Benedict J. Trigani

Benedict Joseph Trigani, Ph. D. (1936-2026) passed away peacefully and mercifully on Thursday, January 15, 2026 surrounded by his wife and family in Wayside, NJ. Ben was born on September 8, 1936 in City Island (Bronx), New York. He was born to Benedict Sr. and Mary Trigani. He is predeceased by his siblings Joseph, Francis and Phyllis. He grew up in City Island and attended St. Mary's Star of the Sea. He had a wonderful childhood in City Island playing sports, swimming, crabbing and fishing. He was accepted to the prestigious, scholarship school of Regis High School in New York City where he was first influenced by the many Jesuit priests as teachers. He pitched on the Varsity baseball team at Regis. He openly talked about his love of Regis, his fellow Regians, and his Jesuit instructors. He was very active in his alumni class of 1954 and kept in touch with his classmates. He continued his college education at St. Peter's University (where he was a member of the golf team), eventually earned his Masters degree in School Counseling from Seton Hall University and his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Fordham University in 1964. His career in education started with teaching Latin, religion, history and English at Red Bank Catholic. He also coached basketball and baseball. He worked as a Guidance Counselor at Monmouth Regional High School for four years. After earning his doctorate, he provided school psychological services for the majority of the school districts in Ocean County, NJ prior to federal mandates. He maintained a private practice for many years. He consulted as Chief Psychologist at the Child Evaluation Center at Jersey Shore Medical Center for ten years and worked closely with his dear friend and colleague, Dr. Dorothy Pietrucha. In addition to his considerable school consultation, he joined the faculty at Georgian Court University (then Georgian Court College) in 1976 with the encouragement and support of Sr. Mary Arthur Beal and Sr. Maria Cordis Richey. He was a very early pillar of graduate teaching in the Graduate School of Education where he was involved in the training of thousands of school guidance counselors, administrators and teachers. He was a very popular professor and his reputation and influence in the schools was far reaching. His career passion was dedicated to the growth and development of children and adolescents and especially those with developmental disabilities and special needs. He provided numerous workshops and professional development to school districts and pro bono work to parochial schools. He retired from Georgian Court University after 40 years of teaching and was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus.

Ben often recounted his chance childhood encounter with his baseball idol, Joe DiMaggio. However, no encounter was more impactful than attending a school dance at St. Brendan's School on April 17, 1955 where he met Patricia Ann Drummond. Pat and Ben became engaged on Christmas Eve in 1956 and married on July 26, 1958. They enjoyed 67 years of marriage and had five children. His children include: Mary Travers and her husband Steve Travers (Wayside, NJ); Dr. Lynn DeCapua and her husband Gustin DeCapua (Wayside, NJ); Dr. Christopher Trigani and his wife Laura Trigani (Wayside, NJ); Tim Trigani and his wife Elizabeth Trigani (Colts Neck, NJ); and David Trigani (Wayside, NJ). Ben and Pat would spend many summers traveling with their family building memories that will last a lifetime. These trips helped them to meet their dear friends Ned and Karen Rolston and their children. Pat and Ben enjoyed eleven grandchildren including: Jamie Brown and his wife Courtney Brown (Hilton Head Island, SC); Christian Trigani (Jersey City, NJ); Alexis Travers and her partner Shauna Redanauer (Etters, PA); Dr. Michael DeCapua and his wife Dr. Mia DeCapua (Cherry Hill, NJ); Dr. Kevin Trigani and his partner Nikhil Agarwal (Pennington, NJ); Joseph DeCapua and his wife Lauren DeCapua (Lafayette Hill, PA); Nicholas Trigani (San Francisco, CA); Nicole Trigani (Los Angeles, CA); Dr. Angelina DeCapua-Burrage and her husband Andrew Burrage (White Plains, NY); Colin Trigani (New York City, NY); and Mackenzie Trigani (Colts Neck, NJ). They enjoyed three great grandchildren in Cameron Brown, Luca DeCapua and Lorenzo DeCapua with one more on the way!

Ben spent his life living his Christian values and practicing his Catholic faith. The Jesuit influence of service to others permeated his interactions with family, friends, the children and families he worked with and colleagues. His humble nature, decency, good will, sense of humor and love of people were always evident. His strong devotion to his faith guided him throughout his life. Ben had many outstanding colleagues throughout his career and considered them all his friends.

The Trigani family wishes to recognize and thank the incredible medical care Ben received by numerous practitioners but especially through the compassionate care of family friends- Dr. Lindsey Rolston, Dr. Matthew Tobin and Dr. Brian Rista. The Trigani family is also indebted to Ben's dear friend, Nicholas Sestito, who continuously demonstrated the value and meaning of loyalty and integrity, who was an exemplar of true friendship.

Funeral arrangements include a wake on Monday, January 19, 2026 at Fiore-Buckley Funeral Home, 236 Monmouth Road in Oakhurst, Ocean Township, NJ from 4-7 pm. A Mass and Christian Burial will follow on Tuesday, January 20, 2026 at 10:30 am at St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church at 800 Ocean Avenue, West End Long Branch, NJ. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (501 St. Jude’s Place, Memphis, TN 38105) or the Alzheimer's Association (https://donorservices.alz.org). For condolences, please visit www.fiorefuneralhomes.com.