William Hardie Wright, 79, of West Windsor died on Oct 8. Born in New York City, he was raised in Montclair and graduated from Montclair High School.
Wright served in the Air Force from 1956 to 1960. He worked as a stationary engineer at Montclair State College, Oakanite and Irvington General Hospital. After his retirement, he stayed active as a crossing guard and umpire.
A long-time resident of Montclair, he was an usher at Saint Cassian’s Church in Upper Montclair, a Montclair little league coach and a CYO basketball coach.
Wright is survived by his wife of 53 years, Patty; his children, Theresa Fitzpatrick, Kate Wright and Pat Wright and six grandchildren.
Don G. Shipley, 88, of West Windsor died on Sept. 30. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he grew up in Alderwood Manor, WA. There he earned the rank of Eagle Scout. Shipley enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard, serving on lifeboat stations off the coasts of Seattle and Ketchikan, AK.
Following his honorable discharge in December 1949, he moved to New York City, where he earned a degree in electronics engineering in 1952 from RCA Institutes and met Connie Buono. The two married and started a family in Riverhead, NY, and relocated to Princeton Junction in 1962.
Shipley’s career in engineering spanned 36 years, the majority with RCA Astro in East Windsor, where he designed, built, and launched weather and communication satellites. He was granted two patents and authored numerous published scientific articles. Upon retirement, he volunteered at the West Windsor Senior Center, establishing its computer learning center and teaching computer literacy.
Survivors include his children and their spouses, Sharon and John Zubricky of West Windsor, Cheryl and Kevin Coyle of Cranbury, Glen and Sheila Shipley of Moorestown, Brian and Shelley Shipley of Matlacha, FL, and David and Christine Shipley of Pennington; and nine grandchildren.
Joseph D. Ragno, 86, of Baneberry, TN, and formerly of West Windsor, died on Sept. 29. Ragno grew up in Berwick, PA, and served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War. He earned a degree from Lebanon Valley College with majors in music education and political science, and a master’s from Rutgers University.
He taught both vocal and instrumental music in schools in central New Jersey and New York before becoming orchestra director and teacher of music theory and appreciation at Westfield High School, where he taught for 16 years. He was also an adjunct professor of music education at Douglass University. On retiring from teaching, Ragno started The Violin Shop, in Princeton.
Ragno is survived by his wife of 55 years, Nancy (Nickell) Ragno; his daughter, Michelle Marsh; and two grandchildren.
Vincent J. Tartaglia, 85, of West Windsor died on Oct. 6. Born in Trenton of Italian immigrant parents, he grew up learning English on the playground at Sacred Heart School.
He become a well driller, then union organizer and eventually a self-taught engineer for American Biltrite, which became Congoleum Corp.
Husband of the late Virginia (Stanton) Tartaglia, Tartaglia is survived by his children, Linda Tartaglia and husband Robert Johnson, Diane Tartaglia and husband William Johnson, Mark Tartaglia, Christine Tartaglia, Robert Tartaglia and wife Linda, and Matthew Tartaglia and wife Danielle; and a number of gradchildren and great-grandchildren.
Christopher C. Castner, 64, of Hamilton, died on Sept. 28. Castner, who was employed by General Motors Corporation for over 30 years before his retirement, was a middle school industrial arts teacher for West Windsor-Plainsboro School District for the past seven years.
