Lichtenberg helps build community in West Milford

Few residents have contributed more to the community of West Milford than Marilyn Lichtenberg, whose decades of volunteer service, civic leadership and community involvement have left a lasting impact on the township.

A lifelong advocate for youth programs, recreation and public service, Lichtenberg has dedicated much of her life to improving opportunities for residents while helping shape the community she has called home since moving there at age 13.

Born in Englewood, Lichtenberg moved frequently throughout Bergen County before her family settled in West Milford. She graduated as a member of the first four-year class at West Milford High School in 1966.

Her commitment to community service began early. As a sophomore in high school, she organized the library in the guidance department, marking the start of a volunteer career that would span more than five decades.

An accomplished athlete, Lichtenberg became a pioneer for girls’ sports in West Milford. She founded the West Milford Girls Athletic League and served as its director for 16 years. She also wrote the bylaws for the community softball league and established a girls basketball league through the Police Athletic League.

Even after her children were no longer involved in the programs, she continued leading and supporting youth athletics.

Lichtenberg also played a role in shaping West Milford’s recreational future, serving on committees that developed the township’s original recreation master plan and helping update the document in 2004. Since 2008, she has participated in the Senior Olympics, earning 14 medals.

Her willingness to advocate for fairness became a hallmark of her volunteer work. She successfully pushed for sponsorship opportunities for girls basketball teams after similar arrangements became available to boys teams and successfully challenged inaccurate league statistics in men’s softball competition.

Following high school, Lichtenberg worked in the township’s tax collector’s office before moving to the treasurer’s office, where she quickly mastered complex financial systems. She developed a program for Social Security reporting on a Burroughs accounting machine and later trained employees in neighboring municipalities on its use.

After six years with the township, she left municipal employment to help her husband develop residential properties. Following his death at age 52, she assumed responsibility for the business while raising two children. She later earned a real estate license and continued selling homes. In 1991, she remarried and later welcomed a third child.

Lichtenberg’s contributions have also produced financial benefits for the township. As a certified National Alliance for Youth Sports clinician, she volunteered her time training coaches, helping reduce municipal insurance costs. During her tenure on the Township Council, she helped identify ways to return unused capital funds to the budget, a move credited with saving taxpayers more than $500,000. She also secured a donation for an electronic sign outside Town Hall, saving the township more than $22,000.

Her public service career expanded when she was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Township Council in the early 2000s. Since then, she has served multiple terms and accumulated approximately 14 years as a councilwoman.

Known for her accessibility, Lichtenberg regularly makes herself available to residents and has often shared her personal phone number with constituents. She has identified communication across the township’s 81 square miles as one of the community’s greatest challenges and has made improving communication a priority.

Beyond elected office, Lichtenberg has volunteered for numerous community projects, planted flowers in Veterans Memorial Park, served on local committees, secured donations for charitable causes and supported athletic programs for children and adults.

Her efforts have earned widespread recognition, including the Mary Haase Lifetime Volunteer Award presented by former West Milford mayors. She also has received honors through Rotary and her work in real estate.

Despite her many accomplishments, Lichtenberg says her motivation remains simple: helping others.

She credits her lifelong commitment to volunteerism to the satisfaction of making people happy and follows a guiding principle she has embraced throughout her life — the Golden Rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated.