John Joseph Mercun, Former Ocean County Chief Assistant Prosecutor, Dies At 66

Courtesy of O’Brien Funeral Home:

John Joseph Mercun, Esq., 66, of Point Pleasant Beach passed away suddenly on Thursday, March 12, 2015 at Ocean Medical Center in Brick, surrounded by his loving family.

John began his career as an attorney in 1974 to 1978 with the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office in Jersey City. From 1978 to 1991, he went on to the New Jersey State Attorney General’s Office. From 1991 to 2003, he worked for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office in Toms River, starting as the Executive Assistant Prosecutor and retiring as the Chief Assistant Prosecutor in charge of legal operations and administration. Beginning in 2009, he served as Counsel to the firm Citta, Holzapfel and Zabarsky, P.C., Attorneys at Law in Toms River.

Born in Jersey City, John grew up in Union City and moved to Point Pleasant Beach 20 years ago. He graduated from St. Peter’s College in Jersey City in 1970 and New York Law School in 1976.

John served on the Point Pleasant Beach Town Council and volunteered as an EMT with the Point Pleasant Beach First Aid & Emergency Squad. In 2014, he was appointed by the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders as a member of the Local Advisory Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (LACADA). He was a communicant of St. Peter’s RC Church in Point Pleasant Beach and was a Friend of Bill W for the past 25 years.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Louis and Bella Mercun. Surviving is his loving wife of 18 years, Marie Kavanagh Mercun; daughter, Caroline Mercun Murray and her husband, Richard of Union City; son, John Thomas Mercun of Hoboken; brother, Louis Mercun and his wife, Christina of Bayonne; brother-in-law, Charles Kavanagh and his wife, Mary of Brielle; sisters-in-law, Alice Donadio and her husband, James of Cedar Grove, and Patricia Galantucci and her husband, Robert of Sea Girt; as well as many nieces, nephews and cousins. John was larger than life and will be sorely missed by many.

Visiting will be on Sunday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on Monday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the O’Brien Funeral Home 505 Burnt Tavern Road, Brick. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday at 10 a.m. at St. Peter’s RC Church in Point Pleasant Beach. Burial will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to St. Jude Children’s Research Foundation or to the Point Pleasant Beach First Aid & Emergency Squad. For more information or to send online condolences please visit

http://www.obrienfuneralhome.com