Thomas J. Conlon

Thomas J. Conlon was born February 25th 1945 in Passaic General Hospital, Passaic, NJ. He attended St. Luke’s High School in Ho Ho Kus, NJ, graduating in 1962. He then attended Seton Hall University, in South Orange, NJ and received a BA in English in 1966.

His loving sister, Christine, introduced him to her friend from nursing school, Arlene Murphy in 1968. They were a “match made in heaven” and they married in December 1968. They eventually moved to Kansas so Tom could complete his Master’s Degree in English at the University of Kansas. Upon completion of his degree they moved back to NJ where Tom worked teaching high school and middle school, eventually settling into 8th grade Language Arts at Lacey Township Middle School where he taught for many years.

They lived in Barnegat, NJ and raised their three children. Tom loved poetry, especially Robert Frost, literature, especially Charles Dickens, sports trivia, folk music and catching people off guard with his jokes. The family enjoyed camping, the beach, visiting lighthouses and taking road trips every summer. They visited lots of places, including Walt Disney World, Acadia National Park and many baseball stadiums, following their beloved New York Yankees. Tom and Arlene’s favorite places were Florida and Maine. They hoped to spend their retirement together but, unfortunately, Arlene died of multiple myeloma in 1999 at the age of 52. Soon thereafter, Tom was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and slowly and bravely succumbed to its complications over the next 17 years. He remained a parishioner and volunteer at St. Francis Parish on Long Beach Island for many years and was able to stay at his home in Manahawkin until 2012.

In 2012 he moved to Manor Care Health Services in New Providence, near his daughter, where he died on June 25th, 2017.

He was pre-deceased by his parents, Thomas and Ronnie Conlon, his in-laws Gertrude and Leo Murphy, his wife Arlene, his brother, Patrick Conlon and brother-in-law William Zitko.

He is survived by his loving children Kathleen Horan (John) of New Providence, NJ, Andrew Conlon (Jennifer) of Glen Burnie, MD and Michael Conlon (Kristi) of Aliso Viejo, CA and grandchildren, Thomas, Colleen & Madeleine Horan, Matthew & Madison Conlon and Brooklyn Conlon. He is also survived by his loving siblings, Michael Conlon (Trina), Christine Zitko, Laurie Shimer (John), sister-in-law Connie Conlon, and Arlene’s cherished siblings, Leo Murphy (Flo), Robert Murphy (Mary) and Madeleine Mellone (Joe), as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

The family would like to thank the doctors, nurses and staff at Manor Care for caring for him these last five years, especially Jesula Clayton.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (www.themmrf.org) and the Parkinson’s disease Foundation (www.pdf.org).

Visitation will be held on Thursday, July 6, 2017 from 2-4pm and 7-9pm at the Thos L. Shinn Funeral Home, 10 Hilliard Dr., Manahawkin. A Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:00am, Friday, July 7, 2017 at St. Francis of Assisi Church, Long Beach Blvd., Brant Beach. Burial at St. Mary’s Cemetery will follow.

For online condolences, please visit www.shinnfuneralhome.com