Howard J. "Babe" Leidy

May 11, 1926 - Dec. 17, 2010

Howard J. Leidy "Babe" of Blackwood Terrace, NJ died on Dec. 17, 2010 at the age of 84 years.

Babe was born in Blackwood Terrace, NJ on May 11, 1926, and began working in the family store, Leidy’s Market, as a child delivering groceries to customers by wagon. After proudly serving the U.S. Navy during WWII, Babe returned to Leidy’s Market, and for decades worked as butcher, manager, and eventually, owner of his store that was a landmark in Blackwood Terrace for generations.

He was a faithful lifelong Member of St. John Vianney R.C. Church, where he served as Altar Boy, Church Council Member, and Trustee.

Babe was a Life Member of Union Fire Co. No. 1 of Blackwood Terrace, where he joined at age 17, and served for just over 67 years, serving as president for the past 25 years. He founded the Deptford Twp. Fire Commission, and was elected as a member of its’ first Board in 1966, and served as Chairman until 1985. He was also a Charter Member of the Deptford Ambulance and Rescue Squad, formed in 1958, and he served as their Treasurer from 1958 until 1990. He was a Member of the N.J. Fireman’s Relief Association, and President of the Deptford Twp. Fireman’s Relief Association.

Babe and his family performed Ambulance and Fire dispatch from their home, and from their store, from 1946 until 1983 when Deptford Twp. joined the County 911 system.

Bud Ward

August 6, 1931 - August 30, 2010

Bud Ward of Blackwood Terrace, NJ passed away on Aug. 30, 2010 at the age of 79 yrs.

Bud Ward was a resident of Deptford, NJ, since 1970. He was a Life Member of the Union Fire Company. He was a charter member of the South Jersey Volkswagen Club. Bud was a freelance photographer, and provided an endless number of photos to numerous newspaper throughout New Jersey, and to the Deptford Township Fire District. He was affectionately known as “Smedley” by the students and staff of Deptford Township High School. Bud enjoyed his cars, gadgets, and visits to Cape May. But the most important things in Bud’s life were his family and his friends.

Robert "Bob" Knopka

December 28, 1934 - February 8, 2010.

Robert Knopka of Blackwood Terrace, NJ passed away on Feb. 9, 2010 at the age of 76 yrs.

Robert “Bud” Knopka, Sr., of Deptford was a US Navy Korean War Veteran, and a member of the Woodbury American Legion Post #133. He was a Life Member of the Deptford Township Fire Company, where he served as a First Responder for many years. Bud formerly served as the Fire Marshal of Mantua Township, and he was President of the Shikaris Gun Club of Sweetwater, a post he had held for 30 years.

Jan Joseph Smith

Jan. 20, 1954 - Dec. 4, 2009

Jan J. Smith of Blackwood Terrace, NJ passed away on Dec. 4, 2009 at the age of 55 yrs.

Jan was a life-long resident of Blackwood Terrace. As a child he played for the Deptford Little League Route 41 teams and attended Bethel Community Sunday School classes. He is a graduate of Deptford High School and was first trombone chair of the Deptford High School Spartan Marching Band. Jan attended Gloucester County College, the American Institute of Banking in Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania School of Banking.

In the early 1970’s Jan joined the Philadelphia National Bank where he started out as a Trust Document Specialists. Within 5 years, he rose to Supervisor and spent 10 years as a Corporate Trust Officer managing billions of dollars in Trust Paper Assets. His legacy in banking is when he went into a downtown bank branch office building which was on fire to rescue commercial paper valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. These papers were later transferred to an uptown vault by armor carrier to be reconditioned thus saving the financial integrity of multiple large corporations. Jan was Vice President of Corestates Bank before leaving. This is also where he met his future wife Loretta Lipnitz. After leaving the bank, he worked as a Dispatch Manager for MacKay Disposal. After a series of sales, he landed as the Operations Manager with Veolia Environmental Services.

Jan officially joined the Union Fire Company in Blackwood Terrace as soon as he turned 17 in January, 1971, but even before that he was not only interested but involved in firehouse activities. Since that time he was always very active and involved in the entire community. He volunteered countless hours with the Deptford Ambulance and Rescue Squad. He was a graduate of the first EMT Class in Southern New Jersey. He was an original member of the first Gloucester County Auto Extrication Team and went on to become an instructor for the first traveling Extrication Course in New Jersey

Jan has held several positions of office within the fire company in the 39 years he served. He was a former First Assistant Chief and Vice President of Union Fire Company. In March of 2006 he was elected to the Deptford Township Fire District Commissioner. He was serving his second term and in March of 2009 he was named Secretary for the Board. One of his last accomplishments as Commissioner involved traveling to North Dakota to inspect new fire trucks for the Deptford District.

Jan was also an avid sports fan. He enjoyed watching the Philadelphia Phillies, Eagles and Flyers. Jan loved softball and played in the Semi Pro Fast Pitch Philadelphia Financial League. Later he played in a slow pitch league on Leidy’s Market Team, Gloucester County Firemen’s League and Custom Business Forms where his team won the championship! Jan has played on many teams where he met and became friends with men he admired. Whether camping, at the beach, working in the yard or hanging at the firehouse, he enjoyed being outdoors. As a member of the Fire and Iron MC he rode his motorcycle proudly whenever weather permitted.