“I say this very affectionately, and I think she would appreciate it,” said Michael Griffo about his longtime friend and associate, Pat DeFerrari. “She was a tough broad. A force to be reckoned with. But a person with positive energy. She was not mean-spirited. She was not power- hungry or any of that. And she was passionate about theater.”
Patricia “Pat” DeFerrari passed away suddenly at age 74 on Saturday, Nov. 29. DeFerrari impacted the entire community of Secaucus, serving for eight years as a council member – the first woman elected to the Town Council in Secaucus history.
“I was a young kid working at DPW when she was a councilwoman,” remembered Mayor Michael Gonnelli. “She was very, very involved in the community. A very dynamic personality. Not afraid to ever express her opinion. If she thought something was wrong or should be changed, she was not going to change her position. If she thought something could be improved she wasn’t shy about telling you. She could come off as rough – and she was rough and tough – but she was also soft and she was sweet.”
DeFerrari was known for her community service, serving as president of the Clarendon School PTA. She also formed the W.O.O.D.S. committee in the early 1970s to protect Schmidt’s Woods from destruction. “She saved Schmidt’s Woods when they were building the town pool,” remembered her childhood friend Joan Kashuba. “They were planning to use the land for the pool, and they did build it next to it, but she made sure that they kept Schmidt’s Woods where we grew up. We used to ice skate up there.”
Passionate about theater
Perhaps her best-known legacy, however, is C.A.S.T., the Community Arts Scholarship Theater. Formed in 1988 by DeFerrari and Kashuba, C.A.S.T. has produced many shows, plays, and musicals over the years featuring local talent, and continues to provide scholarships to Secaucus High School students wishing to study arts or the theater in college.
A lifelong devotee of the theater, DeFerrari always loved to sing.
“Pat and I grew up together in a neighborhood about a block and a half long,” said Kashuba of their childhood in Secaucus. “There were about six of us and as children we liked to put on shows. We were like 12 or 13 years old. Pat tap danced at the time.”
The two friends belonged to the Police Athletic League, which staged shows at the old Lincoln Junior High School. “We both went to Weehawken High School,” said Kashuba. “We couldn’t stay after school because we were bused up there and had to get bused back down.”
“She could come off as rough – and she was rough and tough – but she was also soft and she was sweet.” –Michael Gonnelli
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Father Robert Moratta, a fan of show tunes, offered budding performers a stage in the basement of the church, and there DeFerrari truly found her element, singing in numerous shows.
“We were devastated when [Father Moratta] was taken away to another parish,” said Kashuba. “Pat called me and said we can’t let this go. That’s when we started C.A.S.T.”
Creating C.A.S.T.
“If you were in her presence for more than 15-20 minutes, you knew that she was a politician,” remembered Griffo, who first joined the troupe at age 17 in the Immaculate Conception Church and continued on with C.A.S.T. to the present day, currently serving as artistic director. “She knew how to listen, she knew how to state what she wanted in a way that was forceful, direct, honest. You could see where she had that background. From all that I heard, she was a very good politician in that if she believed in something, like she believed in C.A.S.T., she would do whatever she had to do to make it happen.”
Speaking about the early days of C.A.S.T., he said, “Joan was sort of the silent partner. Pat was the one with the big mouth who made the calls and got everything done. She would just make a phone call, next thing we know the town is donating money to put on a show.”
Don Caputo is another alumnus of the Immaculate Conception Church performances who has been with C.A.S.T. ever since.
“We partnered with the Board of Education and we would do these great musicals with adults and the kids from the high school,” he said. “It was a collaboration; the Board of Education allowed us to use the Secaucus High School stage – they called it the cafetorium. And then sometimes if we did things for the town we would have an outdoor stage that the town provided.”
C.A.S.T. was formed in 1988 and quickly became popular in Secaucus. “When we started C.A.S.T. we had so many people interested,” said Kashuba. “Not only adults but students and even grammar school students. It was really wonderful. And then it got to the point where the high school brought back their program and we got a little tired so we stopped for a while.”
That was in 2001. “C.A.S.T. didn’t disband, it went dormant,” is how Griffo described the ensuing quiet years. Then in 2011, Mayor Gonnelli picked up the phone and dialed DeFerrari.
“He called and said you have to bring C.A.S.T. back, it’s so important for our community,” said Kashuba. “So we said alright, let’s give it a shot.”
Driving force
Once again active in town, C.A.S.T. staged several musicals and provided scholarships to Secaucus students. And it will continue to do so, albeit without one of its mainstays.
“This was a blow for us,” said Caputo. “She was definitely a driving force.”
“She was demanding of anyone who had a job,” said Griffo, recalling her role as coproducer. “Whatever job you had, she demanded that you did the best you could and put all your time and energy into it, or else she would simply get somebody else to do it. She didn’t give in to pressure. However, when I presented something to her, she may not agree immediately, but if I could argue my opinion, she was totally for it. And once she said go for it, she didn’t second guess it, she was completely behind it.”
Recalling a specific incident when DeFerrari stepped in to save the day, he spoke about directing for C.A.S.T. in 1991. “It was the first time I directed and I was getting stressed out and she knew the show would not get done without the set. It was a very large, two-story set with a staircase and seven doors slamming and there was no one really to help us build the set. And I know she reached out to a ton of different people and whatever she did, she secured one of the custodians at the school and he built a set for us. He worked overtime and she made sure my set was done.”
‘Secaucus grandma’
“Pat helped so many people behind the scenes that no one would ever know,” said Mayor Gonnelli. “She did that her whole life, up until the time she passed.”
Her help extended far beyond production assistance and scholarships. DeFerrari went out of her way to provide assistance to anyone who needed it.
“I met Pat when I had my twins and they had health issues,” said Eliane Miedel. “She saw me going down the steps from my house with the twins. They were connected to monitors, and I had both carts and both monitors. And she stopped her car and came and helped me. From that day on she never stopped helping me.”
A native of Brazil who moved to Secaucus in 2006, Miedel was one of many residents who found a friend and confidante in DeFerrari.
“I could pick up the phone any time and call her. She would listen to me, and comfort me,” said Miedel. “She helped me throughout college doing my thesis. She was there for everything. She was a huge part of our life.”
The twins, Sara and Amanda, came to know her as “Secaucus grandma.”
“The kids were very, very close to her,” said Miedel. “She would pick them up at school and spend the day with them. She would take them to every single park.”
DeFerrari even accompanied Miedel on a trip to South America. “Pat went to Brazil with me for 10 days, which was her dream. She always wanted to meet my family and she got the chance to do that last April,” said Miedel.
Paying tribute
Member of C.A.S.T. sang at DeFerrari’s funeral at the request of her family. “We sang a couple of songs at the beginning,” said Caputo. “Even at the repast a few members gathered at the piano and sang songs in her memory. We were a big part of saying goodbye.”
“C.A.S.T. is going to do something in her memory,” said Griffo. “We don’t know yet what it is, but probably early in 2015. She really was synonymous with C.A.S.T.”
“We have to celebrate her memory, which is I’m sure what she would have wanted,” agreed Caputo.
The family requests that donations be made to Community Arts Scholarship Theater, 258 Grace Avenue, Secaucus, NJ 07094; The Episcopal Church of Our Saviour, 191 Flanagan Way, Secaucus, NJ 07094; or The Quimby Memorial Church, 191 Flanagan Way, Secaucus, NJ 07094.
Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.