Here's Why Ed Wehrenberg Was Named Woodbridge's Irish Man Of The Year

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — As we told you last week, Woodbridge's St. Patrick's Day parade will be this Sunday, March 10.

The parade steps off at 1:30 p.m. sharp from Woodbridge High School, marches down Amboy Avenue and ends in front of Woodbridge Brewing Company on Main Street. This is the 50th year of the parade, so expect it to be one of their biggest and best yet.

(Exact parade route: Before the parade hits Amboy Ave. it goes down Freeman Street to Linden Avenue, to Green Street, then Amboy Avenue to Main Street.)

Parade Grand Marshal will be George Aston. This year, Irish Man of the Year is Ed Wehrenberg; Irish Lady of the Year is Karen McCrory; Brittany Bader is Miss American Irish and Alesandra McFadden is Lady in Waiting. The Parade Chair is Sean Daly.

Every day this week leading up to the parade, Patch will feature one of the parade honorees, and tell why they were selected by the Woodbridge American Irish Association for this honor:

Ed Wehrenberg was named Woodbridge's 2024 Irishman of the Year. Ed was born in Hillside, NJ and grew up in Iselin in the 50s and 60s.

He served two years in the U.S. Army, one of which was in Vietnam. He was in the artillery division and was a truck driver. When discharged from the Army, he worked for ShopRite as a switcher for 30 years and retired in 2000.

Since his retirement, Ed has been very active around town: He started volunteering in 2001 with “Christmas in April” (now called “Tooling Around Town”). That effort led Ed to volunteer to build handicapped ramps throughout the year for Woodbridge Township and the Woodbridge American Irish Association.

Ed said he "finds it very rewarding to see how grateful families are" for the ramps, "especially knowing people in need now have the ability to get out of the house, and the ramps make their life easier to get around."

He helped refurbish the newly acquired American Irish Bar; helped clean up Shaughnessy Park and helped put up Christmas trees at St. James Roman Catholic church in Woodbridge. He is always ready to help when and wherever needed.

Ed is an avid member of the Rahway American Legion Post #5, where he helps with functions and events they have throughout the year. He is also a lifetime member of VFW post 2636. Ed supports U.S. service veterans by helping them apply for benefits.

Despite his community involvement, Ed’s family is first and foremost in his life. Ed has been married for 54 years to his wife Sharon; the couple has lived in Colonia since 1970. Ed and Sharon have two children: Sheila who resides in Brookfield, Wisconsin and a son Eddie who lives in Somerville, NJ. Sheila has two boys, Malcolm (25) and Cole (23), still in school. Eddie has a daughter Carmella (16) and a son Declan (10).

In his free time, Ed likes to go fishing and vacationing with his family.

Ed would like to sincerely thank the Woodbridge American Irish Association members for the great honor of being named 2024 Irish Man of the Year. He said it was "totally unexpected" and said he was very humbled.

Woodbridge St. Patrick's Day Parade Is March 10