COVID-19 Claims Howell’s Former Mayor, Sue Veitengruber

HOWELL, NJ - One of Howell Township’s former mayors has died from COVID-19, officials confirmed Wednesday.

Suzanne “Sue” Veitengruber, a longtime resident of Howell, passed away Tuesday, family members and municipal officials said. She maintained a seat on the township council for two years before becoming mayor in 1991, according to the Asbury Park Press. She also held positions as North Brunswick’s finance director, Keansburg’s borough administrator and chief municipal finance officer in Burlington County’s Tabernacle Township, among others.

“It is with a heavy and broken heart that I write to share that my mother, Sue Leonard Veitengruber, passed away yesterday from COVID-19. She was a professor, mayor, town councilwoman, township administrator, advocate and advisor but, moreover, she was a wife of 49 years, a dedicated mother who never missed a game, meet or concert and a Gigi that loved and spoiled her 5 grandchildren,” daughter Melissa wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday.

“She loved our big extended family and her friends so very much and she will be watching over all of us now. Please hug your family a little tighter this morning and tonight do as we did last night, look up at the stars and feel her love shining down [on] us from above.”

Veitengruber was known to be an active member of the community, maintaining a spot on the Howell Township Board of Education for over eight years and serving as president of the Howell Township Council of PTA and vice president of the Monmouth County PTA, according to documents from the Howell Chamber of Commerce.

She was also professor at Rutgers University teaching municipal finance courses, a supporter of the Howell Education Foundation and served on various town boards including the Howell Township Transportation Committee, Planning Board, Environmental Commission and Ordinance Review Committees. She served as Chair of both the Howell Township Rent Control Board and the Finance Review Committee as well as the Secretary of the Monmouth County Board of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Services and Vice-Chairwoman of the Monmouth County Commission on the Status of Women.

“I enjoy volunteering and helping the community in Howell. Volunteerism is the engine that moves the Township forward,” she is quoted as saying in a 2015 Howell Chamber of Commerce newsletter.

Veitengruber even cooked hundreds and hundreds of turkeys for the Howell PBA at Thanksgiving (to be delivered to homebound seniors), according to a memorial post from Howell Happenings NJ.

The former mayor reportedly grew up in Morris County's Denville where she graduated from Morris Catholic High School. She received her bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Economics from Upsala College in 1971. Upon graduation, she married her childhood sweetheart, George E. Veitengruber, Jr.

Howell residents took to social media this week to mourn Veitengruber's death:

“So sorry to hear about Sue's passing...She served as a dedicated leader and a strong voice for Howell... She will be missed by all of us,” one resident wrote.

“I was shocked to hear about this yesterday. She was a fierce woman full of conviction with a great sense of humor. May she Rest In Peace,” said another.

Current Mayor Theresa Berger called Veitengruber a “pillar of our community” and “avid community volunteer and leader” in a Facebook post announcing the former official’s passing.

“Sue is the lady that you know was there. She and I sat on opposite sides of the aisle, but yet always spoke about Howell and how we could make the town better as a team,” Berger said.

“Everybody who know her … knew the fiery vivaciousness that she had.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly named Veitengruber as the first female mayor of Howell. That title goes to Phyllis Kavett, who served in the role in 1979. Patch sincerely regrets the error.