Introduction
JERISE GARTEN SR. was born Sidney Jerise Garten in Hainesport, New Jersey on November 19, 1925 to Jeris and Mildred Garten. His father worked as a butcher and by April of 1930 the family, which included younger brother Edgar, had moved to Gloucester County, where they rented a house on Woodland Avenue in Deptford Township.
The Garten family had come to Camden in the early 1940s. The 1940 City Directory shows them at 1008 North 25th Street in Camden’s Cramer Hill section. The elder Garten was then working as a welder at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation shipyards in South Camden. By the time the 1947 Camden City Directory was compiled the Garten family had moved to 932 North 31st Street. Jerise Garten Sr., the subject of this writing, was working as an enameler. He had married, and his wife was also named Mildred. Younger brother Edgar was then serving in the United States Navy.
The 1956 New Jersey Bell Telephone Directory lists Jerry Garten living at 854 Beideman Avenue in Cramer Hill. His parents and brother remained on North 31st Street. His father passed away in 1960, his mother died in 1974.
On January 31, 1961 Jerise Garten Sr. was appointed to the Camden Fire Department. He reported for duty the following day.
On September 22, 1981 Jerise Garten Sr. was joined on the Camden Fire Department by his son when Jerise Garten Jr. was appointed to the department. He too would become a career fire fighter.
Having served almost 25 years as a member of the Camden Fire Department, Jerise Garten Sr. retired on December 31, 1986. Sadly he passed away only two weeks later, on January 14, 1987. His brother Edgar remained at the North 31st Street address through at least the fall of 1994. Edgar Garten passed in June of 2004.
Photographs
Jerise Garten Sr.
A New Class of Probies
Recruit Firemen Clarence Hawkins, Joseph Arensberg, Jerise Garten Sr., Richard Brooks, Walter Williams, Commissioner Edward Garrity and Chief of Department Edward MacDowell
Camden Division of Fire Personnel Record
Named: Camden Division of Fire Personnel Record, Badge No. 89, and Sidney Jerise Garten Sr..
Camden Firefighter’s Widow to Get Maximum Death Benefits
Camden Courier-Post —
The widow of veteran Camden firefighter Jerise (Jerry) Garten Sr., 61, who died on Wednesday, is in line after all for the maximum death benefit under the city’s insurance plan.
City officials confirmed Friday that Mildred Garten is entitled not only to an annual pension of about $8,400 but also the total value of Mr. Garten’s insurance policy, $114,000.
Her prospective entitlement had been the subject of an angry debate before the seven-member city council on Dec. 31, the day Mr. Garten’s retirement took effect in accord with official documents he had signed several weeks earlier.
After signing the papers, he was diagnosed as having a serious heart disease and attempted to rescind his retirement so his wife would be in line for the full value of the life insurance policy to which he had contributed during his career with the city.
After calling the proposal a potentially bad precedent, city business administrator Richard H. Cummings Jr. was roundly criticized by officials of Local 788, International Association of Firefighters, along with at least three council members. They favored a 30-day extension of Mr. Garten’s tenure on the city payroll.
Following the council meeting, Cummings said he learned retirements do not become official until the first pension check is received. That was scheduled to happen Feb. 1.
Mr. Garten, who died of his heart condition at Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Cherry Hill, joined the city’s fire department Jan. 31, 1961, and was assigned to Ladder One, where he worked for five years with now-Camden City Fire Chief James McMaster.
“He was a very quiet, very unassuming person and was generally well-liked by everyone,” McMaster said. “He did his job. You never had to tell him twice to do a job, and most of the time you didn’t have to tell him at all. He did it.”
McMaster said Mr. Garten was transferred to Engine Co. Two in 1963 and then to Engine Co. One in 1973, where remained until his retirement.
He was a Navy veteran of World War II.
Services for Mr. Garten will be tomorrow at the Evoy Funeral Home, 129 White Horse Pike, Haddon Heights, where friends may call after 9 a.m. Burial will be in Bethel Memorial Park, Pennsauken.
Surviving, in addition to his wife, are two sons, Jerry of Oaklyn, who is also a city firefighter, and Terry of Watsontown, Pa.; three grandchildren; and a brother, Edgar of Camden.