KEALY, JOSEPH VINCENT JR. A funeral mass was offered April 2 at St. Peter’s Church, Jersey City, for Joseph Vincent Kealy Jr., 64, prominent Hudson County attorney. He died peacefully at his home in Holmdel on March 28 after a long battle with cancer. A Jersey City native, he was predeceased by his parents, Eleanor Kealy (nee McGee) and Joseph V. Kealy, a former Deputy Police Chief who served 30 years with the Jersey City Police Department.
“I have lost not only a great friend,” said Jersey City Mayor Jerremiah T. Healey in published reports, “but a most valuable advisor.” The two men were close friends for thirty years.
He was a graduate of St. Peter’s Preparatory School, St. Peter’s College and Seton Hall University Law School and practiced law in Jersey City with an emphasis on municipal law and criminal defense work, including a well known flair and love for litigation. During his life, he enjoyed affiliations with many professional, charitable and educational organizations. He served a legal clerkship with the late Hon. Joseph P. Hanrahan, J.S.C.; as an assistant Corporation Counsel with the City of Jersey City; as a prosecutor in the Jersey City Municipal Court; as a trustee of the Hudson County Bar Association; and as County Counsel for the County of Hudson. He had been the Legal Defense Counsel for the N.J. State Troopers Fraternal Association and General Counsel of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency.
He worked as a trustee for the Healy Foundation of Jersey City and relished the help it provided Jersey City residents in time of need. He was a former Trustee and Board Member of Catholic Charities; a long-time supporter of the Frances Pope Memorial Foundation, an organization solely devoted to assisting families caring for seriously ill children, and was honored as their 2008 Man of the Year in recognition of his dedication. He celebrated his heritage as Grand Marshall of the 2004 Jersey City St. Patrick’s Day parade.
He is survived by his wife, Irene, and his sons: Joseph Kealy and his spouse Emma and their daughter, Olivia; and Justin Kealy and his fiancé, Allison Passamano. He cherished his stepchildren, Linda Cook and her husband Bruce; Michele Evans and her husband Robert; Jack Boncada and his wife Mary; and four step-grandchildren. He is also survived by four siblings: his brother Robert Kealy and his wife Marie; his brother Frank Kealy; his sister Margaret Micucci and her husband Nicholas; and a sister, Elizabeth O’Rourke, and her husband Lawrence. He is also survived by his brother-in-law Russ Kotlarz and his beloved nieces and nephews and cousins. Services arranged by the McLaughlin Funeral Home, Jersey City.
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