Obituary of William E Luithle, Jr.

William E. Luithle, Jr. (Bill) of Basking Ridge, NJ, passed away on Monday, May 21, 2018.

Bill was born in East Orange and raised in Newark. He graduated from Seton Hall Prep in 1949 and received his Bachelor and Master degrees from Seton Hall University in 1956 and 1960, respectively. Later in life, he did doctoral work at Columbia Teachers College.

He was employed by the New Jersey Bell Telephone Company in 1951 and spent 36 of the next 38 years in a variety of management positions in several of the Bell System companies, including AT&T, from which he retired in 1989.

His service in the Bell System was interrupted by a two-year stint in the U.S. Army (1952-1954).

After retirement from AT&T in 1989, he became director of the Weekend College at College of St. Elizabeth and in 1993 he became the first director of Seton Hall Prep’s Griffin Bridges Program from which he retired in 1995.

During his active career, he served on the Board of Directors of the Affinity Federal Credit Union and on the Board of Trustees of Marylawn of the Oranges. He was also an active member of the Somerset Hills YMCA Human Resources Committee.

He received recognition from the National Society for Performance and Instruction, the American Society for Training and Development, Pace University, Trenton State College, and PONSI for his contributions to education and training. In the year 2000, he was one of 19 persons from all over the world to receive the Medtronic Corporation Full Life Award for his participation in volunteer activities while having serious but controlled heart problems. In 2013 he was recognized by Seton Hall Prep for the work he did with the young men in the Seton Hall Prep’s Griffin Bridges Program.

If one were to have asked Bill what his greatest joy in life was, he would, without hesitation, have said “his family.” This includes his wife, Bernice, of 58 years; his son Mark, and his wife, Ellen and daughter, Jordan; and his daughter Sarah (Ellis), and her husband Mark, and daughters Cheyenne and Kaelan.\

Visitation will be held on Thursday, May 24, 2018 at Gallaway and Crane Funeral Home, 101 S. Finley Ave, Basking Ridge, NJ from 2:00 – 4:00pm & 6:00 – 8:00pm. Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, May 25, 2018, 10:00am at St. James Church, 184 S. Finley Ave, Basking Ridge, NJ. Entombment will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery, Basking Ridge. For further information, or to light an online condolence candle please visit www.gcfuneralhome.com

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Seton Hall Prep Griffin Bridges Program would be appreciated. These funds are used to provide economically disadvantaged youth the opportunity to attend the Prep. Please send these donations to Seton Hall Prep, Griffin Bridges Program, 120 Northfield Avenue, West Orange, NJ  07052.