COVID-19 cases continue to rise

The total cases of death attributed to COVID-19 in West Milford continues to grow in the frequent reports from the local Office of Emergency Management.

Early this month a 27th local victim of the pandemic died. The report for Dec. 14 showed that a total of 806 cases from the township have been disclosed to the New Jersey Department of Health.

The number of township cases with positive results for people having the disease is reported almost daily. Usually the victims are divided almost equally between being male and female.

In the Dec. 14 report there were a total of 13 new cases of the disease verified with six of the victims being female and the other seven male. The females ranged in age from 19 to 81 for the oldest victim.

The male totals are similar that day with a 19 year old male being the youngest and the oldest 85. This is the first that people in the 80s range showed up in at least two months.

The numbers of victims greatly increased from the previous month on Dec. 1 when there were 17 new cases followed by ten on Dec. 5, 36 on Dec. 6, 20 more on Dec. 8, and 24 more on Sunday, Dec. 13.

Tim Mooney passes

Tim Mooney passed away in Florida on Dec 9. Tim and his wife Cheryl Ladika Mooney lived there. The couple had a big part in planning the annual Butler High School Alumnae Reunions in Florida.

Tim was in the Butler High School class of 1957 and Cheryl was in the 1962 class. With his sisters Patricia, Grace and Helen he grew up in the Apshawa section of the township.

Elizabeth Wolfe of the reunion committee announced Tim’s death on her website and included a note from Cheryl. She said Tim did not suffer with the COVID-19 although it was the cause of his death. He had Parkinson’ Disease with his mobility challenged.

- Ann Genader