Michael J. Degnan

Michael J. Degnan

Judge, Family Man, Yankee Fan - Michael J. Degnan, a retired Superior Court Judge, died early on June 30, 2019, at age 79. Degnan, a resident of West Orange, New Jersey, for most of his life, also lived in Four Seasons in Wall Township and Seabrook Village in Tinton Falls. He graduated from St. Benedict's Prep in Newark in 1957, from St. Peter's College in 1961 and from Seton Hall University Law School in 1964. He worked as a title officer for the New Jersey Realty Title Company for four years and as senior trial attorney in the Office of the Public Defender for thirteen years. Along with his private practice as a partner in Degnan and Degnan, he served as attorney to the West Orange Zoning Board. He was sworn in first as a District Court Judge in 1982 and then as a Superior Court Judge in 1985. He retired from that position in 2002. He also served on the Resentencing Panel. He was a Trustee of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and a lifelong fan of the New York Yankees.

Judge Degnan was the beloved husband of Jane (Healy) Degnan for 56 years. He will be missed by his three children, Diana Degnan-LaFon and her husband, Douglas, from Towson, Maryland; Laura Degnan-Kobus and her husband, John, from West Windsor; and Deborah Degnan and her husband, Michael Vencel, from Oceanport. He had six grandchildren: Douglas, Kelsey, Courtney, Jamie, Genevieve, and Julia. His siblings include James and his wife, Sharon, from The Woodlands, Texas; John and his wife, Mary, from Chester, New Jersey; Peter and his wife, Robyn, from Atlanta, Georgia; and Patti Duffy and her husband, Thomas, from West Orange, New Jersey. He was predeceased by his father, James A. Degnan and his mother, Ann (Gould) Degnan. He had many cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.

Visitation will be held from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. on July 5, at Bongarzone Funeral Home, 2400 Shafto Road, Tinton Falls, NJ. A Memorial Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. on July 6 at Seabrook Village, 3000 Essex Road, Tinton Falls, NJ. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, Donation Processing, P.O. Box 5014 Hagerstown, MD 21741-5014 or online at www.michaeljfox.org. For online condolences, please visit his memorial page at www.bongarzonefuneralhome.com