Longtime Bernardsville Police Chief John Maddaluna, 94, Dies

BERNARDSVILLE, NJ — Retired Bernardsville Police Chief John J. Maddaluna Sr., a World War II veteran, died Tuesday.

Maddaluna was 94.

The son Italian immigrants, he left high school early to serve during World War II, his obituary states. He joined the U.S. Army in August of 1943. He was an anti-aircraft gunner while stationed in Panama and helped guard the Panama Canal.

Maddaluna later served as an infantryman, and was deployed to India and Burma. He was fierce combat against the Japanese when his unit helped re-secure the Ledo Airstrip. Maddaluna returned home to Bernardsville in July 1946.

Maddaluna briefly ran his own business, a garage and gas station in the late 1940s. In 1950, he "found his calling" as a Bernardsville Police officer and served for 36 years before retiring. He was the only officer in the department's history to have held every rank. He was promoted to sergeant in 1959, lieutenant in 1965, captain in 1969, and to chief in 1984.

"On one occasion, John and a fellow officer carried unconscious victims from a burning building. Another incident saw John push a pedestrian out of the way of an out-of-control vehicle, only to be struck himself," his family said in his obituary. "He was selfless, brave and steadfast in his duties, the epitome of the officer you would want to show up when you needed help."

Maddaluna was a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7858 and Bernardsville PBA Local 365.

He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Anne Boller Maddaluna; children Anne Melitski, John Maddaluna Jr., and his wife, Penny, Lynn Noblett, and her husband, Rick, Donna Davis, and her husband, Vincent, and Craig, and his wife, Amy; 10 grandchildren, six great-grandchildren; brother-in-law Paul, and his wife, Barbara; and several nieces and nephews.

Maddaluna asked that donations in his name be made to the Bernardsville PBA Local 365, Bernardsville Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7858, or the Visiting Nurses Association.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com