Sidney B. Johnson ’37

Lifelong resident of Monmouth Beach, N.J., and described in the local newspaper as "perhaps the best-known political figure in borough history," Sid Johnson died Mar. 14, 2001. He leaves his wife of 60 years, Mary, and children Lynn, Mary Ann, Madeline, Sid Jr., and Vivian, as well as eight grandchildren. Granddaughter Sarah Stein is Class of '97.

At Lawrenceville, Sid was in the Press and History Clubs and was active in house athletics. He majored in history at Princeton and graduated with honors; he was a member of Arbor Inn. After Columbia law school, he went with Milton, McNulty & Augulli in Jersey City until 1948, except for a two-year hitch in the Army, serving as a sergeant mostly in the ETO. He then owned and managed the family MB Cold Storage Co.

In 1949 his team unseated two incumbents and took political control of the town, never losing an election in 10 campaigns. He served as a powerful elected borough leader, mayor or commissioner, and was with the Monmouth County prosecutor's office for parts of 50 years. He retired from public life in 1997. The Monmouth Beach library is named in his honor, and he served as president of the Monmouth County vocational school board for more than 20 years.

The Class of 1937