Henry “Hank” Jochem, a resident of West Milford, N.J., since 2018, passed away on Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021, on Veteran’s Day, which is fitting becase Hank was a vet, serving in the Air Force/Army in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska at the end of World War II. He was 94 years old.
Hank was an only child and first-generation American born in 1927 to German immigrants Fred Jochem (deceased 1975) and Marie Hemberger Jochem (deceased 1993).
His parents entered America via Ellis Island in the early 1920s. Hank attended art school and was an extremely gifted wood carver and artist. He lettered in football and baseball while attending high school.
Hank was excited for the anticipated arrival of his first great-grandson who will be named after his son Bob (deceased 1993).
Hank married his wife, Wanda in 1956 and lived in the same house in Saddle Brook for 60 years, raising three children there: Diane Jochem Lungaro (married to Michael F. Lungaro), William Jochem (married to Jessie Gambi Jochem) and Robert Jochem (married to Debi Lettiere Jochem).
He leaves behind two children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren: Diane’s daughters Nicole and Beth Lungaro, Bill’s daughters Rachel Jochem (married to Jordan Claire) and Sarah Jochem (married to Drake Cary and their daughter Elsie), and Bob’s son Daniel Jochem (married to April Snyder and their daughter Isabelle).
He was predeceased in death by his beloved wife, Wanda, in 2011, son Robert Daniel Jochem in 1993 and daughter-in-law Deborah Jochem in 2005.
The family received relatives and friends on Nov. 16 at Vander Plaat Colonial Home in Fair Lawn, N.J.
Interment followed at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Hank may be made to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 42040, Oklahoma City, OK 73123 or the United Service Organization (USO), P.O. Box 96860, Washington D.C. 20077-7677.