and her husband Mark Borst, his grandchildren Emelia, Molly, Erin, Sara, and Nate, and his brothers Kenneth and James. Memorial donations may be made to the Wyckoff Volunteer Fire Department, Scott Plaza, Wyckoff, NJ or the Wyckoff Volunteer Ambulance Corps, P.O. Box 214, Wyckoff, NJ 07481. Harold Galenkamp