NORTH ARLINGTON –
Mayor Joseph Bianchi ordered borough flags to be flown at half-staff and black bunting to be placed on Borough Hall in honor of former Councilman Philip Spanola.
Spanola died April 29. He was 84.
His funeral was Monday, May 4, from the Stellato Funeral Home, Lyndhurst, with a service held at the First Presbyterian Church of Carlstadt.
Spanola, a retired Jersey City police detective who moved to North Arlington in 1971, served as a Democratic member of the Borough Council 2005 to 2008. Prior to that, he served on the borough Board of Education.
Former North Arlington Mayor Peter Massa paid tribute to his former Dems colleague, saying, “I knew him for 50 years and he was a friend and good, dedicated guy.”
A longtime member of the local Democratic Club, Spanola served in the U.S. Army stateside in the ‘50s and was active in veterans’ affairs, including stints as commander of the AMVETS post in Lyndhurst and as state commander.
Spanola was a recipient of the AMVETS Silver Helmet Award for “excellence and outstanding accomplishment in the fields of Americanism, defense, rehabilitation, congressional and civil service.”
In a 2012 interview with the South Bergenite, Spanola said he was proud of several veterans-related achievements: painting a mural of the New Jersey in the Lyndhurst AMVETS hall, helping bring to Lyndhurst an Army tank and monument dedicated to the Lewandowski brothers who were killed in World War II and fundraising for the AMVETS Memorial Carillon dedicated in 2007 in North Arlington.
