Dear Editor:
As we finally feel the warmth of spring, it is with great sadness that I write to inform you of the recent passing of our neighbor and dear friend Dolores Reider. This is a tremendous loss to our family and friends, and all of Hoboken.
Dolores was a lifelong resident of Hoboken and the last 20 years of Fox Hill Gardens at 311-13th Street in the 5th Ward. Growing up as a child and raising three children as a single parent she lived all over Hoboken. She was tough, feisty and stubborn. How we got to know each other and became great friends is somewhat of a mystery, but it developed as we established a mutual trust. I met Dolores shortly after being elected to the council in 2007. She was “born and raised” Hoboken, though perhaps born in Brooklyn, but sent to Hoboken as a little girl to be raised by her grandmother (O’Connor, nee Ivy) on 1st Street.
Like so many who grew up in Hoboken, politics was in the blood. Dolores had great knowledge and was a fantastic story teller. The stories she told of the past and how it related to the present and future, made you aware and on guard in the complicated world of Hoboken politics. My father loved the movie “On the Waterfront” – and who didn’t. When he met Dolores at our house for Christmas Dinner three years ago, it was as if he met a movie star. She not only knew and understood the movie deeply, she lived it. My mother and father, father in law, wife and children absolutely loved Dolores. She had an amazing ability to reconcile the past with the present for a better Hoboken. Her advice to me will carry with me and my family for decades to come. I owe, we all owe, a great deal of gratitude to Dolores Reider for what she bestowed upon us to help Hoboken stay honest, and continue to be the great City it is today. Especially during this time of the year, please try and find time to say a prayer of thanks to Dolores Reider – a true Hobokenite – through and though for all of Hoboken. RIP.
Peter Cunningham and Family