GRAND MARSHAL

Mellen was born May 26, 1962 at St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, the 9th and probably favorite child, to the late of Wilbur & Eileen (Whalen) Phillips. She is the Granddaughter of the late Bridget (Kelly) Whalen, Of County Mayo and Edward Whalen of County Kerry. Mellen is a lifelong resident of West Orange having attended, Gregory Avenue School, Roosevelt Middle School, West Orange High School and Essex County College. Mellen has been married to the love of her life, Darren for 30 years. She is the proud mother of Kristin, Breann, Morgan and Darren, Jr (DJ). She is the sister of Eileen, Joanne, Debbie, Vincent “Butch”, Harry “Hep”, Gary, Stephen, Jimmy and is the Aunt of 33 and Great Aunt of 34 nieces and nephews. 

Mellen is co-owner of The Dangler Funeral Home of West Orange and the Dangler, Lewis & Carey Funeral Home in Boonton with her husband Darren. She is an active member of numerous civic and cultural organizations, including the Giblin Association, Irish American Society of the Oranges, The Eagle Rock Civic Association the Women of Irish Heritage and is a past Financial Secretary. Mellen’s faith plays a significant role in hers and her family’s life. She, along with her family are devoted parishioners at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, where both Mellen and Darren serve as Holy Communicants. Their children have all attended parochial schools, including, St. Joseph’s School, Our Lady of Lourdes School, Trinity Academy, Villa Walsh Academy, Mt. Saint Domenic Academy and Seton Hall Prep. Mellen and Darren have been strong advocates of their children’s parochial journey and have played an extremely active role in all their school organizations. 

Mellen is widely known for her incredible fundraising prowess and has spearheaded many successful charitable events for over 25 years. The “Annual St. Patrick’s Day Party” has aided projects and organizations such as, but not limited to, The Make-A-Wish Foundation, The Lizzie Chern Foundation, The West Orange Police Athletic League, The Police Unity Tour and The Family Reach Foundation. 

John A DeMars Jr. was born in Nutley to the late John Arthur and Elaine Lois (nee Dyle) DeMars.

His Irish roots date back several generations to the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. His 2x great grandparents the McGreevy’s, Walsh’s and Gallagher’s whom after immigrating from Counties Tyrone and Derry, settled in Newark. The McGreevy’s owned and operated a Bar on Passaic St in Newark through the early 1900’s

DeMars was raised in Nutley with his younger brother Andrew. Growing up, John’s love and pride he had for his Irish heritage was instilled in him by his Grandmother and Great Grandmother. He has also visited Ireland many times and enjoys the rich culture, history and spending time visiting friends in many areas of the country. 

John attended Seton Hall Prep for a time before transferring and ultimately graduating from Nutley High School. He then attended Lincoln Technical Institute.  After deciding to pursue a career in law enforcement, John was appointed a Sheriff’s Officer for the Essex County Sheriff’s Office in 1994.

In 1996 DeMars was appointed to the West Orange Police Department and served in the Patrol Division. He was assigned to the Detective Bureau in 1998 where he served until 2005 when he was promoted to Sergeant.  As a Sergeant he served in Patrol and Internal Affairs. In 2012 he was assigned to supervise the newly created Street Crimes Unit. John then was assigned to the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Task Force Officer from 2015 to 2017. Upon returning John was promoted to Lieutenant. He currently serves as the commanding officer of the Detective Bureau and Juvenile Aid Bureau in the Criminal investigations Division.

DeMars has been the recipient of numerous awards during his career including: Multiple awards for Valor, Meritorious Service, Excellence, and command citations from the NJ, Essex County, and West Orange Policemen’s Benevolent Association. He is also very proud of receiving the Officer of the Year from The Essex County PBA and the West Orange Chamber of Commerce. John was recently selected as one of the recipients of the 2020 Irish Echo “Law and Order” awards

DeMars is a member of West Orange PBA #25, Essex County Emerald Society Chapter 1, and the West Orange Elks Lodge #1590.

John married his love and best friend, Dana, in 2005. They reside in Verona with their three children, Cara Ann (13), Jack Richard (12) and Ryan Patrick (10) of whom they are extremely proud of. 

