Violet R. Kieck

Violet Kieck, a lifelong Secaucus resident, passed away on Tuesday, August 16, at age 96. The eldest of four children of William and Ethel (nee Buchmuller) Lillis, Vi, as she was affectionately known, was born on November 24, 1925. She attended local schools and graduated from an area high school.

Vi married George Kieck, another lifelong resident, on June 7, 1947. The couple raised two daughters, Judy and Patricia, at their home on Irving Place. George, who died March 5, 2010, was a volunteer fireman, attaining the rank of captain at Chicora Park (Centre Avenue) firehouse. Through Vi’s affiliation with the fire department’s ladies’ auxiliary and her involvement with activities at Immaculate Conception Church and School, she was a well-known and popular civic-minded resident. Gregarious and easy-going, Vi maintained lifelong friendships with many of her close neighbors as well as with other town residents.

When the Secaucus Home News moved from its Paterson Plank Road office to its new premises at 766 Irving Place in 1967, Vi (who conveniently lived across the street at 763 Irving!) began working for the weekly newspaper that ended its 107-year run in 2017. Vi became even more popular than she already was as the key person who ran the busy office for over thirty years. She greeted customers who came in to place their ads or renew subscriptions, or had an item to add to “Rambling ‘Round Town,” or who just came in for a chat. She ran interference for editor Bob Henkel; handled the billing and the books; answered the busy phones; updated the subscriptions; got the mail. “She did everything!” recalled Gretchen Henkel, who was the editor of the Home News from the early 1990s until 2017. “She knew everyone in town, and, more importantly, knew just how to talk to them all and make them feel as if they were in their own living room.”

Proud of her Irish heritage, Vi definitely had the “gift of gab,” and relished hearing a good story just as much as telling her own tales of Secaucus and its characters. One such character, Joe DeFerrari Sr., gave Vi the nickname “Lefty.” (She was left-handed as an early bout of polio rendered her right arm weak.) “Vi was a perfect foil for Mr. D.,” Gretchen reminisced. “Vi’s retirement in the 1990s from the Home News left a void that no one could quite fill. I called Vi my “Secaucus Mom,” Henkel noted.

The matriarch of a large and loving family, Violet is survived by her daughter Judy and Chuck Kloo of Wayne, daughter Patricia Beider and James Stegemann of Toms River, grandchildren Matthew and Tracy Kloo, Alyssa Beider and Colin Grau, and Ashley and Steve Magliaro, great-grandchildren Braylee and Braeden Kloo, Cillian George Grau, and Ava Morrea Magliaro. Also surviving are her brother, Dennis and Diana Lillis, son-in-law Richard Beider, and numerous nieces and nephews, great and grand nieces and nephews, and many friends. In addition to her beloved husband George, Vi was predeceased by her brother William Lillis and sister Elaine Waters.

Viewing is at Mack Memorial Home on Thursday, August 25, from 4 to 7 p.m. Mass will be celebrated at Immaculate Conception Church on Friday, August 26, at 10:45 a.m. Interment will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington.