Thor Baltzar Gustafson

THOR BALTZAR GUSTAFSON BORN ON 27 AUGUST 1916 DIED ON 29 JANUARY 2015 AT ARBOR TERRACE SENIOR LIVING IN ATHENS, GEORGIA, UNDER THE CARE OF HIS DAUGHTER, GWENDA. A LONG TIME RESIDENT OF BROOKSIDE, MENDHAM TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY HE SERVED THE TOWN HE LOVED IN VARIOUS CAPACITIES. HE WAS BORN AND RAISED IN THE VILLAGE HE NEVER FORGOT, CROSS RIVER, THE TOWN OF BEDFORD, WESTCHESTER, NEW YORK. HIS PARENTS WERE LARS MALKOM GUSTAFSON AND ELIN CARLSON GUSTAFSON OF SWEDEN AND CROSS RIVER AND SOUTH SALEM, NEW YORK. THOR GRADUATED FROM MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE, VERMONT, IN 1939, WITH A MAJOR IN POLITICAL SCIENCE AND FOUR YEARS LETTERING, AS A PITCHER, FOR ITS VARSITY BASEBALL TEAM. HE MARRIED CAROL SANFORD MINER OF MADISON, NEW JERSEY ON 18 JULY 1942. HE MOVED TO BROOKSIDE IN 1948, WHERE HE LIVED FIRST ON STONY HILL ROAD BEFORE MOVING TO WASHINGTON VALLEY IN 1977. HE SERVED MENDHAM TOWNSHIP AS ITS TAX ASSESSOR AND A MEMBER OF ITS PLANNING BOARD FOR OVER THREE DECADES, AND HE WAS A FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE MENDHAM GOLF & TENNIS CLUB. HE TOOK DEEP JOY IN RIDING HORSEBACK ON PATRIOT'S PATH AND DEDICATED MUCH TIME TO PRESERVING OPEN SPACE IN MENDHAM TOWNSHIP, INCLUDING LEADING THE FIGHT TO PREVENT A JAIL FOR MORRIS COUNTY FROM BEING LOCATED IN THE WASHINGTON VALLEY AREA. AFTER COLLEGE, HE WORKED FOR LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, BREWSTER AERONAUTICAL IN PENNSYLVANIA DURING WWII, AND THEN BEGAN A LONG CAREER IN THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY, WORKING IN NEW YORK CITY FOR W.B. SKINNER CO, INDIAN HEAD MILLS, MARATHON FABRICS (WHICH HE HELPED TO FOUND) AND THE ARTHUR KAHN COMPANY, SERVING AS ITS VICE PRESIDENT. THOR WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED AS SOMEONE WHO JOINED WITH HIS WIFE, CAROL, IN GIVING EXTRAORDINARY CARE AND GOOD CHEER TO HIS FAMILY, HIS NEIGHBORS, AND TO THE VIBRANT LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS OF BROOKSIDE, ESPECIALLY ITS TOWN GOVERNMENT. HE IS SURVIVED BY HIS THREE CHILDREN, GWENDA ELIN GUSTAFSON MALNATI, ATHENS, GEORGIA, GREGORY MINER GUSTAFSON (MARIE-CLAUDE BOILEAU), SOUTH SALEM, NEW YORK, AND THOMAS GUSTAFSON ( GUADALUPE SANCHEZ VASQUEZ), LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA; NINE GRANDCHILDREN, JONATHAN CHASE MALNATI (MELANIE), MELISSA ELIN MALNATI ASKOWSKI (LEO), ERIK HARVIE GUSTAFSON (CHRISTINE), ANDERS GILLIAM GUSTAFSON, MARGARET ELIN GUSTAFSON, EMILY MINER GUSTAFSON, SARAH CHARLOTTE GUSTAFSON (DAVID LEVITAN), BRITTA ANNE GUSTAFSON, AND ELISABETH ELIN GUSTAFSON; AND TWO GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN, HENRY CHASE LASKOWSKI AND ELIN ROSE LASKOWSKI. HIS WIFE, CAROL, PREDECEASED HIM 22 NOVEMBER 2009.
A JOINT SERVICE IN HIS WIFE'S MEMORY AND IN HIS HONOR WAS HELD AT THE BROOKSIDE COMMUNITY CHURCH IN APRIL, 2010.
IN LIEU OF FLOWERS, PLEASE SEND CONTRIBUTIONS IN HIS MEMORY TO THE MENDHAM TOWNSHIP LIBRARY, CHERRY LANE, PO BOX 500, BROOKSIDE, NEW JERSEY, 07926.