John stated, “I have always been extremely impressed by the pride and excitement the Parade has portrayed and generated. I have marched for the last 24 years and every year it just gets better. My wife, Dana, and our children now enjoy marching and being a part of the day as much as I do. Although I have never “officially” lived in West Orange, I have worked for the public here for the last 24 years and have adopted West Orange as my second home. The honor of being chosen Deputy Grand Marshal by the Parade Committee is more than anything I could imagine and will be one of, if not the highlight of my career serving residents of the Township of West Orange.” 

 Patrick F. Giblin is proud to serve as a Deputy Grand Marshal of the 2020 West Orange St. Patrick’s Day Parade. He traces his Irish roots to Counties Longford and Mayo (maternal) and County Roscommon (paternal).

Patrick and his wife Tara have been married for 16 years. They settled in Cranford in 2009. They are the proud parents of three children and are active in all of their kids activities as leaders, coaches or just cheerleaders.

Patrick graduated from Villanova University in 1997, and received an MBA from the Fordham University Gabelli School of Business. He is a member of the Villanova University Financial Club, where he has supported their internship and mentoring programs. 

Patrick has worked in the financial services industry for over 20 years. He is a Certified Financial Planner and holds the Certified Investment Management Analyst and Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist designations. He currently holds his Series 3, 31, 7, 63 and 65 as well as his Life and Health Insurance Licenses.

He was named “Young Irishman of the Year” by the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of the Oranges in 2009, and has served as a Trustee of the organization since. He served as Chairman of the 38th Annual NJ Irish Festival in 2009 and currently serves as Treasurer of the Festival. He is a Trustee of the St. Patrick’s Guard of Honor, and currently serves as Secretary of the organization.

Patrick was sponsored for Deputy Grand Marshal by the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) Division 9. He has been a member for over 25 years, where he served as Treasurer, Vice President and President (2003-2004). He has proudly marched behind the AOH banner in many West Orange St. Patrick’s Day Parades. In 2018, he was one of the Honorees at their Annual Dinner Dance. 

He was elected to the Cranford Township Committee in November 2015, becoming the third generation of the Giblin family to serve in elected office. He was reelected to a second term in 2017. He served as Commissioner of Finance from 2015-2016 and Commissioner of Public Safety from 2017-2018. He became Mayor of the Township of Cranford in 2019, and continues to serve in this role in 2020.

An active member of the Cranford Jaycees, Patrick served as Vice President, President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He is currently Chairman of the Cranford Jaycees Scholarship Committee that annually awards over 20 college scholarships to Cranford students on the basis of community service. He was one of the founders of the Annual Oktoberfest event that has raised funds for the Cranford Volunteer First Aid Squad and other local charities over the past seven years.

Patrick will proudly march in the 2020 West Orange St. Patrick’s Day Parade joined by his wife, three children, and eleven nieces and nephews serving as Aides. All family and friends and invited to join him!

Bobby was born and raised in Montclair, New Jersey. He is the second oldest of 6 children born to Ed and Jane (Meehan) Lamb. He attended Immaculate Conception Grammar and High School in Montclair as did his parents and siblings. At ICHS, he excelled in basketball and baseball and is a member of the ICHS Athletic Hall of Fame. As a senior, he was elected Captain of the basketball team. After high school, he was drafted into the United States Army and proudly served for 2 years. While in the military, Bobby was selected, while stationed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, to play both basketball and baseball for the All 2ndArmy Teams. After being transferred to Korea, he was selected to play on the All 8th Army Teams. After his discharge, he attended St. Peter’s University majoring in History.

Bobby is the proud father of 5 children: Dennis, Kevin (deceased), Colleen, Kathleen and Kelly. He is also proud to be the grandfather of 9 grandchildren. His children were raised in West Caldwell and still live within 15 miles of where they grew up. Upon retirement, Bobby and his lovely wife, Kathleen, moved to Lake Como at the “Jersey Shore”. Bobby’s parents purchased a “bungalow” in 1942 in what was then South Belmar. Four generations of Lambs have enjoyed it ever since. 10 years ago, Bobby and Kathy purchased the house from his remaining sisters. They winterized it, remodeled the interior and live there now. With the purchase, they have insured that the house will remain in the Lamb family for generations to come. Bobby and Kathy are now members of the Belmar Fishing Club.

