Obituary of Walter Adam Stasiak
Please share a memory of Walter to include in a keepsake book for family and friends.
Walter Adam Stasiak (Born July 3, 1945, Little Falls, N.J.) Walter Adam Stasiak died on March 30, 2005 of an apparent heart attack at age 59. He attended Passaic Valley High School and went on to attend Rutgers University where he majored in history, played football, and was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. After graduating in 1967, he began teaching and coaching at the Delbarton School while attending Montclair State University where he received his Masters degree in Social Studies Education. On May 30, 1969, he married the love of his life, Barbara Castellana Stasiak. He remained at Delbarton until 1974 when he attended graduate school at the University of Illinois. There he studied school administration, curriculum, and supervision. In the fall of 1978, after teaching for a few years at South Orange-Maplewood, he went on to Morris Knolls High School where he taught social studies and coached football, baseball, and wrestling for 26 years. He also served as a consulting teacher to the social studies department. Walt was active with the White Meadow Lake Property Owners Association, the Morris County Democratic Party, and the Rockaway Township Recreation Commission. He had a deep love of music, fishing, clamming, and sports. He was also a member of the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship where he was a religious educator for 23 years. His dear friend Kathy Solu used the following words to describe Walt, "He was an amazing dad, true to his sons and beloved wife, an outstanding mentor to so many educators, and a child and youth advocate. He was the finest professional, devoted to his students and student athletes. He had a generous heart, the biggest heart." He is survived by his wife Barbara; his two sons Adam and his wife Melanie Halkias and David; his sisters Peggy Jacobus, Dot Wiltshire, and Annabel Kent (his sister Jean Jernack predeceased him); his brother Leonard; brother-in-law Norman and nephew Michael Jacobus; his mother-in-law Nancy Castellano; his sisters and brothers-in-law John and Marisa Castellano, and Carol Castellano and William Cucco and their children John and Serena Cucco; many nieces and nephews; and countless colleague, friends, and students. A wake will be held at the Norman Dean Home, 16 Righter Avenue, Denville, on Friday and Saturday from 2-4 and 7-9 pm. A memorial service will be held in the auditorium at Morris Knolls High School on Knoll Drive, off Franklin Ave. in Denville at 5:30 pm on Sunday. Memorial donations may be made to the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship Celebration of Life Fund, 21 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown, NJ 07960.
