Flags lowered in honor of two long time members of Woolwich Fire Company

Posted on

Borough flags have been lowered to half-staff in honor of two long term members of the Woolwich Fire Company, Joseph Drager and Joseph Slusar Jr., who passed away recently.

Joe Slusar served both our country and our town with distinction. He was already a member of the Fire Company when he joined the Navy at 17 years old. He served for three tours of duty aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard during the Vietnam War.

When Joe returned from his Naval service, he jumped right back into Fire Company. He served as President, Secretary, Relief Representative and Secretary and Chief Engineer during his 61 years of service to the Fire Company.

Joe passed on his devotion to the Fire Company. As his son Deputy Chief Brian and grandsons Joe, Nicholas and Zachary are or have previously been members.

Mr. Joseph Drager joined the Fire Company in 1946 at the age of 16. He had previously served as Fire Marshall in the late 60s and 70s with more than 14 years in the Fire Marshall position. Mr. Drager was the longest serving member of the Fire Company with 77 years of service.

Mr. Joe Slusar and Mr. Joseph Drager served our community for a combined 138 years. These two men epitomize the selfless service that our Fire Company members have exhibited for almost 130 years.

The Borough of Swedesboro extends our sincere condolences to the Slusar and Drager families as well as Joe and Joseph’s extended family at the Woolwich Fire Company.

Swedesboro Honors Phil Bellace

Posted on

Although the Borough Flags are already lowered to half staff because of an Executive Order from the Governor, this week in Swedesboro the flags are at half staff specifically to honor Phil Bellace, who passed away last week. ( Phil Bellace Obituary )

After his father died in the early 60’s, Phil started cutting hair in his dad’s shop: Charlie’s Barber Shop, located where the town clock now resides. He then moved his business to Second Street before expanding his family and trade in Mickleton.

Phil absolutely loved our town and dedicated many years being involved in many different ways, not the least of which was being the official town clock winder, for a lofty $50 a year.
Phil was an early, if not a founding member, of the Swedesboro Business Association, helped out the earliest Swedesboro Days, and supported many community events and teams.
He took great pride in whatever he was involved with and Swedesboro owes Phil a tremendous debt of gratitude for his service.

For me, the passing of Phil Bellace is very personal.

Phil was my barber for over 25 years, long before I was Mayor.

Once I was Mayor, most greetings at the shop consisted of “What the heck did you do now Frommer?” and then Phil would proceed to not so subtly critique about every thing I did.
To say Phil was opinionated would be a huge understatement and that’s what made my trips to the Royal Salon so enjoyable. I would spend many early mornings just hanging around and talking since not many other guys showed up at 7:00 am for a haircut.

I learned so much about the history of Swedesboro and the workings of the town from Phil and for that I will be forever grateful. He was a true and loyal friend.

The Borough of Swedesboro extends our condolences to his wife Christine and his children – Christa Moss(Brian) of Florida, Philip C., Sondramarie Wyckoff (Dan and son Jordan) and Roman…His mother Santina (1918-2018), brother Charles and sister Rosemarie, and the rest of Phil’s’ extended family.

We have lost one of the great characters from our town. Rest in Peace Phil.

Mayor Tom Fromm

Phil Bellace Obituary