Paul Seitz

(Asbury Park Press)

PAUL SEITZ
AGE: 51 NEPTUNE
Paul Seitz, whose tenacity and fortitude earned him a reputation as a cop who could crack cases that seemed unsolvable, and who demonstrated that same grit in his long battle with cancer, died Friday at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He was 51. Mr. Seitz lived in Neptune and, before that, in Red Bank. He was born and raised in Middletown. He began his career in law enforcement in 1980 with the Long Branch police department. In 1990, he moved his young family to Maine to take a job as an agent for the state's drug enforcement agency. In 1991, he was named the New England Narcotics Officer of the Year. That same year, he was awarded the Enrique Camarena Memorial Award for the largest cocaine bust in the history of Maine. Mr. Seitz returned to New Jersey in 1993 and worked for the Monmouth Beach police department before joining the Monmouth County Prosecutor's office in 1996. As a major crimes detective for the prosecutor's office, he was instrumental in solving many high-profile cases. One of his proudest accomplishments was his role in solving the 1968 murder of 13-year-old Jane Durrua of East Keansburg. The case had gone unsolved for nearly four decades when Mr. Seitz began looking into it. His investigation ultimately led to the serial killer, Robert Zarinsky, who was charged with the schoolgirl's murder in 2008. Although Mr. Seitz had retired from the prosecutor's office in November 2006, and was by then in the midst of a fierce fight for his own life, he attended the court hearing when Zarinsky was formally charged. As devoted as Mr. Seitz was to pursuing justice, however, he lived for his family. And, as in life, loved ones surrounded him when he died.
Mr. Seitz is survived by two children, Glenn Seitz, 21, of Eatontown, a senior at Lehigh University, and Jenna Seitz, 19, of Eatontown, a freshman at the University of Hawaii; Andrea Tozzi, of Neptune, his devoted fiancé; Heidi P. Seitz, of Eatontown, the loving mother of their children and a loyal friend; his mother, Louise R. Seitz of Atlantic Highlands; two brothers, Robert Seitz of Burlington, his wife, Joann Seitz and their two children, Alexis and Jillian, and Mark Seitz of Middletown and his wife, Reenie A. Seitz; and many cousins, including Kimberly Steinburgh Sherman, who visited him regularly during his final hospital stay, and her husband, Scott, of New York City. His father, Harold G. Seitz, predeceased him.
Visiting will be Monday March 22, 2010 from 4-9 pm at John F. Pfleger Funeral Home, 115 Tindall Road, Middletown, NJ 07748. Funeral services will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Memorial Sloan- Kettering Cancer Center at www.mskcc.org in memory of Paul Seitz.