Irwin R. Rein

Irwin R. Rein, formerly of Irvington, South Orange and Wyckoff NJ passed away peacefully in his home in Pompton Plains on June 18. He had recently celebrated his 90th birthday surrounded by friends and family.

Irwin (aka Ernie) grew up in Irvington with his parents Sam Rein and Rose Rein (Dobrin), with his sister Doris. He survived polio with a permanently disabled arm but never let that hold him back. He attended University of Michigan, where he met his future wife Marsha Greenberg, and also graduated law school on an accelerated schedule. Throughout his life he was a permanent maize and blue U of M Wolverine. Marsha and Irwin moved back to New Jersey where they raised 3 children: Jeffrey, Michelle (who predeceased him) and Stephanie.

Ernie practiced law initially as an assistant prosecutor in Newark, then as a partner with his brother-in-law in the West Orange firm known under various combinations of Teltser, Byrne, Greenberg, Margolis, Franconero. Ziegler and Schwartz. His lifelong commitment to justice for the disadvantaged led him to focus on workers’ compensation and SSI disability law, and he left the firm to open a solo practice specializing therein, with offices in West Orange and Newark’s Ironbound. Many of his clients were non-English speaking Portuguese immigrants. He had become adept in Portuguese from language learning tapes he listened to while driving his bitchin’ Camaro in the 1970s. To his clients he became “my lawyer” and addressed all their legal needs across the spectrum of legal practice. He also served on the South Orange planning board, advocating for reducing barriers to increased housing availability.

In retirement Ernie and Marsha traveled widely, finally allowing his longstanding catch-phrase “I learned it in the Orient” to have a somewhat factual basis. He and Marsha hosted multiple Caribbean adventure getaways for his children and grandchildren. His remarkable intellect and refusal to be bound by convention proved formative for his children who each carried on this legacy in their own ways.

In later years he retained his intellectual sparkle and dry wit, greeting friends and strangers alike with salty humor often sprinkled with Spanish, Portuguese, French and Yiddish.

Ernie is survived by his wife Marsha, his children Jeffrey and Stephanie, and grandchildren Violet, Simone, Bela and Samir.

Family and friends will be received on June 23, 2026, from 12:15 pm to 12:45 pm at Bernheim-Apter-Kreitzman Suburban Funeral Chapel, 68 Old Short Hills Rd, Livingston, New Jersey 07039.

A Funeral Service will be held on June 23, 2026, at 1:00 pm at Bernheim-Apter-Kreitzman Suburban Funeral Chapel, 68 Old Short Hills Road, Livingston, NJ 07039.

Burial will follow at Mount Lebanon Cemetery, 189 Gill Ln, Iselin, NJ 08830.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Irwin’s memory to the Southern Poverty Law Center, honoring his commitment to Law and Justice.