It’s a cozy house on a side street downtown. Like so many others, it suffered during Hurricane Sandy, with flooding and water damage to the roof and ceiling. The home belongs to Violet Kieck, the wheelchair-bound widow of WWII veteran George Kieck, and now the interior has gotten a complete overhaul, thanks to a combined project of Home Depot, the Town of Secaucus, the VFW, and other organizations and volunteers.
“They tore up the carpeting and replaced it,” said Kieck’s daughter, Patricia Beider. “They painted all the walls. They replaced the ceiling tile. They put in new blinds. It’s really wonderful.”
“They did a beautiful job here,” said Kieck. “It looks better than when I picked out the color in the store. I didn’t want blinds, I’ll be truthful. But when they’re up, I really like them.”
Home Depot has agreed to complete another project on a veteran’s residence between Sept. 11 and Veteran’s Day.
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“We scooted her out because we didn’t want her to get upset. It is overwhelming. She’s been there a long time,” said Beider. “And she really couldn’t stay in the house because everything was upside down anyway.”
The Kiecks moved into the house in 1959. They were the third owners of the residence.
Evolving scope of the project
The project came about when Mayor Michael Gonnelli and Community Outreach Coordinator Lee Penna met with management at the Secaucus Home Depot on unrelated issues and the subject of veteran assistance came up. Assistant Manager Randez West explained that the company had a program in place to help veterans with home improvements, and the project slowly began to take shape, with West spearheading the Home Depot end.
Councilman William McKeever, also the senior vice commander with the Secaucus VFW, quickly came on board as liaison to help coordinate the project. Violet Kieck was identified as the recipient based on her husband’s long service to the town and as a veteran.
“We applied for something to make my mother a little happier, to lift her spirits,” said Beider, who didn’t tell her mother at first about the project. “She was getting a little depressed.”
The initial application was for a ramp to replace the five stone steps in the front of the house and provide her with more mobility. Unfortunately, that proved infeasible.
“We didn’t have enough room because of the height of the stoop and the pitch that you need for the slope,” explained Gonnelli. “So the whole scope of the project changed to more of a home improvement project.”
“We elected to do a refresh/remodel on the interior as well as a little facelift on the exterior,” said West. The exterior work, which came as a surprise to Keick, included a large planter with new shrubs and decorative landscaping pebble stones for ground cover in the front of the house.
Members of the VFW and Fire Department pitched in to help out. “The township had some volunteers, some young kids that came for an hour or two,” said Beider. “They moved the furniture and just did whatever they were told. Taking a curtain rod down, unscrewing something. They were wonderful. The girls were really good.”
Underneath the aged carpeting the workers found a wooden floor and considered refinishing that before opting to lay new carpeting to make it safer for Kieck, who gets around inside the house with a walker.
Kieck is thrilled with the results. “My nephew is an electrician,” she said. “I told him, ‘Take off your shoes! Don’t come in with your dirty boots!’”
A veteran and lifelong town supporter
“My father was a fabulous man who devoted his life to the service of the community,” said Beider. “He served in the army in the second world war in Germany and France. He was in Normandy.”
George Kieck enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps at age 17 in 1939 and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942. He received three Bronze Stars, as well as a Distinguished Service Medal from the State of New Jersey and a WWII Distinguished Military Service Medal from the U.S. Congress.
After the war he worked at the Kearfott Division of Singer in West Paterson for many years.
“Kearfott was contracted by the government for the ballistic missiles for space,” said Beider. “He worked on the project that brought our astronauts back to Earth on Apollo 13. He got an award from a navy commodore for that.”
In Secaucus, Kieck served with the Volunteer Fire Department for decades in the roles of captain, lieutenant, secretary, and treasurer. He was court officer in the Secaucus municipal court for five years.
“After he was out of the firemen he was an OEM member for many years,” said Gonnelli. “He was very community involved. He volunteered for just about everything that we did in town. A very, very active guy. Really talented.”
Kieck passed away on March 5, 2010 at age 87.
More projects on the way
The Kieck home was refurbished on July 9 and 10. Several days later, representatives of Home Depot, the VFW, and the town met with Violet Kieck to present her with an additional surprise: framed mementos of her husband’s service to his country and a plaque from Home Depot expressing appreciation.
A choked-up Kieck accepted the gifts gratefully.
“At Home Depot we are committed to serving vets in the community,” said West, noting that the company also participates in other community oriented events, such as the annual Green Festival. “We have committed to two builds per year for veterans in the town.”
The company has agreed to complete another project on a veteran’s residence some time between Sept. 11 and Veteran’s Day.
Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.