Retired Summit Police Sgt. Dies At 89

SUMMIT, NJ — Summit Police Retired Sgt. Richard Chudoba, who served 27 years with the department, died at age 89 peacefully in his sleep on Oct. 24.

Chudoba was a World War II Navy veteran, seeing extensive action in Iwo Jima aboard the aircraft carrier, the USS Block Island.

In 1949, at the age of 21, he married Elaine Brown from Summit, where they lived and raised four daughters, Linda, Diane, Laurie and Ricki.

Chudoba was hired in January 1951 as a special police officer and later was moved to the rank of patrol officer in April of that same year. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant in September 1958 where he would serve the remainder of this career with the Summit Police Department.

He was instrumental in organizing the Summit Junior Police and was the head of the Auxiliary Police Department for years.

Chudoba was also the commander of Summit’s Tactical Squad during the Newark and Plainfield Riots of the 1960s.

Retiring from the police department after 27 years of service, he and his wife moved to Florida where they owned and operated The Bamboo Beach Motel in Daytona Beach. They fully retired five years later.

Chudoba's greatest joys were building dollhouses for his granddaughters and traveling with his loving wife of 68 years.

He leaves behind his four daughters, nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Arrangements include private cremation.

(Image via Summit Police Department: Summit Police Retired Sergeant Richard Chudoba)

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