James Harold Wallwork, Jr.

James H. Wallwork, former NJ State Senator and NJ Waterfront Commissioner, who ran twice for the Republican nomination for NJ Governor, died on October 23 in Maryland from natural causes at age 94. Born in East Orange, NJ, Wallwork graduated from Montclair High School in 1948 and from West Point in 1952, the "lucky" 13th in his class. He served as the Company Commander of a combat engineering battalion in the Army of Occupation in Germany, leaving the Army as a Second Lieutenant. He also spent more than ten years as an officer in the NJ National Guard, retiring with the rank of major. He attended the General Staff War College, graduating first in his class in 1960. Working with his brother-in-law, Wallwork ran a successful family HVAC business, Wallwork Brothers, and entered New Jersey Republican politics in the 1960s.

In 1967, he was elected to the NJ State Senate as a Reform Republican, representing heavily Democratic Essex County and the city of Newark. He ultimately served for fourteen years in the State Senate, including as Minority Whip and Assistant Minority Leader until 1982. Wallwork was known for his independent streak and commitment to good government and fighting corruption. He worked with and held to account Democrats and Republicans alike. He offered state employees who could identify wasteful spending a cash reward from his senate salary. He was an early champion of recycling and environmental causes and authored legislation to create the first Advanced Life Support ambulances for EMS care. He received multiple honors for his work, including "state legislator of the year" for "outstanding service to community, state, and nation," in 1981 from the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in New Jersey.

Wallwork ran for the Republican nomination for governor in 1981 and 1993, placing fourth and third respectively. Governor Christine Todd Whitman later appointed him as the Commissioner for New Jersey on the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor. A longtime resident of both Short Hills and Far Hills, he also was a columnist in the Bernardsville News during the 1990s and early 2000s.

Wallwork was known by his family and friends as an inveterate problem solver and multitasker, who always had to time to stop and chat, and who loved to tell jokes.

He was married for fifty-nine years to the former Lark Lataner, whom he met when she was assigned to profile him as an up-and-coming political figure for Suburban Life Magazine. They had one daughter, Lyric.

Lark predeceased him by thirty-two days, and in their final years together, Wallwork was a selfless caregiver to his wife. He is survived by his daughter, Lyric W. Winik, two grandsons, Nathaniel and Evan, and two nephews, Matt and Mark Sheeleigh, and their families.