Ex-Woodbridge Mayor, Wife Die After Garden State Parkway Crash

WOODBRIDGE – The tragedy has deepened in this New Jersey community now that a beloved former mayor has died, succumbing to the injuries he suffered in a Garden State Parkway crash that killed his wife a month ago. And more funeral services are being arranged.

Philip Cerria, 85, of Lakewood, who served as mayor of Woodbridge from 1984 to 1987, died Saturday of complications he suffered from the Holmdel crash on Jan. 3, Mayor John E. McCormac told Patch.

After the crash, Cerria had been taken to Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune, where he suffered from his injuries over the past month and often said, referring to his wife: "I want to be with Marge," McCormac said. "I just want to be with Marge."

Margaret Cerria, 84, of Lakewood, was killed in the crash, according to the State Police.

McCormac told Patch that the former mayor loved his wife so much that, when a council meeting ended, he would often say: "Good night, Marge."

"And he did this in the days when they weren't on TV," McCormac said.

The couple's daughter, Margaret Truppa, is the principal of Menlo Park Terrace School 19 in Woodbridge, and many people have been paying respects to her and her family since the tragic Jan. 3 crash.

"Everybody loved him," said McCormac, noting that, even when he was councilman, his ward considered Cerria, a Republican, the "mayor."

"My father was a die-hard Democrat, and every time Phil Cerria ran for something, my father voted for him," McCormac said.

Cerria, who even served as township clerk, was involved in "everything," the mayor said, noting that he was an active leader in the Knights of Columbus and youth sports.

"He was a salt-of-the-earth kind of guy," McCormac said.

Others who have been paying respects include Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, who offered his sympathies when the former mayor's wife passed a month ago.

"It is with heavy hearts that my family and I offer our condolences to the former mayor of Woodbridge, Philip Cerria and his family on the tremendous loss," he said.

The crash happened at milepost 115.1 on the Garden State Parkway at 3:38 p.m. on the northbound side, police said.

A Chevy Sedan struck a guardrail and overturned, police said. The crash blocked two lanes near Exit 114 in Holmdel and caused delays for hours.

Services for Margaret were held in January.

Margaret was born in Jersey City and raised in Hoboken, and then resided in Iselin for 42 years before moving to Lakewood 15 years ago, according to her obituary from Costello-Koyen Funeral Homes, Inc.

Margaret was a communicant of Saint Dominic Catholic Church in Brick and a former communicant of Saint Cecelia’s Catholic Church in Iselin where she was a member of The Altar Rosary Society, St. Cecelia’s School PTA board president, volunteer for St. Cecelia’s bingo kitchen and Iselin fair committee.

Margaret loved playing golf, bingo and mahjong in her free time and she crocheted and knitted, according to her obituary. She spent many hours playing cards with her husband and "was known for her amazing cooking, which brought happiness to many."

In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) (www.hearingloss.org) and/or the American Macular Degeneration Foundation (AMDF) (www.macular.org) in Mrs. Cerria’s memory would be greatly appreciated by her family.