Beloved member of faculty worked with students to support veterans
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
LINWOOD — A beloved member of the Mainland Regional High School teaching staff and supporter of military veterans has passed away.
Linwood resident Josephine Carney died Friday, Dec. 11. A close friend of the family who did not want to be identified said it was “very sudden and unexpected.”
“The loss to Mainland High School, the loss to the Support Our Troops Club, the loss family and friends — she was a force to be reckoned with,” the friends said. “She really was quite a phenomenal person.”
MRHS Chief School Administrator Mark Marrone notified students and staff in an email.
“I am incredibly sad and heartbroken to inform you that Ms. Josephine Carney has passed away,” Marrone wrote. “Her passing was unexpected and is heartbreaking. We are all struggling with this loss.”
Carney was an English teacher and adviser to the Support Our Troops Club (SOTC) at the school, which hosts an annual Veterans Day breakfast.
The coronavirus pandemic prevented the club from hosting the 11th annual event, but that didn’t keep Carney and the club from showing their appreciation. This year the SOTC put its meals on wheels, delivering breakfast to multiple sites around the region.
Carney was a huge supporter of veterans at many events throughout the year, as is her son, Staff Sgt. Pat Carney, who suffers PTSD after being wounded in combat. He now is a benefits specialist with the New Jersey Department of Veterans Affairs.
Robert Frolow, commander of American Legion Post 352 in Somers Point and county veterans service officer, said Carney’s efforts in support of veterans will be hard to replace.
“She was so strong, she was so involved,” Frolow said. “To get someone to take her place is not going to be easy. She was a worker and just a really nice lady.”
Frolow said Carney’s husband is sick and he has heard that the service likely would be private, but “knowing her she would want to be public and the same with Pat. He would want her to be recognized and hopefully trigger someone else to get involved.”
Frolow mentioned the breakfast for veterans.
“It’s nice because you get breakfast and then go do whatever you have to do for services; it always had nice crowds,” Frolow said. “Just the fact that she would go to the effort of putting something like that together outside of the school” says a lot about her character.
“She will be missed for sure,” Frolow said. “I hope somebody grabs the apple and keeps running with it, but it’s not going to be easy with all of the stuff she did.”
Northfield City Councilman Brian Smith, a history teacher at MRHS, said Carney was “well respected and loved around Mainland. The efforts that she put into the Support Our Troops Club were fantastic. That’s a legacy for her.”
Smith said his father, who passed away Dec. 14, 2014, would attend the breakfasts at the school.
“He loved those Veterans Day breakfasts that the Support Our Troops Club organized, so it’s a terrible loss for Mainland. Her contributions to school community and the community at large are without question. She’s going to be missed.”
