BLOOMFIELD, NJ — A Funeral Mass was celebrated at Sacred Heart Church on Monday, Dec. 7, for former Bloomfield resident Marion Crecco, a New Jersey assemblywoman from 1986 to 2001, and the wife of former Bloomfield Mayor John Crecco, who survives her.
About 150 people were in attendance for the Mass, the procession to the church led by eight Bloomfield Police Department motorcycle officers. Father Michael Rodak gave the homily. He said he knew Crecco personally. He reflected upon her dual commitments to her family and the public.
“For those of us who knew her from her public service, she was a true believer,” Rodak said.
He recalled Crecco as a woman who was incapable of being so far removed from anything that she would not have concerns for it. And he remembered her as truly honorable with everyone.
“Jesus said love the good and your neighbor,” Rodak said. “Marion did. That is the crux of her life. At the base of this was her love of God.”
Rodak said a Funeral Mass was a celebration.
“It is a time of sadness because we do not reflect upon what it really is — that Marion Crecco will be in the eternal kingdom,” he said. “That is why this is a celebration.”
He told his audience she was “steeped in the love of her family” as wife, mother and sister.
“For Marion, we can believe she has reached her eternal home,” he said. “She live her faith every day, with the people around her and the state Legislature. There was nothing hidden about her.”
Rodak said he had traveled with Crecco to Trenton. It was during those times that he understood the love she had for her family.
“Sometimes, Marion would go crazy with things like we all do,” he said.“She was sometimes conflicted and wanted to be with her family more often.”
Rodak called out softly.
“May you find your eternal maker,” he said. “As you have touched us, we thank you for your service.”
The Communion presenters were Tamra Cesena, Lindsay Berrigan, Jonathan Cummings and Kristi Fratello. Crecco was entombed in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery.