Former Jersey City Councilman Thomas Hart died on Nov. 11 at the age of 61 at Greenville Hospital from diabetes-related causes.
“It may sound corny, but I think the world was a better place because Tommy walked on it, ” said Jeanne Hart, the wife of the late Jersey City native.
Hart’s funeral took place this past Tuesday morning at St. Aloysius Church on West Side Avenue. It was followed later that day by a burial at the Rosewood Cemetery in Linden.
Besides his wife, Hart is survived by his sisters Anne Bender, Irene Wise, Margaret Barrett and Regina Wroth, and 31 nieces and nephews.
Many who knew Hart called him a Renaissance man. Besides being a councilman, during his life Hart was a schoolteacher, head of the city’s first Recreation Department, an animal lover who headed the Hudson County SPCA, and a prolific writer.
Who was Hart?
Hart was born in 1943. His family lived in the West Side Avenue area when he was an infant before moving to Baldwin Avenue. He attended St. Joseph’s Grammar School and St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City. He then attended college for a short time at Seton Hall University before going to Jersey City State College, now Jersey City University. He went on to become a teacher at St. Paul of the Cross School in Jersey City, and later he taught for many years in the HAP (Higher Achievement Program) at St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, where he was also coach of the freshman basketball team.
Hart’s political career started in the 1970s when he became an aide to late Heights Councilman Tom Maresca. Hart then served as Ward D city councilman from 1981 to 1989 during the administrations of Gerald McCann and Anthony Cucci. Later, he was the head of the city’s first Recreation Department from 1993 to 1995 and continued to serve as a special projects director for the department until 2004.
Hart was also the head of the Hudson County SPCA from 2000 to 2002 and a member of the Jersey City Board of Education.
He had the biggest heart
Jeanne Hart recalled the final days of her husband, who she met when she was 17 and married three years later. “I went to see him in the hospital the day before he died and he tells me ‘I wish we could get on a boat and sail away with Mark and Chris [their nephews], and get away from all this,’ ” she said.
“I knew that it was a harbinger of what was to come,” she added.
The poetic way in which Hart expressed his failing health was not surprising to his wife, who called him the “best writer” and “most intelligent man” she ever knew.
The couple also bonded over their deep love for animals.
“Any time I saw a stray dog, I would call Tom and he would come and feed the dog and make sure he found home for that dog,” said Jeanne Hart. “He knew I would freak out if I saw a stray animal in need, so when I called he always came. He was good that way.”
Jeanne Hart said her husband never told anyone about other good deeds he performed such as giving money and buying food for people who were homeless and broke.
She said it was in his nature to help others, and that formed his persona as a politician.
“He was totally devoted and dedicated to Jersey City people. He never looked at himself as a politician but as a government worker serving the people.”
Others remember Hart
Hart’s nephew Mark Albiez, an aide to State Assemblyman Louis Manzo, joked that Hart gave him a head start in politics by having him christened at Hart’s political club as an infant.
“He walked to the beat of his own drum. An amazing intellectual who knew everything from sports to Shakespeare to Socrates,” said Albiez.
Manzo, who worked as a city health inspector when Hart was a councilman, said he styled himself as an independent politician due to Hart’s influence, and he called Hart “a pillar of integrity.”
City Clerk Robert Byrne holds a special place in his heart for Hart and remembered him as one of the nine members of the City Council in 1988 who voted to approve Byrne’s promotion from deputy city clerk to city clerk. Byrne has kept Hart’s eloquent congratulations letter to him about his new job.
“He was a walking thesaurus. I still find myself going for the dictionary when I read this letter,” said Byrne. “He always gave me advice and he was one of the good guys I knew.”