Former 2-Term Edison Mayor Passes Away

EDISON, NJ — Dr. Thomas H. Paterniti, who twice served as the mayor of Edison and was also a state Senator and Assemblyman, died Saturday at JFK Medical Center’s Haven Hospice Care Center in Edison. Paterniti was 88 and passed away surrounded by his family.

"Doc" Paterniti, as he was known — a dentist for 60 years with a private practice in Metuchen — served twice as mayor of Edison and 12 years in the New Jersey Legislature, representing the 18th District as a state Senator and Assemblyman. As mayor in the 1970s, Paterniti led a successful fight to close Edison’s Kin Buc Landfill; he extended the municipal sewer system into North Edison, developed six new township parks, and established public library branches in North Edison and the Clara Barton section of town. As mayor, he built the Woodbridge Avenue Senior Citizen Center and secured enough federal funding to build the Edison Municipal Complex without raising the town’s budget or burdening taxpayers with long-term debt.

He was also Middlesex County’s longest-serving Democratic Municipal Chairman, a post he held in Edison for a total of 31 years until 2015. Paterniti is widely regard as the “Dean of Middlesex County Democrats."

Born on Feb. 4, 1929 in Perth Amboy, Paterniti served in the U.S. Army and as a carpenter before he went to college on the G.I. Bill, graduating from Seton Hall University with B.S. in chemistry and earning a Doctorate of Dental Surgery (DDS) in 1956 at the University of Maryland. In 1957, Paterniti opened his dental practice on Grove Avenue in Metuchen, where he treated patients for nearly 60 years until his 2016 retirement. For 45 years, Paterniti also served on the dental staff at JFK Medical Center in Edison.

Throughout his adult life, Paterniti was active in state, county and local politics. He served as chairman of the Edison Democratic Party from 1970-78 and as Mayor of the Edison from 1974-78. He won an 18th District Assembly seat in the November 1979 election, serving four terms before being elected to the State Senate, where he continued serving 18th District communities from 1988-91.

After the untimely death in 1989 of long-time Edison Mayor Anthony M. Yelencsics, Paterniti was again elected Mayor of Edison, taking office in January 1990. Facing a tough Senate re-election campaign in 1991, he stepped down as Mayor after 12 months.

In 1992, the Edison Democratic Organization selected Paterniti as party chairman once again. He served an unprecedented 23 consecutive years at its helm. With his eight years as chairman in 1970s, Paterniti's 31-year tenure made him the longest serving Democratic party leader in Middlesex County.

As a state lawmaker, Paterniti was author and primary sponsor of many measures to protect public safety and implement tougher criminal penalties; to increase residential construction standards and safeguards tenant rights. A fiscal conservative, Paterniti consistently fought to minimize the state’s tax burden on property owners.

Paterniti was past-president of the Edison Library Board of Trustees, the Metuchen Chamber of Commerce and the Metuchen Rotary Club. He was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.

He is survived by his loving wife of 59 years, Helen “Pix” (Soltesz) Paterniti; a son, Thomas H. Paterniti of Pittsburgh, Pa.; three daughters, Maria Tomaro and her husband Freeholder Charles Tomaro of Edison, Sarah Mandel and her husband Dr. Marc Mandel of Westfield, and Lisa Paterniti of Edison. He is also survived by six grandchildren: Amanda Troiano and her husband Christopher, Justin Tomaro, Thomas and Tara Paterniti, and Brian and Joseph Mandel, and by a great granddaughter, Scarlett Troiano. He is also survived by his brother, Carmen S. Paterniti and his wife Nan of Califon, N.J.; his brother-in-law John Soltesz and his wife Dawn of Edison and his sister-in-law Brenda (Soltesz) Rinaldi and her husband Robert Rinaldi of Edison.

Funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 18 at Good Shepherd Parish of Holy Rosary Church, Hopelawn. Interment will follow in Holy Rosary Cemetery, Hopelawn. Visitation will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday from 2-4 & 7-9 PM at Flynn and Son Funeral Home, 23 Ford Ave., Fords. In lieu of flowers donation may be made to the Auxiliary of JFK Medical Center Reflections Program, 65 James St., Edison 08820. To send a message of condolence please visit www.flynnfuneral.com