Funeral Services Set For Bonnie Verga, Former Beachwood Mayor, 69

BEACHWOOD, NJ — Funeral services have been set for Bonnie Verga, who served as Beachwood's mayor and was a bookkeeper for the borough of Island Heights. She passed away Dec. 6, 2018, at the age of 69. Mastapeter Funeral Home, Bayville, is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Verga was born in Paterson and lived there for many years before she and her husband, Thomas, moved to Beachwood in 1974, according to a 2011 Patch article.

Mrs. Verga was very passionate about local politics and was a member of the Beachwood Democratic Club. She was elected to the Beachwood Borough Council twice, in 1979 and in 2007. Verga was appointed mayor in 2011 and served for six months, finishing out the term of Ronald Jones Jr. who resigned. She also had served on the borough's Land Use Board. She was a certified municipal finance officer, a certification she earned in 1988, and worked for the boroughs of Island Heights, South Toms River and Beachwood, as well as the Island Heights Board of Education, as a chief financial officer at various points, according to a 2011 report by the Riverside Signal.

Mrs. Verga wass predeceased by her husband of 43 years, Thomas, in 2013. Surviving are her two children, Brian Verga and Maria Marino; her three grandchildren, Isabella Marino, and Luciana and Lillian Casper; her father, Jack Sweet, and her sister, Carol Pennisi and her husband Joseph.

The viewing will be held Monday, Dec. 10, 2018 from 4 p.m.–7 p.m. at Mastapeter Funeral Home, 270 Atlantic City Blvd., Bayville, NJ 08721. The funeral will be Tuesday, Dec. 11, at 8:30 a.m. in the funeral home before leaving for burial at 9:15 a.m. at Brig. Gen. William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown.

Photo by Karen Wall, Patch staff