TRENTON — James Zangari, a long-time Essex County Democratic assemblyman who fought to have a moment of silence in schools, died today after a year-long battle with cancer. He was 81. Family and colleagues remembered Zangari, known to most as Jimmy, as devoted to serving his constituents and always ready to reach across the aisle. "My dad was from...
James ZangariTRENTON — James Zangari, a long-time Essex County Democratic assemblyman who fought to have a moment of silence in schools, died today after a year-long battle with cancer. He was 81.
Family and colleagues remembered Zangari, known to most as Jimmy, as devoted to serving his constituents and always ready to reach across the aisle.
"My dad was from another generation of public servants when bipartisanship ruled the day, when office holders put partisan differences aside and really searched long and hard for common ground," said his son, Ted, an attorney with the firm Sills Cummis & Gross.
One of eight children to Italian immigrant parents, Zangari was born in Newark at the start of the Great Depression. His mother died when he was 10 and his father could not take care of the family and earn a living at the same time. For several years, Zangari and his siblings lived in orphanages around Newark until his sister was old enough to take care of them.
After being stationed in Japan in the Army during the Korean War, Zangari worked in his family’s construction business. In the early 1970s, he was appointed director of housing for Irvington, and in 1977 won a spot as an Essex County freeholder. Two years later, he won a seat in the state Assembly, where he served until 1996, eventually becoming deputy speaker and chairing the Assembly Independent and Regional Authorities committee, which oversaw Atlantic City casinos and the Meadowlands.
"My dad just sort of lived the classic American dream story," said Ted Zangari.
Zangari sponsored a bill to have a moment of silence in schools that passed the Legislature twice, and vetoed by former Govs. Brendan Byrne, then Tom Kean. The Legislature overrode Kean’s veto, but the law was eventually struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Colleagues remembered Zangari as light-hearted. State Sen. Loretta Weinberg recalled one day when a gay rights group protested during an Assembly session by raining condoms down from the balcony.
"Everybody kind of looked up somewhat in shock, including me," said Weinberg (D-Bergen), who was then in the Assembly. "And what did Jimmy Zangari do? He opened his brief case and went to pick them up."
Assemblyman Tom Giblin recalled Zangari had a working kitchen in his legislative office in Irvington, in a former funeral home, where he would invite colleagues for breakfast and lunch.
"I remember one time going down there and I think I was the only Democrat," said Giblin. "But that’s the kind of person he was."
Ted Zangari said his father was most proud of his sponsorship of the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Act and a bill requiring auto parts to be serial numbered.
Viewings are scheduled for Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m., and Friday from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Zarro Funeral Home in Bloomfield. A funeral mass is scheduled for Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark.