Cornelius M. Fogarty, of West Palm Beach, Fla., formerly of Rutherford, passed away Feb. 6. He was 90 years old. Mr. Fogarty was born in Watervliet, N.Y.

A former president of the Rutherford Board of Education, Fogarty grew up during the privations of the Great Depression, fought fascism in Europe during World War II and returned to the United States to live a long and productive life as a husband and father, businessman, artist, and civic and humanitarian volunteer.

He graduated from the LaSalle Military Academy in Troy, N.Y. in 1935, and attended State Teachers College in Albany, NY (now the State University of New York-Albany), which he graduated in 1939. After a short stint teaching and coaching sports in upstate New York, World War II intervened and he moved to Hartford, Conn. to work for military contractor Pratt-Whitney Co.

Mr. Fogarty joined the U.S. Navy in 1943, and after training near Geneva, N.Y. and Portsmouth, Va., sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in a troop transport convoy to join the war against fascism. Originally stationed in England on the Admiralty Staff, his unit crossed the Channel in the weeks after D-Day and he served in both France and Germany. Mr. Fogarty served in Berlin after it fell to the Allies on the staff of Admiral Ghormley and he was part of the effort to dismantle the German Navy. He attained the rank of yeoman and earned a citation for his service.

In 1954, Mr. Fogarty joined Ford Motor Co. as a trainer at its Green Island, N.Y. plant, beginning a career with Ford that lasted for almost 30 years. Subsequently transferred to New Jersey, he worked for the automaker in Jersey City and Newark for its export unit, and retired in 1982 as personnel manager. While employed with Ford he was also president of the New Jersey chapter of the American Society of Training Directors, the first of many associations with professional, civic, artistic and charitable groups.

While living in Rutherford for 35 years (1960-1995), Mr. Fogarty was a parishioner of St. Mary’s R.C. Church. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus, as his father and grandfather before him had been in Watervliet, NY. He also joined and became president of the Rutherford Taxpayers Association, and was elected to the Rutherford Board of Education, where he served a year as its president and was active in negotiations with the local teachers association. He was active in the Bergen County chapter of the Girl Scouts of America and became a member of its board. He also coached the Flash Cleaners Little League team.

Mr. Fogarty enjoyed an active retirement of more than 25 years in both New Jersey and Florida. He joined the Inter-Religious Fellowship of Bergen County and volunteered to help the homeless, serving them meals and often staying overnight in the homeless shelters as a monitor. He also took on the difficult task of being a Hospice volunteer, assisting terminally ill patients in the last weeks of their lives, a service that was reciprocated for him by the Hospice workers of Palm Beach County in the last months of his life.

He also rekindled an earlier interest in art, becoming an accomplished pastel painter of portraits. He studied at the prestigious Art Students League in New York City and had his work hung in various art shows in Manhattan and New Jersey. He became the president of the Rutherford Art Association and the Art Association of New Jersey.

Moving to North Hutchinson Island, Fla. in 1995, Mr. Fogarty continued his artwork, painting frequently at classes at the Vero Beach Art Museum. A parishioner of Holy Cross R.C. Church in Vero Beach, he sang in the church choir, volunteered at a local food kitchen, Our Father’s Table in Gifford, and also became active with the Indian River County branch of Habitat for Humanity, where he became adept at fundraising campaigns.

In 2005 he and his wife moved to the McKeen Towers retirement community in West Palm Beach, where he was a familiar sight with his easel, continuing to paint portraits until the last few months of his life. In November, he and his wife, who served as a civilian employee in the military in the Pacific after the war, were featured in a Palm Beach Post portrait of the World War II veterans living in McKeen Towers.

Mr. Fogary is predeceased by his daughter Mary Ellen Fogarty. He is survived by wife Cathartine E. Molony and sons Neil J. Fogarty of Garden City, N.Y., John L. Fogarty of East Setauket, N.Y. and Mark F. Fogarty of Rutherford. He is also survived by grandchildren Elizabeth C. Fogarty of Chicago and Brendan N. Fogarty of Garden City, N.Y.

Mrs. Donatiello is survived by husband Anthony Donatiello and sisters Helen Kostan, Karen Allison and Rosemarie Clemente.

On Feb. 9, relatives and friends attended the funeral from Parow Funeral Home and then the funeral mass from Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, both in North Arlington. Services were followed by interment in Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington. 

On Feb. 9, relatives and friends attended the funeral from Parow Funeral Home and then the funeral mass from Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, both in North Arlington. The services were followed by interment in Holy Crss Chapel Mausoleum, North Arlington.