Charles F. Beelitz

Charles Beelitz, 85, of Cranford entered into eternal rest on March 24, 2012, at the Center for Hope Hospice in Scotch Plains. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the visitation on Tuesday from 2-4, 7-9 pm at Gray Memorial Funeral Home, 12 Springfield Avenue, Cranford. A funeral Mass will be offered at St. Michael Roman Catholic Church, Cranford, at 9:30am Wednesday. Interment will be in St. Gertrude Cemetery, Colonia. Please visit grayfuneralhomes.com. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Center for Hope Hospice, 1900 Raritan Road, Scotch Plains, New Jersey 07076. Charles was the loving husband to Gertrude Rieschick of the Bronx, who passed away in 1985, and to Carmela Paoletta, also of the Bronx, who passed away in 2010. He was the father to Charles Beelitz and his wife Pamela of Cranford, Paul Beelitz of New York, Eric Beelitz and his wife Kathryn of Brielle, and Gregg Beelitz of Cranford, and the grandfather of Amanda, Mark, Andrew, Luke, Tara Marie, Greg, and Charles Beelitz. When he remarried in 1993, Charles became the stepfather to Debbie Devita and her husband Jim of Las Vegas, Joan Paoletta and her husband John of Gillette, and Patricia Parsekian and her husband Tom of Westfield, and the step-grandfather of Anthony, Dominic, Deanna, Nicholas, Gianna, and Christopher. Charles was born and raised in Bayonne, and was an Army veteran who served with the 10th Constabulary Squadron in Europe from 1945 to 1946. Charles and Gertrude met in Atlantic City in 1948, married in 1950, and raised their sons in Fort Lee, Linden, and Cranford. Charles worked at American Type Foundry in Elizabeth and Triangle Tool Company in Kenilworth. In 1969, with three partners, Sam Grippardi, Charles Mortensen, and George York, he founded Dynaco Automation, an engineering and machine-tool company, and served as its vice president from 1969 to 1985. He subsequently worked for Thomas and Betts in Elizabeth. Charles was a devoted football fan who rooted for both the New York Giants and Jets, and an avid hockey fan who favored both the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils. He was somewhat less interested in baseball, and was happy whenever anyone defeated the Yankees, a team he greatly disliked since they trounced his favorite team, the New York Giants, in the 1936 and 1937 World Series