On February 24, 2021, Toms River High School South (TRHSS) students lined Hooper Avenue to watch the funeral procession of Former Mayor Thomas Kelaher and pay tribute to a civic leader who´s record of service dates back to World War II
TRHSS Principal, Mr. Michael Citta, encouraged all South students and faculty to attend this tribute.
According to Citta, ¨[Mayor Kelaher] was a positive role model to our community and embodied what it means to devote a life of service for others.”
Citta went on to say the Mayor’s accomplishments in his military, law, and political careers were something that students could respect and be inspired by.
A long time public servant and U.S. Marine veteran, Thomas Kelaher dedicated most of his life to country and community. That is why Kelaher’s passing drew so much praise and appreciation for the mark he left on so many. Born in 1932 in New York, Kelaher grew up during World War II and witnessed its impact on the country. During the war, Kelaher began his first venture into public service, joining the Civil Defense program for young men. When he was old enough Kelaher became a Marine, in 1951, and was sent to various bases and colleges including the Naval Air Station in Lakehurst. Kelaher enjoyed the area and decided to live in neighboring Toms River. He studied at Seton Hall and got a job as a Deputy Attorney General for New Jersey while raising his young family. Kelaher joined a firm to practice law and was picked up to be an Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor.
Throughout his life he was always serving on a board for an organization or spending time at St. Joseph’s or the Ocean County Police Academy. In 2002 he was brought back to be Ocean County Prosecutor, there, as Mr. Citta noted, Kelaher implemented policies to educate students on violence as well as drug and alcohol use. For five years, he led the major cases that arose in the county, until he successfully ran for mayor of Toms River. He served from 2008 to 2020, presiding over the responses to the Great Recession, Hurricane Sandy, development in North Dover, revamped Downtown redevelopment, and many other issues.
According to Citta; “Mayor Kelaher is the perfect example of an individual who constantly gave back to his community through service...blood, sweat and tears.”
That is something all TRHSS students and staff can and should find resourceful as a lesson on how time can be spent, it also shows there are good people out there who are willing to spend the greater part of 88 years doing something positive for society.
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