Bobby’s business career consisted of 45 years as an Executive in the Advertising Industry working with 3 different advertising agencies as a Vice President, Senior Vice President and Executive Vice President. His expertise was marketing as he worked with major national and international advertisers. His specialty was designing, planning and implementing local marketing plans for national advertisers. He was also involved in new business acquisitions, agency expansion and agency acquisitions. For one of the agencies, he opened offices in Toronto and Montreal, Canada; London and Manchester, England; Paris, France; Milan, Italy and Tokyo, Japan. These offices then reported to him. He was instrumental in many agency acquisitions. He has received numerous industry awards and was the head of several Industry Steering Committees. Upon his retirement, he was recognized with the Excellent Career Award presented by the Local Marketing Association.

Bobby’s Irish roots can be traced to County Cork on his mother’s side and County Leitrim. He has traveled to Ireland several times, the latest, with his wife, was a 12 day tour of both the North and the South. Bobby has been a member of the Shillelagh Club, West Orange Chapter, for over 20 years. His father was one of the original members. Bobby has proudly marched in both the West Orange and Belmar/Lake Como St. Patrick’s Day Parades every year since. He lives 5 minutes from the Shillelagh, Belmar Chapter but has remained a member of the West Orange Shillelaghs. He notes the close camaraderie of its members as one factor and the many charity fundraisers as another. Bobby was awarded the Shillelagh Man of the year in 2017.

Bobby played Fast Pitch softball for many years. One team he played for travelled from Canada to Florida playing in the Eastern Seaboard League on weekends. He participated in 4 National Fast Pitch Tournaments; 2 as a player,1 as a Coach and 1 as a Manager. Another of his hobbies is golf having belonged to the Essex Fells Country Club for 18 years.

Bobby currently volunteers as a road marshal for many of the 5 mile and 5k charity races at the Shore including the Belmar Shillelagh 5k and the Fallen Heros 5k. In addition to the Shillelagh Club, Bobby is a member of AOH Division 9, Montclair. He has been a member of the Montclair Knights of Columbus for over 50 years. He participates with the Wounded Warrior Project, Covenant House, Disabled Veterans and Special Olympics. Bobby was the Founding Chairman of the Immaculate Conception High School Board of Trustees and is still an active member of the Board. He has been involved in many of their initiatives and currently is involved in the renovation of the ICHS Football Field and Field House. He was one of the two organizers of the ICHS Golf Outing which is in its 37th year of existence. He also was a founding member of the ICHS Hall of Fame Committee. A few years ago, he was presented the Distinguished Alumni Award by ICHS.

Rob was born May 21, 1959 at Community Hospital Montclair to Richard and Mary Swenson. He was raised in Montclair and attended Northeast/Mt. Hebron and Montclair High School class of 1977. Rob attended Allegheny College and The School of Visual Arts in New York City. Rob began his employment career in 1981 at L.J. Gonzer Associates, as an Architectural Industrial Product and Location Photographer. In 1991, Rob married his wife, Lisa Dorothy Swenson who sadly passed away in 2016. Rob was a partner at Alchemy Photographic from1995 to 2000. He is currently employed by the Essex County Improvement Authority as a Facility Manager and is the owner of “Rob Swenson Photography”.  Rob is a member of the Friendly Sons of the Shillelagh of Essex County He is a former bartender as well as a Bar Manager at the Shillelagh Club in West Orange. Rob is an avid golfer and is a member of the Tri-County Golf Club as well as having served as President. 

Rob’s passion behind the lens has made him famously known throughout New Jersey as the premier photographer for Irish events. Rob began photographing events in the late 1980's and includes photographing events for the McGovern Association, Giblin Association, the Newark St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Ironbound Irish, Women of Irish Heritage, Police/Fire events and numerous other organizations. In 1999, Rob began his long-time relationship as the official photographer of the West Orange St. Patrick’s Committee. Rob is known for capturing priceless memories for honorees at the Investiture and on Parade Day. Rob has also been an integral part of the Parade committee serving as a Public Relations Officer and Historian. He is honored and humbled to be chosen as a 2020 Deputy Grand Marshal.