Remembering a Friend, Jim Delehanty

The Friends of the West Long Branch Public Library gave a special tribute to a longtime friend James B. Delehanty, or Jim as most used to call him, on Feb. 12 at the library.Before his passing in May 2010, Delehanty had served the library and the town for the 50 years that he and his wife Patricia lived there.It was fitting that the library was filled with friends and neighbors, past trustees, community leaders and patrons for last weekend's ceremony.The Friends of the West Long Branch Public Library presented an engraved plaque in his memory to Patricia and the Delehanty children and grandchildren.  It will be mounted over the mantle of the library's fireplace in his honor, “With thanks for his guidance and dedication.”Delehanty was not just involved in West Long Branch issues. He was described by Mayor Janet Tucci, a board trustee, as a sleeves-rolled-up doer and a leader.  He was a staunch supporter of sports programs, the schools, and the borough public library.The library may well have been his most favored. A strong-minded member of the Board of Trustees, Delehanty was instrumental in assuring the library’s role and value to the community. He made sure it was in the forefront of pro and con opinions used by the voters as they decided about the borough’s independent library becoming a branch of the Monmouth County Library system. In his last official act, Delehanty conducted the dedication of the impressive new fireplace in the library reading area. The fireplace was one of a continuing project he pressed for in the overall remodeling of the building. Now, whenever people gaze at it, they will see the plaque and remember everything he did for the wonderful borough establishment.