Bernard Teiger

Bernie had three great families. One he was raised in. One he raised. And one he created with his loving wife of twenty-one years, Rebecca “Becky” Teiger. His maternal and paternal grandparents immigrated from Europe and settled on the lower east side of Manhattan in the early 1900s. There, they raised Bernie’s parents, Joe and Lena Teiger, who passed from life before him. His sister, Elaine Mittler, was his lifelong friend and among the congregation that attended him at a memorial service conducted at the Bloomfield-Cooper Funeral Home, Manalapan, New Jersey, on July 7, 2015.

Bernie, his parents and sister moved from New York to New Jersey in the mid-1930s. He graduated from Irvington High School, began an illustrious career in the institutional food-service industry and married Sheila Nocks in 1956. With Sheila, he raised three children, L. Tracy Teiger, Janet Cheryl Teiger and Gale Susan Teiger, each of whom he is survived by. The Teiger family resided in Cranford, New Jersey, where they belonged to Temple Beth El, in which Bernie was an active member of the Men’s Club. An avid bowler, Bernie several times led the Walnut Civic League in individual-average, and his team to first place finishes.

Bernie relocated to Monroe Township, New Jersey, and there lived in the Greenbriar adult community for the past twenty years with his beloved wife, Becky. He was active in the community’s golf association, and a founder of its charitable giving to Arnie’s Army, an organization dedicated to the cure of prostate cancer. He and Becky were prolific travelers and, most importantly to them, the wellspring of their splendid, blended, extended family. Bernie is also survived by his niece, Rhonda Mittler, his nephews, Lance Mittler and Michael Mittler, his grandchildren, Joseph Gentile, Nicholas Gentile and Melissa Gentile, by daughter Janet and son-in-law Thomas; his grandchildren Tara Garrick and Richard Garrick, by daughter Gale and son-in-law Wayne; and, his grandchildren Jacqueline Teiger and Garrison Teiger, by son L. Tracy Teiger. He is also survived by Becky’s son and daughter-in-law, Mitchell and Marcy Slachman, and their sons, Brett and Jesse; and Becky’s daughter and son-in-law, Stephanie and Bill Ruvo, and their son and daughter, Zachary and Allison.

The Teiger family celebrated Bernie’s 87th birthday on July 16th, when carrying on the tradition started by him of extended-family vacations at the Jersey shore, where he was with us in spirit.

Memorial contributions may be made in Mr. Teiger's memory to the Martin and Edith Stein Hospice, 49 Veronica Avenue, Somerset, NJ 08873. www.wilfcampus.org/hospice