1926 2021 (age 95)
Obituary Harry Nelson Bockus Jr. of Mountainside passed away peacefully at the age of 95 in his home with family by his side on November 29, 2021. Harry was born October 5, 1926 to Harry N. and Theresa Pita Bockus in Orange, New Jersey. He grew up in Maplewood and went to The Peddie School in Hightstown for four years of high school. There he played football, basketball and baseball and was a member of the Gold-Key Society. From high school, Harry went into the military service in March of 1945, in the U.S. Army Air Force Air Transport Command and was stationed at Hickam Field, Hawaii. Harry entered Lafayette College in Easton, PA in February of 1947 in the class of 1950 and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry. At Lafayette, he was President of the Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) fraternity and played lacrosse. Harry was a longstanding member and regular contributor to Lafayette’s Marquis Society. After graduating from Lafayette, Harry went to work at the family-owned Solar Compounds Corporation in Linden, a manufacturer of sealants, adhesives and coatings principally for electrical wire and cable manufacturers, electronics and construction, where he was made President in the late 1960s. The company was founded by his father and a partner in 1918 and was sold off in 2021. Harry married Nancy Connell in 1953 and had five children together residing in New Providence. The young family suffered two tragic losses with the passing of Harry’s namesake infant son, Little Harry, at three months old, and the loss of his wife Nancy to a battle with cancer in May of 1963 at the age of 32. A new, expanded family came together when Harry married Sally H. Bousquet of Summit and Rutland, VT on May 21, 1965. Harry and Sally combined her three children, his four, and one of their own into a boisterous and active family in Westfield, in a large turn-of-the-century Dutch Colonial house whose walls held many parties and could tell lots of stories. In 1989, Harry and Sally moved to Mountainside. Harry was a member of Echo Lake Country Club, Suburban Country Club, the Westfield Tennis Club, and the Westfield Area YMCA where he was on the Board and Executive Committee. An active and competitive sportsman, Harry played golf, tennis, paddle tennis and racketball. He shared his love of moving fast over water and snow by teaching his children to water ski during summers on the Saint Lawrence River and to snow ski on mountains throughout Vermont. With a loud laugh, a keen wit, a love of storytelling, and a vibrant physicality, Harry was always on the go, always at the center of the room and always beloved. Harry is survived by his wife, Sally H. Bockus, six children – Susan M. Bockus (Michael Brown) of Palo Alto, CA, Paul R. Bousquet (Holly Powers) of Ann Arbor, MI, Paul N. Bockus (Ann) of Bozeman, MT, Christopher Bousquet (Gloria Pacosa) of Ashfield, MA, Carolyn B. Anderson (Richard) of Mendham, NJ and Anne E. Bousquet of Guatemala City, Guatemala. He leaves behind eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Harry was preceded in death by his parents, his sister and brother, a wife, a daughter, Kristen Bockus Resch, and two sons, Harry Nelson Bockus III and William Morgan Bockus. Visitation will be on Monday, December 6, 2021 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Higgins and Bonner Echo Lake Funeral Home, 582 Springfield Ave., Westfield. A Funeral service will be held at 1:00 PM Memorial contributions may be made to: American Cancer Society American Diabetes Association To send flowers to Harry’s family, please visit our floral store.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Harry Nelson Bockus Jr 1926 2021 (age 95).
Death notice for the town of: Elizabeth, state: New Jersey